Thomas Cook boss says ‘blame the lenders’ after holiday giant’s collapse September 29, 2019 The last ever boss of collapsed holiday giant Thomas Cook has laid the blame for the 178-year-old firm’s failure firmly at the door of its lenders. Former chief executive Peter Fankhauser said if bondholders and a syndicate of banks – including Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland – had taken action to [...]
If Jeremy Corbyn really cares about ‘the many’, he should rethink his aversion to markets September 27, 2019 A common complaint over the past three years is that no one can talk about anything other than Brexit. But that wasn’t true at the Labour party conference this week. Unlike the Liberal Democrats, who barely gave way to any policy discussion beyond revoking Article 50, both the Labour leader and shadow chancellor confronted all [...]
Office Space: The weird and wonderful Shoreditch HQ of tech firm TransferWise September 26, 2019 Tech start-ups are famous – or perhaps infamous – for their idiosyncratic offices filled with ping pong tables and hammocks and games consoles. But what happens when the start-up grows up? This is the position in which TransferWise finds itself: now eight years old, with nine offices around the globe and a total head-count of [...]
Putting the new Audi R8 through its paces on some hair-raising roads from Calais to Paris to Provence September 25, 2019 The Audi R8 is a mid-engined supercar with multiple personalities. Ideal, therefore, for a blast through France to visit three characterful but very different hotels. The 2019 Audi R8 might have only received a mild facelift but it can still stop people in their tracks. From the front, I worry that the recent nip-tuck makes [...]
Supreme Court set to deliver verdict on parliament prorogation September 24, 2019 The UK Supreme Court is set to decide if Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted illegally when he suspended parliament for five weeks before Brexit. An adverse ruling for the PM could disrupt his plans for a “do or die” Brexit on 31 October, when he has vowed to take the UK out of the EU [...]
Supreme Court live: Government QC outlines case for prorogation September 17, 2019 Please refresh this page manually for the latest updates. Follow this live blog as the UK’s highest court hears arguments for and against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s controversial decision to prorogue parliament. For an explainer on everything leading up to this week’s court case, check out our article from earlier on today. We run through [...]
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 [...]