US budget deficit falls to lowest level since 2007 October 15, 2014 The US economy has passed another landmark. According to the US Treasury, the budget deficit has shrunk to 2.8 per cent of GDP, its lowest level since the blue skies of pre-crisis 2007 were above it. The amount the government has to borrow to meet its outgoings is down from $680.2bn in the 12 [...]
HBO to launch streaming service next year October 15, 2014 HBO will launch a stand-alone over-the-top service for its content next year, chief executive Richard Plepler revealed today. The network’s acclaimed TV shows, such as The Sopranos, True Detective, Girls and The Wire, are currently unavailable on existing over-the-top services such as Netflix. But if you’re reading from the UK, don’t get too [...]
Balfour Beatty names Leo Quinn as new chief exec October 14, 2014 Balfour Beatty’s share price soared this morning after revealing it had snagged Leo Quinn, chief executive of QinetiQ, to lead it out of troubled waters after a turbulent year and a series of profit warnings. Quinn, who has headed up defence technology company QinetiQ since 2009, takes over from Andrew McNaughton who stepped down after [...]
Tesco suspends more staff over profit error October 14, 2014 TESCO announced yesterday it had suspended another three executives over the discovery last month of an accounting error which led first-half profits to be overstated by £250m. The retail giant did not disclose the names of the three executives, but Sky News is reporting them to be Tesco’s wine director Dan Jago, Sean McCurley, director [...]
Coca-Cola looks to put fizz into Boris Bikes October 14, 2014 Coca-Cola could replace Barclays as the main sponsor of London’s Boris Bikes in a deal at an annual cost of at least £5.5m, according to Sky News. A Coca-Cola spokesperson said: “We are always looking at partnerships which are a good fit for our brands.”
And cut! Greens and SNP furious over TV omissions October 13, 2014 A ROW over who should participate in televised political debates ahead of the general election could result in legal action against major broadcasters, it emerged yesterday. The BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4 unveiled plans for a round of three TV debates to be broadcast ahead of the election, but only included the leaders of [...]
General election TV debate: Ukip’s Nigel Farage invited to face main Westminster party leaders October 13, 2014 Ukip has just received its latest batch of good news with leader Nigel Farage being invited to take part in next year's general election TV debates with the main Westminster party leaders. The broadcasters explained their decision saying it was the result of "changes in the political landscape". The BBC, Sky, ITV and Channel 4 [...]
Sky Sports wins rights to biggest events in cricket October 13, 2014 Sky Sports has beaten off competition from other broadcasting rivals after winning the rights to show some of international cricket’s biggest events over the next eight years. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday it has sold the rights to 18 cricket tournaments to Star Group, which is also part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire [...]
EE’s Olaf Swantee: In Britain’s super-competitive mobile space growth can be the hardest game October 12, 2014 As chief executive he’s overseen two re-brandings, launched 4G in the UK and now plans to take on rivals in the living room with EE TV – but Olaf Swantee’s greatest challenges may still lie ahead Jogging through Richmond Park most mornings couldn’t be further from Olaf Swantee’s day job. The boss of Britain’s [...]
Fintech kings talk starting from scratch, old clients and handing businesses a lifeline October 12, 2014 In Holborn last week, a three year-old London-based company held a party to celebrate reaching £250m of business since its inception. If that doesn’t sound impressive, by the time the event was held, MarketInvoice was already nearing £270m. “We seriously underestimated repeat usage,” says co-founder and chief executive Anil Stocker. “Companies see how the platform [...]