Sale of Tesco’s Clubcard business to WPP on the verge of collapse September 27, 2015 Tesco is likely to be forced to give up on the sale of its loyalty card business Dunnhumby as talks with WPP look set to collapse. The advertising agency has struggled to agree a price, according to the Sunday Times. Tesco hired Goldman Sachs earlier this year to look into selling a portion or all [...]
Sepp Blatter must go now, says Tory MP’s group September 27, 2015 FIFA president Sepp Blatter should step down immediately in favour of an independent reform process, according to campaign groups NewFIFANow, Transparency International and the International Trade Union Confederation. The campaigners said the 79-year-old should step aside because he is part of a criminal investigation. “We know that the Fifa ethics committee serves at the pleasure [...]
Soho House to raise £200m to fund expansion September 27, 2015 Soho House is trying to raise £200m in its second financing drive in two years. The group, which owns Shoreditch House and has 15 outposts around the world, including the recently opened Soho Farmhouse in Oxford, is looking to raise the funds to open six new houses and up to 30 restaurants over the next [...]
Sports Direct gives up chase for posh fitness chain Soho Gyms September 27, 2015 Sports Direct has abandoned its bid for upmarket fitness centre chain Soho Gyms, according to reports. The retailer had held discussions with the gym company with the aim of reaching a deal that would extend its own gym business, Sports Direct Fitness, which launched in November last year. However, The Sunday Telegraph reported that the [...]
RSA prepares to make more overseas sales September 27, 2015 British insurer RSA is believed to be preparing to sell its Russian and Middle East operations in the next few months. The company has been disposing of its non-core business over the past two years, since chief executive Stephen Hester was brought on board to turn the group around. Earlier this month, the insurer sold [...]
Guy Hands seeks out bidders for Odeon cinemas September 27, 2015 GUY Hands’ private equity firm Terra Firma is putting into motion the estimated £1bn sale of Odeon cinemas that was first touted in February. Chinese billionaire Wang Jianli’s leisure and property conglomerate Dalian Wanda, the world’s largest cinema operator, has already been sniffing around the sale, The Sunday Telegraph reported. Last year there was a [...]
UK wine-making industry enjoys sparkling good health and growth September 27, 2015 English wine-makers have enjoyed a vintage year, and are set to double in capacity and production over the next seven years. According to figures from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association released today, English vine-yards have grown, on average, 11 per cent a year over the last 10 years. There are currently 135 wineries producing [...]
CoolBrands 2015: Apple crowned the king of cool as Google slips September 27, 2015 Apple has retained pole position for the fourth year in a row in a ranking of companies' brand appeal, according to pollsters CoolBrands. Its tech rival Google, however, dropped out of the top 10 altogether, slipping to 12th from sixth in 2014. Despite an improving economy, luxury brands did not manage to maintain [...]
Tesla drives towards 2020 target of 500,000 cars with European factory September 27, 2015 TESLA, the electric car manufacturer, has opened a factory in the Netherlands to help boost European sales. The company announced on Twitter over the weekend it was opening the factory in Tilburg to assemble the Model S sedan and carry out final quality checks. The factory also boasts the first indoor production track in Europe. [...]
British firms owe taxman £2.6bn worth of VAT September 27, 2015 British businesses are behind with VAT payments to HMRC to the tune of £2.6bn, due to clients not paying bills on time, according to research from finance firm LDF. It found one of the biggest causes of late payments to the government is that smaller firms are struggling to collect cash from customers, leaving them [...]
