Two directors step down from Retail Acquisitions as BHS sales process drags on May 24, 2016 TWO directors of Retail Acquisitions, the company which bought BHS for £1 in 2015 from Sir Philip Green, have resigned. Retail Acquisitions' tenure at BHS ended in controversy when the retailer was placed in administration in April, putting thousands of jobs at risk. It has since emerged that Dominic Chappell, who headed up Retail Acquisitions, [...]
SME overdrafts fall off as banks adhere to new rules May 22, 2016 LENDING to small businesses via overdrafts is falling by £100m a month as SME bank overdrafts die out, says Funding Options, the online business finance supermarket. At the end of March this year, SMEs were borrowing £12.1bn in bank overdrafts, compared to nearly £14bn at the end of September 2014, a fall of 13 per [...]
Takeaways’ margins could be heading for the toilet if small businesses are forced to comply with new ruling May 19, 2016 THOUSANDS of London takeaways could see margins hit hard by a new High Court ruling that requires them to have public toilets, the Federation of Small Business (FSB) has warned. FSB is concerned that the new ruling opens the door to small businesses being forced to refurbish their premises in order to comply with “heavy [...]
Warren Buffett has been linked with a group that is looking to bid for Yahoo May 15, 2016 Warren Buffett, the legendary investor, is backing a consortium that is bidding for the core internet assets of Yahoo, according to reports. The head of Berkshire Hathaway, also known as the Sage of Omaha, is reportedly among a group that includes Dan Gilbert, the billionaire founder of Quicken Loans. US news reports and the Financial [...]
Scene set for Stock Spirits’ AGM as investor backs major shareholder in calling for change May 15, 2016 BACKING for the dissident investor in troubled Stock Spirits is growing ahead of next week's AGM at the London-listed, Central European spirits producer. Stock Spirits' largest shareholder, Western Gate, is calling for the election of two new non-executive directors (Neds), and for a new review of the company's M&A strategy. Western Gate Investments is the [...]
Are you one of the Premium Bonds jackpot winners? May 3, 2016 A Surrey woman has become the county's twenty-first Premium Bonds millionaire. A man from the West of Scotland also won £1m as NS&I announced the results of this month's draw. NS&I said it is holding on to £1.2m in unclaimed prizes won by Surrey residents. Some 2.3m prizes were won in May’s draw, starting at [...]
UK pension deficits near £300bn May 3, 2016 UK private sector pension deficits are close to breaking the £300bn barrier. JLT Employee Benefits’s monthly index valued total UK deficits at minus £294bn. For FTSE 100 companies, the figure was minus £84bn, based on liabilities of £638bn. The total deficit for FTSE 350 companies was minus £108bn. Charles Cowling, director at JLT Employee Benefits, blamed [...]
Tesco’s share price has recovered this year as Dave Lewis implements his turnaround plan, but the preliminary results could affect sentiment April 13, 2016 When Dave Lewis took over as Tesco chief executive in September 2014, much was made of his nickname Drastic Dave, particularly as drastic measures were necessary to revive the group's flagging fortunes. Lewis was parachuted in from Unilever to turn around the Tesco juggernaut after a scandal that had seen the retailer overstate its profits. [...]