Ofwat orders water companies to cut bills by £50 December 16, 2019 Water firms must slash the average bill by £50 by 2025, regulator Ofwat insisted today as it set out plans to improve the utility providers’ performance. The demand forms part of a massive £51bn investment strategy for water companies under Ofwat, including a goal to cut the amount of water lost to leaks by 16 [...]
Watch the weird moment John Bercow cries ‘Order!’ in Italian on talk show December 16, 2019 Former speaker John Bercow is apparently so famous for his interjections of “Order!” that he is now bellowing the word in foreign languages. The House of Commons’ ex-speaker, who left the role after 10 years in the run up to the General Election, has found new fame in a video of him shouting what has [...]
Eurozone PMI: Economy mired in worst spell since 2012 December 16, 2019 The Eurozone’s economy is stuck in its worst spell in six years, economists warned today, after it failed to gain momentum at the close of 2019. Output barely increased in December, registering a score of just 50.6 on IHS Markit’s Flash Eurozone purchasing managers’ index (PMI) Composite Output Index today. Anything below 50 represents a [...]
CMA clears $4.3bn Roche-Spark deal as US drags feet December 16, 2019 Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche today won UK regulatory approval for its $4.3bn merger with gene therapy firm Spark Therapeutics. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally cleared the tie-up in the latest milestone in Roche’s $114.5 per share offer. Read more: Roche faces fresh delay in $4.3bn Spark merger The deal had faced intense scrutiny [...]
Boris Johnson prepares mini-cabinet reshuffle as new Tory MPs arrive December 16, 2019 Prime Minister Boris Johnson will welcome his new tranche of Conservative MPs when they arrive in Westminster later today before the first day of the new parliament. Johnson, whose decision to call a snap election paid off in resounding fashion last week when voters returned him to Downing Street with what he called a “stonking” [...]
General Election night: Who are the big MP casualties? December 13, 2019 As Frankie Valli once sang, oh what a night. On a night of a seismic shift in the UK’s political landscape, there were some huge MP casualties. Boris Johnson’s Conservatives delivered a resounding victory in a pivotal General Election that saw a throng of Labour seats turn blue. The Tories won in London seats such [...]
General Election: Boris Johnson praises ‘stonking mandate’ for Brexit December 13, 2019 The Tories have won their biggest parliamentary majority since 1987 in a night where Labour seats turned blue in a transformative General Election. Boris Johnson’s strategy to break the parliamentary deadlock succeeded spectacularly to see the Prime Minister return to parliament with at least a 362 seats. That is well above Labour’s disastrous election returns, [...]
Superdry swings to £4.2m loss as Dunkerton hits reset button December 12, 2019 Superdry’s swung to a £4.2m loss in its first half-year results under co-founder Julian Dunkerton since his return to the helm, the firm revealed today. Read more: Saga appoints ex-Superdry boss Euan Sutherland as new CEO The figures Superdry witnessed underlying profits implode as they sank 98.4 per cent year on year to just £200,000 [...]
Dixons Carphone narrows losses as turnaround stings retailer December 12, 2019 Dixons Carphone narrowed losses in its latest half-year performance but a turnaround strategy took its toll on profits, the mobile phone seller revealed today. Read more: Dixons Carphone suffers investor backlash over pay The figures Dixons Carphone pared its loss before tax back to £86m, from a deep loss of £440m this time last year. [...]
DWF pays €50m for Spanish law firm Rousaud Costas Duran December 11, 2019 Listed London law firm DWF is set to pay €50.5m (£42.5m) for Spanish law firm Rousaud Costas Duran (RCD) in a move designed to expand its presence in the country. The acquisition will bring 40 new partners and 400 staff to DWF and will give it offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Read more: These [...]