Fears over Greek election and oil prices hit FTSE – London Report January 5, 2015 AFALL in major energy stocks and worries over the political outlook in Greece knocked down Britain’s top equity index yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed down two per cent at 6,417.16 points. The index also retreated 0.3 per cent on Friday, after falling 2.7 per cent in 2014. Weaker energy stocks, including BP and Royal [...]
Premier League: Poyet’s Johnson whim results in Pardew wearing unenviable tag December 21, 2014 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 SUNDERLAND 1 SUNDERLAND boss Gus Poyet admitted he contemplated substituting Adam Johnson shortly before the former England winger proved the last-gasp match-winner in yesterday’s Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle at St James’ Park. Johnson rounded off a swift Black Cats’ counter-attack in the 90th minute as Sunderland extended their unbeaten run against Newcastle [...]
People’s Postcode Lottery: A gamble where everybody wins December 18, 2014 Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £56m for charity and they aim to raise even more next year. Fancy your luck this Christmas? Well, deciding to play People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL) isn’t a gamble at all when you know that the money you pay is being used to support some of the UK’s [...]
Good causes December 15, 2014 Just some of the charities supported this Christmas BATTERSEA DOGS & CATS HOME Christmas isn’t a relaxing time for everyone, especially not the 400 dogs and 250 cats waiting for new owners in Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Many of the animals, like Gizmo the staffie (pictured), get anxious and depressed in the kennels and [...]
PetSmart sold to BC Partners in $8.7bn deal December 14, 2014 UK investor BC Partners last night beat larger US rivals to clinch the world’s biggest private equity takeover this year, striking a $8.7bn (£5.5bn) deal to land pet retailer PetSmart. BC, the former owner of big brand UK firms such as Foxtons and the defunct Phones4U, will pay $83 per share alongside a team of [...]
From Grumpy Cat and falling oil prices to Google blackouts and the weather bomb: Here are 10 things we learned this week December 12, 2014 It's been another busy week… here's our pick of the things we learned. 1. Grumpy Cat may not look too impressed but for once she certainly had something to smile about. Turns out the feline internet celebrity earned £32m last year. That's more than a host of business bosses, including Sir Martin Sorrell, Jamie [...]
FCA chiefs Martin Wheatley and David Lawton cling on despite damning Davis report on insurance market fiasco December 10, 2014 City watchdog Martin Wheatley came in for criticism yesterday as the £3.8m Davis report on the regulator’s handling of media briefings was released to the public. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) chief executive will forgo his bonus for 2013-14 as a result of the findings, as will David Lawton, director of markets, Zitah McMillan, director [...]
Google’s Eric Schmidt says artificial intelligence concerns are normal but misguided after Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk warnings December 10, 2014 Google boss Eric Schmidt is the latest to weigh in on the artificial intelligence debate after Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk both offered a dim view of intelligent machines in the future. Schmidt is tabling a much more positive view of the rise of the machines. Nothing to do with Google’s massive investment in AI, [...]
London opens its first “Cereal Killer” cafe: Here are the capital’s most gimmicky cafes December 10, 2014 Forget the "weather bomb" – if you're in the capital and you're partial to grains, today's biggest story is the opening of Cereal Killer, the new London cafe that serves nothing but cereal. According to owners Gary and Alan Keery – identical, bearded twins – the Brick Lane venue is a "nostalgic cafe displaying hundreds [...]
The Royal Palm in Mauritius: The best resort hotel in the Indian Ocean is back with a bang December 7, 2014 The Royal Palm, haunt of former French presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, has just undergone a £10m refurbishment. It was already the best hotel in Mauritius and, in the words of Spinal Tap, it has just turned it up to eleven, upgrading to become the only six star hotel in Mauritius. The Royal Palm [...]