Recruiter Staffline’s share price dives as it swings to £8m loss September 17, 2019 Recruiter Staffline swung to a near £8m loss in the first half of 2019 as it warned of a slowdown in new business contracts, sending its share price crashing. Read more: Recruiters warn City job hunters over old social media posts The figures Staffline blamed a series of “unfortunate challenges” as well as Brexit uncertainty [...]
Protesters throw petrol bombs as Hong Kong violence persists September 15, 2019 Anti-government protests in Hong Kong showed no signs of letting up today, as police fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators throwing petrol bombs at government buildings. Some protesters threw bricks at police outside a Chinese army base in the city, and set fire to a banner intended to celebrate the upcoming 70th [...]
Hunting the hunters: We go on safari with the Serengeti’s canine anti-poaching unit September 13, 2019 We bounced along at high speed, our eyes glued on the dramatic chase unfolding on the Serengeti plains. An agile, golden-coated beast bounded forward in pursuit, its rowdy team striving to catch up. The target now cowered in a small thicket of acacia tree, a fairly lame strategy but it looked to be all it [...]
Fintech is all the rage, but is the bubble about to burst? September 5, 2019 Fintechs are all the rage. Scarcely a day goes by without a new challenger bank or money app making headlines about how it seeks to disrupt traditional banking and solve personal finance problems. As a result, capital is pouring into the sector – last year, global investment into financial technology ventures more than doubled to [...]
Top 10 Just Eat shareholder to vote against £9bn merger deal with Takeaway.com September 3, 2019 Just Eat’s proposed merger with Takeaway.com was dealt a setback this morning after a top 10 shareholder revealed it plans to vote against the tie-up. US asset manager Eminence Capital, which holds a 4.4 per cent stake in Just Eat, is set to oppose the British food delivery firm’s £9bn deal with Amsterdam-based rival Takeaway.com. [...]
Paw-rogued: Larry the cat on alert as new pup moves into Downing Street September 2, 2019 A new puppy has moved into Downing Street today to join Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his stay at number 10. The dog, which is a Jack Russell cross, is moving from Wales where it was rescued from a puppy farm. Read more: The fur flies on Downing Street as two of politics’ top cats [...]
Activists quieter in first half of the year as political uncertainty hits September 2, 2019 European businesses could breathe a sigh of relief as activist investors opened fewer campaigns in the first half of 2019. The number of demands made by activists in Europe was more than 14 per cent lower over the period compared to last year, according to figures from Activistmonitor. Read more: Just Eat faces pressure as [...]
Boris’ Brexit blindside: What the hell just happened? August 28, 2019 Boris Johnson has put the cat among the pigeons by asking the Queen to suspend parliament for nearly five weeks, reducing the amount of time parliament sits before the critical Brexit Halloween deadline. Remainers are outraged. Brexiters are sceptical. But what happens next? Is proroguing parliament legal? That’s a tough one. Certainly, Johnson’s team wanted [...]
Does Hargreaves Lansdown’s strategy cause too much money to pour into too few funds? August 28, 2019 Given that diversification is one of the most important principles of investing, we should question why the UK’s largest investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t seem to be following this basic idea. This became apparent in the wake of the scandal around Britain’s most famous fund manager, as £1.6bn was funnelled into Neil Woodford’s still-suspended fund [...]
What to do about staff skipping work for the beach August 20, 2019 We’ve heard it all before: “my cat is having kittens”, “I’ve hurt my back”, “I’ve got food poisoning”, “my bathtub fell through my ceiling”, or “my car broke down”. When the sun is out, employees might feel inclined to use one of these excuses in order to skip work and do something a little more [...]