Debenhams calls in top auditors to weigh up potential insolvency September 9, 2018 Embattled department store chain Debenhams has called in Big Four accountancy firm KPMG to help carry out desperate restructuring measures which could include a controversial insolvency process. Among the contingency options currently being weighed up by KPMG is a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which is an insolvency option that can be used to close stores [...]
Supplier joins growing calls for investigation into House of Fraser collapse September 9, 2018 Mike Ashley’s calls for an insolvency investigation into House of Fraser’s former directors were backed by one of the department store’s major suppliers today. Tea Terrace boss Ehab Shouly told the Sunday Times that House of Fraser’s erstwhile bosses withheld vital information about the company prior to its collapse last month. One source close to [...]
Boris Johnson compares Chequers deal to ‘suicide vest’ as open warfare between top Tories breaks out September 9, 2018 Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has deepened bitter divisions within the Conservative Party this morning, after claiming that Theresa May’s Brexit plan would put the UK constitution in a “suicide vest”. The damning jibe provoked a furious backlash among a number of senior party figures, laying bare the current internal splits that Tories face as [...]
Javid insists Chequers plan is only one ‘on the table’ as backbench pressure mounts September 9, 2018 Home Secretary Sajid Javid insisted Downing Street’s Chequers plan was the only one on the table with the EU earlier today, amid growing party pressure for a fully-fledged alternative to the government’s current Brexit strategy. Speaking to the BBC this morning, Javid said: “The only deal that we’ve got on the table, that’s the Chequers [...]
Hammond rows back on pledge to ease tax burden for self-employed workers September 6, 2018 Chancellor Philip Hammond has abandoned plans to give 3.4m self-employed people a tax break, it emerged earlier today. In a move to free up £350m for potential extra NHS funding, the Treasury is scrapping a tax cut that would have saved the UK’s self-employed workers an average £134. The relief had first been revealed in [...]
GCP portfolio swells as demand for London universities persists September 6, 2018 Property developer GCP Student Living revealed a 23 per cent rise in its portfolio value over the last 12 months amid growing international demand for London’s top universities. Full-year rental income for GCP jumped from 28.9m to £35.8m, while property portfolio values rose to £784.4m in the year leading up to the end of June [...]
Shares fall as BA investigates data breach affecting 380,000 card payments September 6, 2018 British Airways has admitted that hackers stole customer data from its website and mobile app over the last two weeks. Shares in International Airlines Group, of which BA is a subsidiary, have fallen more than 2 per cent this morning as the airline launched an investigation into the theft, which it said affected at least [...]
Department of Justice to set out charges against North Korean ‘WannaCry hackers’ September 6, 2018 US officials are set to unveil charges against North Korean nationals allegedly behind the cyber attacks which hit the NHS as well as major global institutions last year. The expected charges, which will likely be announced by the Department of Justice later today, relate to both Sony Pictures being hacked in 2014 and the WannaCry [...]
Shazam! EU gives Apple go-ahead for music app takeover September 6, 2018 Apple was given the green light for its planned takeover of popular song-recognition app Shazam by the European Union today. The tech giant got the go-ahead to acquire Shazam, which identifies songs played within range of a smartphone, from an EU antitrust investigation that said the takeover would not harm competition in the bloc. A full-scale [...]
Directional Aviation acquires PrivateFly in booking platform expansion September 5, 2018 PrivateFly was acquired today by Directional Aviation to form one of the world’s largest online booking platforms for private jet travel. In a deal which is likely to reshape the consolidation of the digital on-demand private airplane market, Hertfordshire-based Private Fly will be taken over after 11 years after it was first launched. Onesky, the [...]
