Vectura taps market for £52m to help snap up asthma specialist March 13, 2014 RESPIRATORY drug company Vectura raised £52m yesterday to fund the purchase of a German asthma expert, making it the latest in a line of British biotech firms to tap the markets in recent months. Vectura, which makes inhalers to treat respiratory diseases, is spending a total of £109m to take over nebuliser specialist Activaero in [...]
Power steering March 9, 2014 What happens when Bernie Ecclestone leaves Formula One? HE IS one of Britain’s best-known chief executives, and over 40 years has transformed Formula One from an amateur pastime into a billion-pound business and the world’s most-watched annual sports series. Bernie Ecclestone has become a household name through his appearances on F1’s glitzy grid, and his [...]
Saving procrastination nation March 5, 2014 Melissa York on the internet blocking apps and downloads designed to save you from yourself ACTRESS Jennifer Saunders revealed this week that she’s seeking help from a hypnotist to combat her tendency to procrastinate while scriptwriting. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Saunders’ book and try to do something about this collective bad [...]
The Black Cats won’t block City’s path to cup success February 27, 2014 BEN CLEMINSON AND BILL ESDAILE WITH THE BEST FOOTBALL AND RACING BETS FAILURE is unthinkable for Manchester City in Sunday’s Capital One Cup final against Sunderland – but they know as well as anyone that favourites don’t always win at Wembley. Last season’s FA Cup final is a perfect case study of David toppling Goliath after Wigan’s shock 1-0 victory [...]
BT’s clash over Sky Sports goes into extra time February 17, 2014 BT’S DISPUTE with BSkyB over the price and availability of Sky Sports on its YouView set top boxes will go into an epic eighth year following a court ruling yesterday. The Court of Appeal decided that the competition tribunal should re-examine its decision from August 2012, which stopped BSkyB being forced to offer Sky Sports [...]
An electric car that truly electrifies February 10, 2014 The first electric city cars didn’t pass muster. Now, Volkswagen has finally given us one to get excited about FRANKLY, we’ve waited far too long for an alternative to the infernal G-Wiz. The original electric city car has been on London’s roads for a decade now, ferrying glum-looking owners for whom the zero-emissions dream was [...]
Our favourite way to forecast the US jobs numbers February 9, 2014 This remains our favourite way to predict the US labour data release. After last month’s non-farm payroll prediction miss, this month we are using a different cat #NFPguesses pic.twitter.com/CwwyVhsYas — Craig Drake (@csdrake) February 7, 2014 Last time this was tried Bob the cat was well off – but that’s because her options were restricted [...]
Weak US jobs data: Only 113,000 workers hired in January February 7, 2014 A weak number from the US. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 113,000 workers were hired in January. Analysts expected to see 185,000 jobs added this month. We saw some nasty numbers last month, with only 74,000 jobs added so there was a good possibility of a rebound. That number has been revised up – but [...]
Our favourite way to forecast the US jobs numbers February 7, 2014 This remains our favourite way to predict the US labour data release. After last month's non-farm payroll prediction miss, this month we are using a different cat #NFPguesses pic.twitter.com/CwwyVhsYas — Craig Drake (@csdrake) February 7, 2014 Last time this was tried Bob the cat was well off – but that's because her options were [...]
Cat cure firm Circassia in biggest healthcare float for eight years February 6, 2014 A CURE for cat allergies could soon be hitting the market after its Oxford-based developers yesterday confirmed plans to raise £175m on the London stock market in the biggest healthcare float since 2006. Circassia, which is privately backed by firms like Invesco Perpetual and hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, said it will use the money to [...]