Conservatives plan tougher laws to curb public sector strike action July 7, 2014 CONSERVATIVE ministers are drawing up plans to make it tougher for public sector unions to take industrial action, as more than a million council workers, teachers, civil servants and firefighters prepare to take action this week. Cabinet office minister Francis Maude yesterday said they were exploring a “minimum turnout threshold”, where only strikes backed by [...]
BSkyB CEO Jeremy Darroch is set on change July 7, 2014 Chief executive Jeremy Darroch tells David Hellier how he is bent on encouraging even more people to fall in love with Sky Talking about the way BSkyB has changed over the years, its chief executive Jeremy Darroch says: “You don’t keep being successful by doing things in the same way.” As he speaks, [...]
Co-founder of Carphone Warehouse set to become chair of Ofsted July 4, 2014 David Ross, co-founder of high street chain Carphone Warehouse, is considered the most likely candidate for becoming the next chair of education watchdog Ofsted. The selection is taking place following a decision made by education secretary Michael Gove not to renew the term of the current chair, Baroness Sally Morgan. Mr Ross is known [...]
TDR Capital wants a slice of PizzaExpress amid Chinese takeaway interest July 3, 2014 British private equity firm TDR Capital was yesterday said to have launched a secret bid to buy back PizzaExpress, in which it owned a stake in between 2003 and 2007, amid takeover interest from China. Sky News reported that TDR Capital was one of a number of parties which this week tabled offers to buy the [...]
British cyclists best in world July 3, 2014 BRITAIN’S sporting reputation may have taken hits from Andy Murray’s Wimbledon exit, England’s shabby World Cup and a home Test series defeat to Sri Lanka, but we are the best around at cycling. That’s the view of Sir Dave Brailsford, who masterminded Britain’s Olympic track dominance and the road racing success of Team Sky, as [...]
Trainline takes advice for sale July 2, 2014 TRAIN ticket booking website Thetrainline.com is working with investment bank Morgan Stanley to help guide it to a potential stock market debut. The firm’s private equity backers Exponent Private Equity has engaged the banking giant, according to Sky News, to sell its controlling stake to fund management firms or a trade buyer. Exponent tried to [...]
Simon Fraser is fighting for hearts and minds at the Investor Forum July 2, 2014 Does someone at the new body set up to promote investor long-termism have a bizarre sense of humour? That was one interpretation of yesterday’s confirmation that Simon Fraser, former global chief investment officer of Fidelity, would be its first chairman. After all, Fraser was until recently a board member at the bete [...]
Dust clouds, star trails and meteor races: Astronomy Photographer of the Year award shortlist July 2, 2014 The Royal Observatory has revealed its shortlist of candidates for the 2014 Astronomy Photographer of the Year award. The selected photographs are not limited to celestial sights on our planet: they also include images from across our Solar System, galaxy and even further afield. From a rare daytime scene of Jupiter moments before its astronomical [...]
British Gas to pay out £500,000 for mis-selling gas and electricity July 1, 2014 British Gas is set to pay out around £500,000 in compensation to customers for mis-selling gas and electricity in face to face sales. The UK’s biggest energy provider is understood to have referred itself to the regulator Ofgem after discovering it had overestimated potential savings customers could make, according to a Sky News report last [...]
UK manufacturing growth moves up a gear with job creation at 39-month high July 1, 2014 The UK's manufacturing sector is growing faster than we thought. The latest figures from Markit see June's headline purchasing managers' index (PMI) revised up from an initial reading of 57 to a final estimate of 57.5. Any number above 50 implies growth, and figures in the region we're seeing now suggest the sector is enjoying [...]