Armed men occupy offices of leading Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk September 3, 2014 "Armed men" have occupied the offices of Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk, according to a news story posted to the club's official website. The story claims that Shakhtar offices in Donetsk have been occupied and requests all official correspondence be redirected to an alternative address in the city. The club states that "circumstances of [...]
Top startups in call to keep London #1 European tech hub September 2, 2014 London's top startups and venture capital firms will today urge the UK government to relax rules and taxes in order to maintain the capital’s status as the top European tech hub. The so-called Startup Manifesto – written by policy group Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) led by former government adviser Guy Levin – [...]
Vice Media to sell 10 per cent stake to A&E networks for $250m August 30, 2014 Vice Media has revealed they are nearing the sale of a 10 per cent stake to A&E Networks, after a period of negotiating with various suitors. A&E Networks is jointly owned by the Walt Disney and Hearst Corporation, and will invest $250m (£150m) in Vice, valuing the growing international media company at $2.5bn. Vice has [...]
AA is driving forward with a new leader Bob Mackenzie August 28, 2014 Motor icon AA yesterday crowned the mastermind behind its £1.4bn market debut as leader of the group after its current boss quit after just eight months. Bob Mackenzie, who used to run Britain’s car park operator NCP, has emerged as the most powerful figure at the 110-year old institution after incumbent boss Chris Jansen’s departure. [...]
Samsonite makes case for new CEO Ramesh Tainwala August 27, 2014 Luggage giant Samsonite yesterday announced the appointment of Ramesh Tainwala as chief executive as sales reached a record $1bn (£600m) in the first half of 2014. The Hong Kong-listed company said Tainwala, the group’s chief operating officer, would take over when current CEO Tim Parker stands aside on 1 October. His appointment comes as Samsonite [...]
Lawmaker who voted to clamp down on Uber arrested for drink-driving August 26, 2014 In a delicious twist of irony, a California state senator was arrested on Saturday for driving under the influence of alcohol only hours after voting for legislation that would subject the taxi app service Uber to a host of burdensome regulations. Ben Hueso was spotted driving the wrong way down a one way street at [...]
Quindell suffers – despite profits quadrupling August 21, 2014 Quindell, the Aim-listed insurance firm whose shares plummeted 60 per cent in April following a scathing blog post by US short seller Gotham City Research, came out fighting yesterday when it reported an 119 per cent increase in half-year revenue. Despite the bullish results, Quindell’s shares still fell 12.4 per cent following the update to [...]
Uber’s battle against taxi industry and regulators steps up a gear with Obama adviser on board August 20, 2014 In Uber’s relentless battle against regulators and the taxi industry around the world, a political strategist was considered a crucial element for negotiating roadblocks in the disruptive taxi service’s plans for world domination. Now the search is over, and Uber has no doubt spent a pretty penny of its billions of dollars of investment (which [...]
Carillion board tries to woo Balfour Beatty with cost-cutting plan August 14, 2014 A merger between Carillion and Balfour Beatty could save as much as £175m a year, according to a statement issued by the infrastructure giant today. The two businesses met on Monday (August 11) to discuss the move, with “significant synergies” between the two businesses having been identified, Carillion said. This includes cost savings [...]
Saxo boss Lars Seier Christensen opens Pandora’s box with jewellery startup investment August 12, 2014 Saxo Bank’s chief exec Lars Seier Christensen has got chins wagging in the Danish press. The banking boss has made a personal investment into jewellery startup Endless Jewelry – a company run by well-known Danish entrepreneur Jesper Nielsen. Nielsen made his name as a reseller of jewellery brand Pandora. He sold his Pandora distributorship for [...]