Bridgepoint acquires 40pc stake in high-flying tech firm MVF February 22, 2015 Pan-European private equity investor Bridgepoint yesterday took a 40 per cent stake in MVF, one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech firms. The buyout specialist has paid just under £20m for the shareholding in MVF, a company that helps businesses target and acquire online companies. MVF came top of the The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 [...]
UK private equity firms Circle for Evans February 22, 2015 BRITISH private equity players ECI Partners and Graphite Capital are vying to take a controlling interest in UK bicycle store chain Evans Cycles, it emerged yesterday. Crawley-based Evans is up for sale for £100m. Both buyout firms – who declined to comment – have been invited to submit second-round bids by Evans-owner Active Private Equity.
Frantic race to remortgage as rates plummet February 22, 2015 HOMEOWNERS are rushing to remortgage to take advantage of record low mortgage rates, new figures from the Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) show. Remortgage applications jumped 24 per cent in January from December. Year-on-year, January saw a 17 per cent increase in remortgage applications. It compares to the 12 per cent climb in applications for [...]
British tech firms defied a wider UK slowdown at the end of 2014 February 22, 2015 BRITAIN’S tech sector dodged a slowdown across the wider UK economy during the fourth quarter of 2014, driven by new business and a supportive funding landscape. A cross-sector benchmark of UK businesses pegged activity at a score of 55.2 at the end of last year. But KPMG/Markit’s Tech Monitor UK survey said that UK tech [...]
London toasts boom in craft beer start-ups February 22, 2015 BUSINESS is booming for London’s micro-breweries, with 2014 emerging as yet another record year for start-ups entering the capital’s thriving artisan beer scene. Last year there were 30 applications to HMRC to launch breweries in London, a small increase of one on 2013’s record year and almost double that of two years earlier. London is [...]
Fortnum & Mason’s Canadian owner makes £105m windfall February 22, 2015 THE CANADIAN owners of Fortnum & Mason and Associated British Foods have made £105m in dividends – most of which will go to charitable causes – after another buoyant year. Accounts filed recently on Companies House reveal that Wittington Investments, one of the main investment vehicles of the Weston Family, paid out £63m in the [...]
UK corporates weakened by strong sterling February 22, 2015 FIRMS listed on the FTSE 100 fell victim to the UK’s own success as the internationally focussed index saw revenues suffer on the back of strong sterling according to the latest Profit Watch UK report by analyst firm The Share Centre. The domestic UK economy sprung to life last year growing by 2.6 per cent, [...]
Report: Local government must reinvent itself in order to survive February 22, 2015 Local government needs a radical rethink if it is to survive, a new report says this morning. The MCA Think Tank has made 17 recommendations in the report. These include improving the calibre of those in leadership positions in local government, increased digitisation of services, and a further examination of the role of local councils. [...]
Bigger firms do better at board gender equality February 22, 2015 The UK’s glass ceiling may be showing signs of cracking after new research revealed women now hold directorships in just over a third of UK businesses, with larger firms leading the way, according to consultancy firm Procorre. The new figures suggest Britain’s SMEs have a lot to learn from their bigger counterparts after the data [...]
Property accelerator Property Innovation Labs launches £500,000 crowdfund on Seedrs February 22, 2015 A Shoreditch-based accelerator programme aimed at finding the next big technology innovations in property has today launched a £500,000 fund using crowdfunding platform Seedrs. Property Innovation Labs (Pi Labs), created by Cushman & Wakefield and venture capital firm Spire Ventures, aims to help tech start-ups shaking up the property sector by providing them with mentoring [...]
