Google takes a bite out of Apple as world’s most valuable brand May 20, 2014 GOOGLE has dethroned Apple as the world’s most valuable brand, as its total value soared to nearly $160bn (£95bn) this year, according to new global research. The online search giant’s rise is due to its booming financial performance – Google’s revenues last quarter grew nearly 20 per cent to $15.42bn – and Apple’s lack of [...]
City Moves for 20 May 2014 | Who’s switching jobs May 19, 2014 IO The multi-let industrial estates management firm has announced the appointment of Oliver Bowditch to handle acquisitions. He joins from JLL, where he focused on providing valuation advice to banks, institutional investors and property companies. BDO The accountancy and business advisory firm has appointed Chris Bellairs as a partner in its financial services practice. He [...]
Three tech start-ups hoping to win over John Lewis May 19, 2014 John Lewis will kick-off its search tomorrow for the next big idea to help its stores stay ahead in the digital age, with 30 technology start-ups battling out for a place in the retailer’s technology incubator JLAB. Each firm will deliver a five minute pitch to a panel of John Lewis directors and mentors [...]
Learn to cook with a legend in the world of haute-cuisine May 18, 2014 French chef Michel Guérard has opened his very own school. Laura Ivill investigates. SUNDAY lunch in south west France: carpaccio of langoustines, followed by roasted milk-fed lamb and peach melba. It is as delicious as you would expect from the hands of venerated French chef Michel Guérard. But the clincher: three courses under 630 calories. [...]
Carphone and Dixons dial up £3.8bn merger May 15, 2014 DIXONS Retail and Carphone Warehouse shares slid into the red yesterday after the high street giants’ plans for a £3.8bn merger was given a mixed reception. The new group, which will be named Dixons Carphone, aims to exploit the ever-growing presence of smartphones in people’s lives and the so-called internet of things – where household [...]
£10bn fortune is music to the ears of media mogul Blavatnik May 14, 2014 BILLIONAIRE and owner of Warner Music Group Len Blavatnik has topped The Sunday Times rich list of the UK’s music millionaires for another year, with £10bn in wealth. Blavatnik has been investing in a host of digital media firms such as France’s Deezer, Spotify, and Beats Music, in which he led a $60m (£35m) financing [...]
Mix it up: The English fizz giving French bubbles a run for their money May 13, 2014 @philip_salter Ideas can change the world. Back in 1776 the Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations, and in the process upended the winner-takes-all, mercantilist vision of international relations. He replaced it with a model of the world in which nations cooperate and prosper through trade. From the ideas of Smith we grew [...]
Why Tuesday is Apple’s favourite day for announcements May 13, 2014 Today could be the day Apple confirms its $3.2bn takeover of Beats Electronics, in fact Apple is more likely to make the announcement today, a Tuesday, than any other day. This is because the iPhone-maker has a record of making its announcements on Tuesdays. In the last 15 months we’ve seen the overwhelming majority of [...]
Bottom Line: Murdoch is a force to be reckoned with May 12, 2014 LAST FRIDAY I sat down and watched a TV programme, on a terrestrial channel, at the scheduled time. It felt like an occasion. Like much of the population, such is the choice of media offered now that conventional TV viewing feels like the last resort; attractive only once the Netflix sub, iPlayer catch-up and YouTube [...]
The EU tax liberation day small print: Why the UK beats flat tax Lithuania May 12, 2014 WHEN I tell you Lithuania has a 15 per cent flat tax rate, does your mouth water at the idea of Britain adopting a similar system? As a former stockbroker who has researched “The Tax Burden of Typical Workers in the EU” for the past five years, I’ve learned to look at tax rates the [...]