John Lewis CEO: Bailey wants you to be gloomy – and it’s working HIGH STREET GIANT The new Chief Executive of John Lewis has given a stark warning to the Bank of England, cautioning against higher interest rates that could “tip into recession”. Nish Kankiwala was appointed as the Partnership’s first Chief Executive in March and has since been laying out his recovery plan for the struggling high street favourites John [...]
Financial services dealmaking reaches 10-year high as appetite rebounds Deals Dealmaking in the UK’s financial services sector reached its highest level in a decade in the first half of the year as top firms scrambled for safety in scale amid economic volatility, fresh data has revealed.
F1 star Bottas among big name investors to back wine investment firm Cult Wines WIne investment F1 driver Valtteri Bottas and the former chair of Moet-Hennessy are among the names to have backed a fresh £1.7m funding injection in wine investment firm Cult Wines, the firm announced today. Cult Wines, founded in London in 2007, announced today the seed fundraising round was led by Christophe Navarre, the former Moet-Hennessy chief and chairman [...]
UK law firm mergers rose last year as ‘growing by acquisition’ becomes more attractive May 22, 2023 New data reveals the number of law firm mergers in the UK has risen by nearly a quarter in the past year – from 99 in 2021 to 122 in 2022. New research from accountancy firm Hazlewoods shows merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the sector has rebounded following a pandemic slump. According to Hazlewoods, [...]
Ryanair aims to ‘wipe the floor’ with European airlines in push to double passenger numbers May 21, 2023 Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary says the company will steal market share from European rivals to propel growth, aiming to double passenger numbers to 300m per year within a decade. Speaking to the Financial Times, O’Leary said: “I think the thesis that there’s no more growth in Europe, [and that] Europe is completely tapped out, [...]
Rolls-Royce mismanagement was ‘worst I’ve seen in my career’ says new boss May 21, 2023 The newly appointed chief executive of Rolls-Royce says the company has been “grossly mismanaged”, describing financials the engineering group faced in 2019 as the “worst I have seen in my career”. In an interview with the Financial Times, Tufan Erginbilgic also defended his recent hires at Rolls-Royce of oil executives – with no aerospace experience [...]
UK state pension scheme has ‘no current plans’ to back nuclear in blow to Sizewell C May 14, 2023 The UK’s flagship state pension scheme says it has “no current plans” to invest in nuclear infrastructure such as Sizewell C, marking a major setback for the government’s mission to grow the country’s future nuclear power output. Following a change to its energy policy last year, there had been hopes from inside the governmentthat the [...]
Wetherspoon chief’s solution to labour shortage – ‘Get the b******s back to work!’ May 14, 2023 JD Wetherspoon chief Tim Martin has called for firms and the government to do more to stop people retiring early, demanding “we should get the b******s back to work.” UK labour shortages have been exacerbated by Britons leaving the workforce before the State Pension age of 66, increasing the number of economically inactive in the [...]
North Sea oil workers begin ‘biggest offshore stoppage in a generation’ April 24, 2023 North Sea oil workers have begun the “biggest offshore stoppage in a generation”, with 48-hour strikes on oil and gas rigs.
Elgin Marbles: Leading historian says British Museum has “nothing to apologise for” March 20, 2023 A leading Oxford academic has slammed mooted plans to lend the Elgin Marbles to Greece ahead of a crunch meeting of the trustees of the British Museum this week. In a new report commissioned by Policy Exchange, art historian and Elgin Marbles expert Sir Noel Malcolm has confirmed the Museum is legally bound to preserve [...]