E-commerce firm Bango sees profit soar in online lockdown boom March 16, 2021 Data-driven commerce company Bango saw revenue and profit soar last year as the group celebrated a boom in online payments during the pandemic. Revenue at the company rocketed 70 per cent to £12.2m last year as it inked new deals with Google and Amazon — up from £7.2m the year before. Bango also recovered from a [...]
Screenshot: Does the UK media have a racism problem? March 12, 2021 This week: **Media Moment of the Week: GMB gets a new frontman **Does the UK media have a racism problem? **Deliveroo’s IPO giveaway; BT gets in a bind Media Moment of the Week: GMB gets a new frontman What a week it’s been for ITV. In the space of 24 hours it racked up bumper [...]
Goldman-backed broadband firm Cityfibre plots major stake sale March 8, 2021 Challenger broadband firm Cityfibre is preparing the sale of a major stake to a new investor in a deal said to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds The London-based company has tapped bankers at UBS and Rothschild to identify a third backer, Sky News reported. The buyer would join the two existing investors West [...]
Horse racing must embrace innovation to build a prosperous future – and this is the perfect time to start March 8, 2021 British horse racing is facing financial challenges and, as with many sports, has suffered a heavy toll during the pandemic. As the country’s second biggest spectator sport, the exclusion of racegoers has cost around £300m, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) estimates. A review of the Betting Levy is seen as one way of addressing Covid-19-induced [...]
Bill Gates-backed Evolv goes public in $1.7bn Spac deal March 8, 2021 Crowd safety company Evolv Technology is merging with a special acquisition company (Spac) to go public in a deal that values the firm at $1.7bn. Evolv will merge with NewHold Investment Corp and the combined company expects to receive approximately $470m in gross proceeds. Following the closing of the transaction the company will be led [...]
BT denies boardroom rift led to chairman’s resignation March 8, 2021 BT has hit back at reports that a boardroom row led to its chairman’s resignation, insisting there was “no misalignment” over the company’s strategy. Sky News last week reported that chief executive Philip Jansen threatened to resign unless Jan du Plessis stepped down as chairman. The veteran South African director announced his departure a week [...]
BT boss Philip Jansen ‘gave ultimatum’ over chairman’s departure March 5, 2021 BT chief executive Philip Jansen is said to have given the board an ultimatum over his own future at the company that led to the departure of the chairman this week. Jansen told fellow directors that he was prepared to resign unless the telecoms behemoth replaced Jan du Plessis as chairman, Sky News report. Du [...]
Budget 2021: How does the new tax ‘super-deduction’ work? March 3, 2021 This afternoon Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new tax “super-deduction” policy to encourage investment into the UK and boost its recovery from the pandemic. The new form of relief will come into effect next month and last until the end of March 2023, and should be especially popular with manufacturing, construction and utilities firms. Shares [...]
Credit Suisse halts redemptions on $10bn Greensill-linked funds March 1, 2021 Credit Suisse has suspended redemptions and subscriptions on a range of investments linked to the Softbank-backed finance firm Greensill Capital. Greensill Capital is the brainchild of former Citigroup and Morgan Stanley financier Lex Greensill and it employs former PM David Cameron as an adviser. Greensill specialises in supply-chain finance where businesses borrow money to pay [...]
Darktrace appoints former BT boss to board ahead of £4bn float March 1, 2021 Darktrace has appointed former BT chief executive Sir Peter Bonfield to its board ahead of a potential stock market float that could value the cybersecurity giant at £4bn. Bonfield has more than five decades of experience in the tech sector, including a six-year tenure as boss of the blue-chip telecoms giant. He currently serves as [...]