Starmer vows to rip up the red tape at investment summit October 14, 2024 Prime Minister Keir Starmer will today promise to rip up the red tape that is needlessly holding back investment in a bid to galvanise economic growth. Starmer is set to make the pledge in a speech at the government’s inaugural International Investment Summit, which kicks off today at the Guildhall in the heart of the [...]
Being ‘the grown ups in the room’ won’t cut it with investors October 14, 2024 At today’s International Investment Summit, ministers must recognise that businesses want concrete assurances about the kind of returns they can expect, says Eliot Wilson Today is the government’s long-anticipated International Investment Summit, which will bring together potential investors from abroad and within the United Kingdom and is intended to show, in the business and trade [...]
Starmer appoints former Darktrace boss as new investment minister in ‘scaled up’ department October 11, 2024 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the government’s new investment minister after more than 100 days in office, amid criticism from City groups it took too long. Former Darktrace chief executive Poppy Gustafsson has been appointed to the role, taking charge of the ‘scaled up’ Office for Investment. The appointment is part of what the government [...]
London Stock Exchange raid accelerates as buyers pounce on FTSE 350 firms October 2, 2024 The London Stock Exchange could be gutted of nearly £100bn worth of companies after a record number of large listed firms fell into the sights of private buyers this year. Corporates and private equity firms have now launched some £47bn worth of offers for London-listed companies in the year to date, including 19 FTSE 350 [...]
Rightmove bidding battle shows that UK plc isn’t ‘for sale at any price’ September 23, 2024 A “lack of engagement” from Rightmove may have come as a surprise to Rupert Murdoch’s property group REA after it tabled not one but two takeover offers for the British company this month. On Monday, REA’s boss Owen Wilson said he was “genuinely disappointed” that Rightmove was unmoved by the interest, as the Australian firm [...]
UK government says data centres are now Critical National Infrastructure September 12, 2024 The UK government has officially designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), as it looks to further boost investment in the UK’s critical hubs of digital information. With this new status, data centres will receive extra government support to protect crucial data, including NHS records, financial information, and personal smartphone data against major incidents [...]
Darktrace boss Poppy Gustafsson to depart after private equity takeover September 6, 2024 One of London’s most well-known tech bosses Poppy Gustafsson is set to depart the British cybersecurity firm Darktrace after its takeover by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Gustafsson, who co-founded the firm in 2013 with backing from the late billionaire Mike Lynch, will be replaced by the company’s chief operating officer Jil Popelka, she [...]
How Rightmove became London’s (and the FTSE 100’s) most profitable company September 3, 2024 From an unknown tech start-up to the undisputed king of the UK’s online property sector, Rightmove is a shining example of how to turn a simple idea into a whole lot of profit. In its most recent full-year results, the London-listed property portal astounded investors by revealing it had achieved a record 71 per cent operating profit margin – [...]
Mike Lynch and other missing yacht passengers feared dead August 20, 2024 The Italian coastguard has started its second day of searching for survivors of a sunken superyacht off the coast of Sicily, including the tech media mogul Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer
University spinouts could be the answer to the UK’s growth problem August 20, 2024 University spinouts are vital to retain the UK’s innovation crown, writes Simon Bumfrey, tech chief at HSBC Innovation Banking UK.