Ken Clarke: The House of Lords needs to be reined in November 1, 2015 After the House of Lords twice voted to delay the implementation of the government's controversial tax credit cuts, former chancellor Ken Clarke has said the upper house needs to be reined in with new laws. Last week the Lords backed amendments from both Labour peer Baroness Hollis and crossbench peer Baroness Meacher, which frustrated the government's plans. [...]
Halloween asteroid flyby 2015: “Great Pumpkin” TB145 will come spookily close to the Earth on Saturday October 29, 2015 An unexpected asteroid is going to fly scarily close to the Earth on Saturday, just in time for Halloween. Asteroid 2015 TB145, also known as “the Great Pumpkin”, will miss our planet by around 300,000 miles when it comes hurtling past at around 5pm UK time – an incredibly close call in celestial terms. With [...]
Santander UK non-exec Michael Amato jumps ship to join start-up digital bank Tandem October 28, 2015 A new start-up digital bank has poached high-profile directors from two of Britain's largest lenders. Michael Amato, a non-executive director of Santander UK and former Williams & Glyn John Maltby are set to join the board of Tandem, a new digital financial services company that has yet to receive regulatory approval but is nevertheless aiming for an official [...]
Ineos is reportedly in talks with Fairfield Energy over its holdings in the North Sea October 27, 2015 Chemicals firm Ineos is reported to be looking at extending its presence in the North Sea oil and gas business. The group is in advanced talks with Fairfield Energy to buy a stake in the Clipper South gasfield, according to Sky News. The deal bring Ineos' holding in the field up to 75 per cent, [...]
Forbes most valuable sport business brands 2015: Nike beats Adidas and Under Armour as Sky Sports tops UK companies October 23, 2015 Nike has been named the most valuable brand in sport, beating competition from Adidas, Under Armour and Sky Sports. According to Forbes magazine, the sportswear giant is worth almost £17bn – nearly £6bn more than any other sports business brand in the world. Walt Disney-owned ESPN follows with a value of £11bn, while Nike's rivals in [...]
Forex scandal: Barclays, HSBC and RBS agree to £600m fine for foreign exchange rigging October 22, 2015 Three of Britain’s biggest banks were slapped with a $924m (£600m) bill for rigging foreign-exchange markets yesterday. Barclays, HSBC and RBS agreed the bill during a US federal court hearing, according to reports from Sky News. Barclays agreed to pay $384m, HSBC $285m and RBS $255m, people with familiar with the settlements said. French bank [...]
Christmas day 2015 is looking more and more likely to be a white Christmas as bookies slash their odds October 22, 2015 Everybody dreams of a white Christmas, don’t they? This year, it’s become far more probable that’s what the UK is going to get. The Met Office says “for most parts of the UK, Christmas is right at the beginning of the period when it’s likely to snow. Looking at climate history, wintry weather is more likely [...]
Virgin Media hits out at BT and Sky over Premier League football TV rights deal October 21, 2015 Virgin Media has fired the latest shot in the battle of the broadcasters over the way TV rights for football games are sold. Research commissioned by Virgin showed that just six per cent of football fans said they were able to watch every match they wanted to on TV at home. Media watchdog Ofcom launched an [...]
Sky shakes off competition with profit rise despite Champions League loss October 21, 2015 Sky has shaken off rivals with a 10 per cent rise in profits while a 77 per cent surge in broadband subscribers was its biggest quarterly growth in four years. Operating profit across Sky Europe of £375m was slightly ahead of expectations for the three months to the end of September on revenue of £2.8bn, [...]
City executives including Trinity Mirror’s Sly Bailey plan exchange for real estate October 21, 2015 A team of high-profile City executives is preparing to launch the world’s first exchange to trade shares in companies that own single commercial property assets, opening up commercial property investment opportunities to a wider range of investors. The venture, London Real Estate Exchange Limited, has been working on plans for months to allow the owners [...]