Jupiter adds to pressure on Barclays over fossil fuel financing March 3, 2020 Jupiter Asset Management has backed a landmark shareholder resolution calling on Barclays to stop financing fossil fuel producers that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement climate goals. Jupiter, which is one of Barclays’ top-25 shareholders, has joined 11 other institutional investors and over 100 individual shareholders in backing the motion, which is thought to [...]
Sadiq Khan eyes power to implement rent controls in campaign launch March 3, 2020 Sadiq Khan will launch his re-election campaign today by pledging to win powers to implement rent control in London if he is returned to the top job. Launching his campaign at a Hackney housing estate today, Khan will say that his victory would represent an “undeniable and irresistible” mandate to enforce rent controls – a [...]
Watchdog warns consumers over online travel agents March 3, 2020 Travellers can get a better deal by booking directly with hotels rather than through online travel agents, a consumer rights watchdog has found. The investigation found that eight out of 10 hotels were able to offer a better price or other incentives such as free breakfasts or upgrades when customers booked directly over the telephone. [...]
Exclusive: Mystery of HS2 letter deepens as Chinese ambassador calls document ‘fake’ March 3, 2020 The provenance of a letter claiming to be from China’s state-run railway offering to build HS2 has been plunged into mystery after the Chinese ambassador to the UK said that no such letter had ever been written. Speaking at Chatham House, ambassador Liu Xiaoming said “the Chinese railway authority did not write a letter to [...]
Vodafone invests $25m in space-based mobile network March 3, 2020 Vodafone today said it has invested $25m (£19.5m) in a new space-based broadband network designed to provide mobile signal to devices anywhere on the planet. The Space Mobile project, led by Texas-based AST & Science, is developing the first satellite system that will broadcast mobile broadband from space. This will provide mobile users with signal [...]
Cordant Group receives key investment after struggling to raise cash March 2, 2020 Recruitment firm Cordant Group today received an outside investment necessary to safeguard 45,000 jobs. Twenty 20 Capital will become the majority shareholder in Cordant Group, which it hopes will enable to company to expand at a later date. As a result a new investment board and chairman will be appointed. The size of the investment [...]
Short-term rentals firm Hostmaker heads for administration March 2, 2020 Hostmaker, a London-based lettings company, has entered administration. The company’s staff are now facing potential redundancy, while Houst — formerly known as Airsorted — is believed to have bought Hostmaker’s client base, according to industry website Shorttermrentalz. The news followed a week after the Sunday Times reported Hostmaker was facing a potential insolvency battle. Sign [...]
Alphabet’s Waymo nabs $2.25bn in first external funding round March 2, 2020 Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet, said tonight it has raised $2.25bn (£1.76bn) in its first external investment round. In addition to Alphabet, investors included car parts supplier Magna International, US dealership chain Autonation, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and three large investment firms: Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Alphabet [...]
Micro Focus shelves $1.4bn loan deal due to coronavirus March 2, 2020 One of the UK’s largest listed technology companies has delayed a $1.4bn debt sale due to market uncertainty caused by the coronavirus. Micro Focus had been working on plans for the $1.4bn loan — which had initially supported the acquisition of Hewlett-Packard’s enterprise software division — for two weeks. The decision follows in the wake [...]
Mondo Duplantis interview: Pole vault world record holder on how his upbringing shaped him, his rise to fame and his Olympic ambitions March 2, 2020 Some children grow up kicking a ball around. Some take to throwing and catching. For as long as he can remember, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis has had a pole in his hand and a crash mat set up on which to throw himself. Born into an athletic family, with a former pole vaulter for a father, [...]
