Tetley takes out £1m insurance for its man with a golden tongue November 26, 2014 A MASTER blender working for Tetley has had his taste buds insured for £1m, after five years of intensive sipping. Sebastian Michaelis can identify any of 1,500 different types of tea in seconds – a rare ability even within the tea community. Michaelis, who has been sipping tea at the company for five years, graduated from [...]
GoPro is going to start making drones November 26, 2014 GoPro is to start manufacturing consumer drones, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The American company, which is already a market leader in personal cameras, markets its product as being able to take pictures in extreme situations. In many ways therefore the sky is the obvious next target for GoPro, especially as [...]
The most expensive tongue in the world? Tetley insures its tea expert’s taste buds for £1m November 26, 2014 A man working for Tetley has had his taste buds insured for £1m, after five years of intensive sipping has given him the title of “master blender”. Sebastian Michaelis can identify any of 1,500 different types of tea within a matter of seconds – a rare ability even within the tea community, it would appear. [...]
George Osborne under fire for seven day current account switching service timidity November 25, 2014 George Osborne is expected to tweak the seven day current account switching scheme to iron out some of the wrinkles in the system, in his Autumn Statement next week. But the changes did not go nearly far enough to open up the market to competition, the Yorkshire Building Society said. And consumer group Which? also called [...]
FTSE closes the day flat as miners weigh on BT and Sky gains – London Report November 25, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday steadied near a twomonth high, as stronger banking stocks were offset by a fall in mining companies as metals prices weakened. The blue chip FTSE 100 index closed 1.35 points higher, or flat in percentage terms, at 6,731.14 points. The index reached a two-month high last week. Disappointing earnings from [...]
BT set to shake up the mobile market… again November 24, 2014 A decade after the British firm left mobile, it is back for more In the midst of what one BT insider described yesterday as a “financial mess” in the early 2000s the British telecoms giant spun off its BT Cellnet arm. The move in 2001 was quickly seen as a terrible strategic decision, [...]
As BT prepares to buy O2 or EE, Sky remains sceptical of need for mobile offering November 24, 2014 Pay TV group Sky, recently rebranded from BSkyB, remained unconvinced by the need for a mobile offering yesterday, after its biggest rival BT looked poised to buy either EE or O2 in a £10bn mobile deal. While Sky’s services include TV, broadband and fixed-line telephone in the UK, the £15.3bn group has yet to offer [...]
Blackstone rejects $2bn offer for Center Parcs as it mulls a flotation November 24, 2014 London-based private equity firm BC Partners and the Canada Pension Fund (CPP) have had $2bn (£1.27bn) joint takeover offer for Center Parcs rejected by owner Blackstone Group. US investment conglomerate Blackstone is understood to have rejected the offer because it undervalued the British holiday park operator. A report on Sky News last night said it [...]
As BT confirms it’s in talks to buy O2, would a bid for the mobile operator make sense? November 24, 2014 Kester Mann, principal operators analyst at CCS Insight, says Yes. Purchasing a mobile operator like EE or O2 would give a massive shot in the arm to BT’s multi-play ambitions, accelerating plans to offer mobile services without relying on wholesale deals. Given its existing broadband and TV assets, the company could offer a highly potent [...]
BT share price jumps as it confirms it wants to buy O2 back from Telefonica November 24, 2014 Shares in BT had risen 3.6 per cent to 393.9p in mid-afternoon as it confirmed it is in talks with Telefonica to buy its O2 UK mobile business. In a statement to the stock exchange this morning, the company said all discussions are at a "highly preliminary stage", adding that it is "continuing" to develop [...]