CityFibre rolling out in Aberdeen September 3, 2014 WHOLESALE fibre operator CityFibre will begin building out a new fibre network in Aberdeen by Christmas, with the goal of bringing superfast gigabit fibre to the Scottish city. Aberdeen will bring CityFibre’s network – which it resells as an alternative to BT, to councils, businesses and internet providers (ISPs) – to more than 57 towns [...]
Balderton bets on 3D printing September 3, 2014 BALDERTON Capital yesterday led a $4.5m (£2.7m) investment on a 3D printing firm flourishing in London. 3D Hubs, founded in Amsterdam in August 2014, is a 3D printing network of 7,000 printers where anyone can log on, find a nearby printer and print out their designs. “We see the UK as one of the biggest [...]
Top startups in call to keep London #1 European tech hub September 2, 2014 London's top startups and venture capital firms will today urge the UK government to relax rules and taxes in order to maintain the capital’s status as the top European tech hub. The so-called Startup Manifesto – written by policy group Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) led by former government adviser Guy Levin – [...]
Former government adviser Guy Levin leads the startup charge September 2, 2014 When Guy Levin left his job as a government adviser last year – where he’d worked since 2010, jumping from the Conservative Campaign Headquarters to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and finally the Department for International Development – he was passionate about bridging the gap between startups and government. “I’d always been interested [...]
Playtech looks to boost its land gaming with €10.5m takeover September 2, 2014 GAMBLING software firm Playtech, whose shares leapt 8.6 last week after it reported soaring profits in the first half of the year, yesterday announced it had acquired two video lottery machine companies in Norway and Italy for €10.5m (£8.33m). Video lottery allows players to bet on the outcome of a video game, often replicating traditional [...]
Quindell investors hold strong as £30m joint venture breaks up September 2, 2014 QUINDELL, the Aim-listed insurance firm whose stock price was ravaged by a short-seller attack earlier this year, saw its shares rally nearly six per cent yesterday after it announced it was buying out the RAC’s stake in its Connected Car Solutions (CCS) joint venture. Quindell said it would take full control of CCS, which makes [...]
Phones 4u loses key Vodafone contract in 2015 September 1, 2014 High street mobile retailer Phones 4u saw the value of its debt, listed on the Irish stock exchange, plummet over 50 percentage points yesterday after Vodafone announced it would not renew its contract with the group. Vodafone, which accounted for 27 per cent of Phones 4u’s contract sales and 16 per cent of its pay [...]
Perform Group mulling £700m takeover bid by Len Blavatnik September 1, 2014 Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik’s investment group Access Industries said yesterday it is planning to buy out the remaining stake in Perform Group that it does not already control, in a deal that would value the London-listed internet sports distribution firm at £701.6m. Perform, which floated in 2011, saw its shares soar 26.35 per cent [...]
London housing market is back to normal, says Berkeley chair September 1, 2014 HOUSE builder Berkeley’s chairman Tony Pidgley has said that London’s housing market is “stabilising”, in a trading update. “Since the start of the current financial year, the market has reverted to normal transaction levels from the high point in 2013, providing a stable operating environment. Demand for the right product with good design in the [...]
Microchip willing to offer cash to sweeten CSR takeover offer September 1, 2014 MICROCHIP Technology, the US maker of memory and analog chips, has sweetened its bidding for British microchip firm CSR by revealing it is likely to pay cash for the firm should a deal be agreed. CSR confirmed it had knocked back a takeover approach from its US rival last week, saying Microchip would have to [...]
