Beware, Sid – Lloyds sale could be tricky April 19, 2015 A big retail offering of Lloyds shares is on the cards. Large-scale privatisation is back. David Cameron is promising a £4bn sale of Lloyds shares to retail customers, swapping one big government shareholder for thousands of individuals. An instant comparison is with the 1980s. Giant firms like BT, BP and British Gas were taken out [...]
London house prices: This nine-bedroom Chelsea mansion just sold for £51m – 300 times the average house price April 10, 2015 A house just outside Chelsea's super-upmarket square The Boltons has sold for just over £51m – that's 300 times the average house price for England and Wales. The Daily Mail reported the nine-bedroom property in Boltons Place had been sold to an offshore company – although the buyer got a deal: it was originally on [...]
Bafta TV awards 2015: Benedict Cumberbatch wins third leading actor nomination for Sherlock April 8, 2015 Benedict Cumberbatch received his sixth Leading Actor nomination at the Bafta Television Awards today, the third for his starring role in Sherlock. Other BBC dramas Happy Valley and The Missing also featured prominently in Bafta's nominations, with both receiving nods in the best drama series and leading actress and actor categories for Sarah Lancashire and [...]
BT names the date for EE vote April 1, 2015 BT shareholders will be asked to approve the £12.5bn acquisition of mobile network EE at a general meeting on 30 April. Shareholders are being invited to the meeting at Old Billingsgate at 10am. A simple majority is all that is required for the takeover to go ahead, although it is still subject to heavy scrutiny [...]
BT sets date for shareholder vote on EE deal as board member stands down April 1, 2015 The date has been set for BT shareholders to approve the £12.5bn acquisition of mobile network EE. Shareholders are being invited to a general meeting at Old Billingsgate on April 30, at 10am. Circulars are currently being sent out to relevant parties. Proxy forms are due by April 28 for those not attending the [...]
European glory worth €100m to English clubs March 31, 2015 WINNING the Champions League could be worth more than €100m (£72.3m) to an English club next season in prize money alone after governing body Uefa announced an increase in merit payments for 2015-18. This year’s Premier League winners could scoop a maximum of around €113m (£82m) if they go on to lift European club football’s [...]
The Saints go marching on to profitability: Southampton’s David Bence is heading for a sustainable business model March 30, 2015 Those who read the business press as opposed to only the sports pages might have already adjusted themselves to the fact that Premier League football clubs can occasionally make profits, especially now that new financial fair play rules have begun to constrain the wage demands of the top players. But the story of Southampton Football [...]
Premier League clubs agree £1bn for good causes if TV rights deal remains after Ofcom investigation March 26, 2015 The Premier League yesterday conditioned a £1bn grant for a variety of good causes, including grassroots football, on its new bumper £5bn TV rights deal not being overturned by a regulatory investigation. The body that oversees England’s 20 elite football clubs says its offer will not stand if an investigation by Ofcom, instigated after a [...]
Premier League clubs score a £190m record profit March 25, 2015 England’s leading football clubs have left their loss-making ways behind and entered a new era of profitability after mustering record-breaking pre-tax profits last season. Premier League teams registered a combined pre-tax profit in 2013-14 for the first time in 15 years, with the £190m figure almost four times the previous record of £49m, set during [...]
Northern towns lead list of the UK’s most desirable postcodes March 24, 2015 Amid overcrowded tubes, ridiculous rents as well as overpriced bars and restaurants it's hardly surprising London doesn't feature on this list of the UK's most desirable postcodes. But it's actually a lot nicer up North. A better work-life balance propelled locations in the North of England to the top of the list, with the Bebington, Wirral [...]