Hargreaves Lansdown co-founder Stephen Lansdown to become a partner in creative investment fund Edge Investments November 23, 2015 Stephen Lansdown, co-founder of FTSE 100 financial services group Hargreaves Lansdown, is to join creative investment group Edge Investments. Lansdown will take a ten per cent stake and become a partner in the firm, which has previously invested in Rolling Stones' live events and the Clangers reboot, through the private equity arm of his family office. [...]
Viagra-maker Pfizer and Allergan will create the world’s largest pharma company after $160bn merger given formal go-ahead November 23, 2015 The largest pharma deal ever has been given the green light by the companies' respective directors after the boards of Pfizer and Allergan met yesterday to discuss the $160bn (£106bn) merger. The merger met with unanimous approval from the boards of Viagra-maker Pfizer, and Ireland-based Allergan, which manufactures Botox, and values Allergan at around $160bn, or $363.63 a [...]
HMRC collects £3.5bn from investigations into big businesses’ underpaid corporation tax November 23, 2015 HMRC collected an extra £3.5bn in corporate tax from challenging businesses on their payments in the last tax year, according to figures from Pinsent Masons. The £3.5bn came from investigations into underpaid corporation tax carried out by HMRC’s Large Business Directorate, which oversees the tax compliance of the 2,100 largest and most complex UK businesses. The [...]
Chinese cash is not enough to plug the funding gap or solve the skills shortage for UK infrastructure projects warns RICS November 23, 2015 The government cannot just rely on Chinese investment for UK infrastructure projects. The warning comes from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who said the UK faces a skills and funding crisis that could see major programmes grind to halt. Jeremy Blackburn, RICS' head of policy, said 43 per cent of surveyors turn down around five [...]
It looks like money really does grow on trees, Boris Johnson pledges to plant 40,000 new trees as a new survey shows trees are worth £6.1bn to London’s economy November 22, 2015 Trees contribute £6.1bn to London's economy, which is probably why Boris Johnson has launched a scheme to plant 40,000 more trees in the capital. The 'For the Love of Trees' initiative, launched today and will see 20,000 trees planted on school land around the capital, while a further 20,000 will be used to create an [...]
Viagra-maker Pfizer set for $150bn merger with Botox-manufacturer Allergan as boards of directors meet November 22, 2015 What happens when you mix Viagra and Botox? We'll find out soon as the boards of Pfizer and Allergan met today to approve their $150bn (£98.8bn) merger – the healthcare sector's largest ever deal, City A.M. understands. The talks were reported to have kicked up a gear as the US Treasury moves to clamp down tax inversion, where a US company [...]
Belgium remains on high alert and Brussels will be locked down for the third day as the threat of Paris-style attacks remains “imminent” November 22, 2015 Brussels will remain on lockdown with highest level of terror alert on Monday because of the "serious and imminent" threat of Paris-style attacks. Belgium's prime minister Charles Michel said universities, schools and the metro would remain closed tomorrow. Brussels has been on lockdown all weekend, amid a manhunt for suspected Islamic State attacker Salah Abdeslam, who is believed to have returned [...]
Black Friday 2015 total spend is expected to be almost £2bn as online shoppers take to their mobiles November 22, 2015 This Black Friday will indeed be a buying-bonanza, according to Visa, which expects an impressive £1.91bn to be spent online and in store. Visa Europe predicts £1.19bn will be spent in shops this Friday, up 20 per cent from 2013, but just a four per cent increase from last year. Perhaps shoppers will be looking [...]
Rent for a two-bed house in London is set to reach £2,000-a-month by 2020 warns Labour’s London Assembly spokesman Tom Copley November 20, 2015 Let the renter despair, average rents in London are set to reach £2,000 a month by 2020. If rents continue at their current trajectory, a two-bed house in the capital will cost £2,007 a month in five-years’ time, Labour’s London Assembly housing spokesman Tom Copley warned. A one-bed property would cost a staggering £2,010 a [...]
George Osborne’s National Living Wage will make it harder to hire, say 77 per cent of UK’s small and medium-sized businesses November 19, 2015 More than two-thirds of small businesses in the UK say the introduction of the living wage will impact their ability to hire. Britain’s SMEs say they are already struggling to find staff, and 77 per cent fear the living wage will make it harder, according to research from job site Indeed. The National Living Wage [...]
