When does the Premier League transfer window shut? Can players still be signed after the deadline? Here’s everything you need to know January 31, 2017 When does this year's January transfer window close? Premier League and Football League clubs in England have until 11pm on Tuesday 31 January to sign new players. There's Premier League games being played that night — and the day after! Will players be allowed to play immediately? Not so fast. Players have to be registered with the league before midday [...]
Enter The Dragon: Why China is snapping up British assets January 30, 2017 What do Heathrow, Thames Water, black cabs, Harvey Nichols and Rio Tinto have in common? They’re all part-owned by Chinese companies. “Britain holds a number of attractions for Chinese investors,” says Simon Bevan, head of the China Britain services group at Grant Thornton UK. “As a country, our language, business culture, rule of law and [...]
Weetabix to invest £30m keeping up with appetite for healthy breakfast January 30, 2017 The UK’s top-selling cereal brand has announced plans to increase production capacity at sites in Burton Latimer and Corby by 2018. The investment will allow Weetabix to boost manufacturing volumes in response to a rise in the brand’s UK cereal and drinks market share from 15.3 to 16.4 per cent in 2016. Rising sales of [...]
Fabulous Brexit, Chinese implosion: The feasible scenarios markets are ignoring January 27, 2017 The exquisite unpredictability of markets was on full parade in 2016, and investors are still breathless. Very few believed populist anger would lead to a Brexit or a President Trump, or that a crashing oil market would be rescued by a deal underpinned by Saudi altruism towards Iran. Indeed, markets are replete with occurrences which [...]
Louis Vuitton and Moet & Chandon owner reveals 2016 was a vintage year January 26, 2017 While last year might not have been everyone's favourite 12 months, luxury brand owner LVMH revealed "an excellent performance in 2016", posting solid revenue and cashflow growth. The owner of a variety of posh labels including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior said organic revenue growth during 2016 was six per cent with sales totalling €37.6bn (£31.9m). Read [...]
Londoners invited to invest in Libya January 26, 2017 Libyan businessmen and governmental officials are in London today seeking investment in the country’s key industries. The Libya Reconstruction and Investment Forum is being held at Lancaster House, a government-owned mansion in St James’s operated by the Foreign Office. Oil, healthcare and infrastructure will be among the sectors where Libyans will be looking for foreign [...]
Chinese stadium company to buy stake in Southampton but current Saints owner indicates she’ll stay on January 26, 2017 Southampton are set to become the latest English football club to be snapped up by Chinese investors after they agreed a deal with stadium construction company Lander Sports Development. Lander announced to the Shenzhen stock exchange on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with Southampton owner Katarina Liebherr to buy a stake in the [...]
Back to life, back to virtual reality: Xiaomi’s international boss Hugo Barra joins Facebook’s VR unit Oculus January 26, 2017 Hugo Barra announced he was leaving Xiaomi to make a Silicon Valley return a few days ago and now we know where he was headed: Facebook. The ex-Google executive who led international expansion at Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has left the company to take up a role as vice president of virtual reality at Facebook's VR [...]
Now is the time for new coalitions in the Brexit debate January 25, 2017 We live in topsy-turvy times. Chinese President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping recently emerged as the world’s unlikely flag-bearer for global capitalism, telling dignitaries in Davos: “Pursuing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room: wind and rain might be kept outside but so are light and air.” Xi’s pleasingly poetic and [...]
Cinema chain Odeon’s owner AMC reels in Nordic Cinemas Group in $929m deal January 23, 2017 The company which admits millions of popcorn-crunching cinema attendees at Odeon across the UK has snapped up Nordic Cinemas Group for close to $1bn. AMC Entertainment, which owns the UK movie theatre chain Odeon, paid $929m (£743m) in an all-cash deal to gain control of Nordic Cinemas Group, which has stakes in picture houses in seven [...]