Watchdog plans for audit sector shake-up set to draw backlash from businesses January 6, 2019 Finance bosses at some of Britain’s largest FTSE companies are set to hit out at new proposals put forward by the UK’s competition regulator, it emerged this evening. Plans by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to make publicly listed firms appoint two sets of auditors are expected to receive a harsh backlash from a [...]
Rothesay plans £3.5bn takeover of Swiss Re division January 5, 2019 Insurance company Rothesay Life is planning a £3.5bn takeover bid for a unit of Swiss Re, derailing plans to list it on the stock market. Rothesay approached reinsurance firm Swiss Re a few weeks ago about the possibility of buying ReAssure, the company's British closed books division, according to Sky News. The company plans to a make a [...]
Former chiefs of UK’s nuclear body launch legal action over Magnox fiasco January 5, 2019 The former bosses of the UK’s nuclear body are caught in a legal battle over an investigation into the botched handling of the Magnox nuclear decommissioning contract. The former chairman of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Stephen Henwood and the organisation’s former chief executive John Clarke are trying to block the publication of a critical [...]
A stay at Valsana Hotel in Switzerland, the geothermally powered Alpine retreat January 4, 2019 These days, a sense of wellbeing isn’t just about body and spirit but also about leaving a lighter carbon footprint. Which is why the new, eco-friendly Valsana Hotel is the perfect place to spend an Alpine spa weekend without feeling that you’ve given Mother Nature a battering. The Valsana is Switzerland’s first hotel to be [...]
Alexa: Tell me why I can’t have a flying car like in Blade Runner January 4, 2019 Bad news: it’s 2019, and that means we are now living through the year in which the original Blade Runner film was set. Released in 1982, Blade Runner has some interesting ideas about 2019. Yes, it’s a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape where sentient bioengineered robots (“replicants”) must be hunted down against a backdrop of a dying [...]
One of the USA’s most iconic hotels, Ocean House is famous for its timeless coastal experience dating back to the Victorian age January 3, 2019 With its fancy turrets, myriad windows and pastel-lemon façade, Ocean House is an imposing place. Found on the bluffs of Watch Hill, a well-to-do town in Rhode Island, on first appearances it’s a hotel that looks like a stuffy, Victorian grand-dame, fitted in an overblown crinoline dress, and exuding old-fashioned principles. In part, its looks [...]
UK M&A value soars by more than a quarter in 2018 as number of mega-deals increases January 3, 2019 The value of merger and acquisitions involving UK companies soared by more than a quarter last year as the number of mega-deals surged. Deal activity reached a three year high in 2018, while M&A activity involving UK firms hit £359.9bn which is 28 per cent more than the value recorded in 2017, according to data [...]
Sainsbury’s begins search for new banking chief as Peter Griffiths prepares to retire January 3, 2019 Sainsbury’s has begun the search for a new chief executive of its banking division after confirming Peter Griffiths will step down next year. Griffiths, who has been in charge of Sainsbury’s Bank since 2012, will step down in 2020, Sky News first reported. The supermarket chain confirmed it was in the “early stages” of finding [...]
Stock predictions 2019: Which stocks and shares will do well this year? January 2, 2019 After a tumultuous year in the markets with Brexit uncertainty, the threat of trade war and rapidly changing consumer habits, the FTSE 100 suffered its worst year since the financial crisis in 2018, ending it 12.5 per cent down. While there is no sign that 2019 will be any less eventful, with the date Britain [...]
Aston Martin begins search for new audit firm three months after IPO January 2, 2019 Aston Martin is on the hunt for a new audit firm just three months after it floated on the London Stock Exchange. The luxury car maker has begun to contact new accountancy firms after KPMG, which has carried out the work since 2007, declined the opportunity to re-pitch for the role, Sky News reported today. [...]