Chuka Umunna says corporate boardrooms need more diversity April 20, 2015 Chuka Umunna would aim for Britain’s boardrooms to have at least 14 per cent BME members if Labour win the General Election, “We have got to go further and look at not just gender diversity but ethnic diversity in British business leadership,” the shadow business secretary told the Evening Standard yesterday. Over half of the UK’s [...]
Tesco set to report record loss. Is new boss Dave Lewis the man to lead a turnaround? April 20, 2015 Dave Lewis arrived at Tesco with the nickname “Drastic Dave” – earned after he streamlined Unilever UK in 2007, cutting 40 per cent of costs and 300 jobs. When he took up the role of Tesco chief executive in September he had every reason to live up to that moniker. Facing a £263m accounting error, [...]
General Election 2015: Ed Miliband gives me the heebie jeebies, Nigel Farage models himself on Boycie and Nicola Sturgeon has “thin lips” – here are the best reactions to the party manifesto launches April 20, 2015 Voters have had some interesting reactions to the manifesto launches of the last week – and not in the way you might expect. They collectively had only “the haziest recollection” of the details – despite them dominating the news all week. As part of the weekly poll update for Ashcroft National Polls, they had [...]
Elon Musk was on the verge of selling Tesla to Google for $11bn and even “shook” on a deal with Larry Page April 20, 2015 The millionaire magnate behind the world's best-known electric carmaker was on the verge of selling his company to Google as it failed to turn a profit. Elon Musk's Tesla was about to fall into bankruptcy and the founder had begun negotiating with Google on a deal for the firm, according to a new book on [...]
Neil Woodford’s new fund oversubscribed by 10pc – despite the team already increasing the size by £300m April 20, 2015 Neil Woodford's latest investment trust has been oversubscribed – having alread been nearly doubled from its initial figure. The Woodford Patient Capital Trust invests in early stage and early growth companies, along with a mix of blue chip stocks. Initially the team had decided the size of the closed-ended fund would be set at [...]
SNP manifesto: Nicola Sturgeon promises Scottish veto on Brexit, end to austerity and higher taxes April 20, 2015 Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to end austerity economics at the SNP's manifesto launch at a rock climbing centre in Edinburgh. Sturgeon said that under no circumstances would the SNP do a deal with the Tories in the event of a hung parliament but would act to embolden a minority Labour government and shift policy to [...]
General Election 2015: David Cameron challenges SNP over devolution with the “Carlisle Principle” April 20, 2015 David Cameron has thrown down the gauntlet to the SNP by promising to conduct yearly reviews of devolution to ensure that decisions made in Holyrood do not result in the rest of the UK losing out. The powers of the Scottish parliament "can now have a big impact on your job, your income, and investment [...]
Greek debt deadline: Mario Draghi urges Greece to hurry as default looms April 20, 2015 European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has said the Greek government needs to do more work and do it urgently to conclude a deal on extra bailout cash. “More work, much more work is needed now and it’s urgent,” he said at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank spring meetings in Washington. “We all want [...]
Newcastle fans boycott Tottenham Hotspur game in protest over Mike Ashley ownership April 20, 2015 A group of Newcastle fans boycotted yesterday’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur in protest against current owner Mike Ashley, calling on him to leave. The plans were announced last week as strong negative sentiment towards the club’s ownership was compounded when it was revealed that United had more then £34.1m in cash reserves. Fans are [...]
Alliance Trust wins backing of City bosses April 19, 2015 Embattled Alliance Trust boss Katherine Garrett-Cox won the support of a series of business bosses over the weekend, as the leaders spoke up in favour of her stewardship. Activist investor Elliott Advisors is pushing to add three new directors to the FTSE 250 investment group’s board, arguing that its executives need to be pushed harder [...]