Former Virgin exec plots telecoms bid March 4, 2015 THE MAN who engineered Virgin Media’s $24bn (£15bn) blockbuster sale to Liberty Global has unveiled ambitious plans to take advantage of frenzied deal activity in Europe’s telecoms market. Ex-Virgin Media finance boss Eamonn O’Hare’s dramatic come-back, revealed last night, will involve raising cash in London to snap up struggling telecoms assets across the continent. Along [...]
Standard Chartered’s boardroom bloodbath: Chief exec Peter Sands and chairman Sir John Peace are out February 26, 2015 Standard Chartered delighted investors with a boardroom revolution yesterday, announcing the exit of chief executive Peter Sands, chairman Sir John Peace and four other senior directors. The troubled emerging markets specialist had come under increasing pressure to change tack, after the share price fell by half over the last two years. Sands had previously [...]
Last year Switzerland filed more patent applications than the UK February 26, 2015 More indication of the UK's woeful attitude to intellectual property: data by the European Patents Office has shown that in 2014, more companies in Switzerland (population: eight million) filed for patents than ones in the UK (population: 64.1m). In fact, Germany, France and the Netherlands all filed more applications. Although to be fair, even Germany's [...]
Sky share price reaches 15-year high of 1,005p on pan-European status February 25, 2015 Despite more cost pressure than ever on European pay TV broadcaster Sky, its shares touched a new high yesterday as investors remained optimistic about the group’s future. Shares rose 3.18 per cent to 1,005p on the London Stock Exchange, even as Sky prepares to swallow a huge £4.2bn bill to hold on to its Premier [...]
Sky Sports wins US Major League Soccer TV broadcast rights February 24, 2015 Sky Sports will today announce it has added exclusive TV broadcast rights of live US Major League Soccer (MLS) in the UK, from March. The four-year deal to show at least two games a week comes as Sky prepares to swallow its huge £4.2bn bid to hold on to an improved package of Premier League football [...]
The Oscars are over, but popular culture is still a driving force behind inequality February 24, 2015 The Oscars have come and gone for another year. Winning an Academy Award is very often the basis for either making a fortune or turning an existing one into mega riches. Jack Nicholson has an estimated net worth of over $400m, and stars like Tom Hanks and Robert De Niro are not far behind. Even [...]
UK is failing to adopt digital skills, Lords committee warns February 17, 2015 Digital skills should be taught as a core subject in schools, along with the likes of English and Maths, according to the recommendations of the House of Lords digital skills select committee. In September, England became the first G20 country to add computer programming to the curriculum, to improve the skills of children and graduates [...]
Sky hopes that huge Premier League TV football deal will score with fans – Brand Index February 17, 2015 Sky Sports was clearly in no mood to relinquish to BT Sport the right to broadcast Premier League matches between 2016-19, despite having to shell out the bulk of the £5bn needed to secure those rights. There has been some dissent, with some ex-players calling the amount of money involved obscene. Commentators have asserted that [...]
Former BP boss Lord Browne to chair Huawei UK February 16, 2015 Huawei, the world’s second-largest telecom equipment maker, yesterday appointed a trio of directors to its UK subsidiary’s board, including former BP chief executive Lord Browne as chairman. Lord Browne will become the first independent chairman of the Chinese company’s UK arm. Dame Helen Alexander, chair of marketing firm UBM and former UKTI head Sir Andrew [...]
Virgin Media plans billion-pound broadband investment in “£8bn boost” to UK economy February 13, 2015 Virgin Media has unveiled major plans to invest in its broadband network which it says will benefit the UK economy by £8bn. The £3bn of investment will also create 6,000 jobs over the next five years, 1,000 of which will be apprenticeships, the Liberty Global-owned company has said. Virgin will increase by a third the number [...]