Seat Leon Cupra R review: Seat’s hottest hatchback – the 310hp Cupra R – is a sign of things to come July 2, 2018 Go-faster versions of the Seat Ibiza and Leon have worn Cupra badges since 1997. But earlier this year, the Spanish carmaker reinvented Cupra as a standalone marque, making it the equivalent of what Abarth is to Fiat. From now on, new models will be badged solely as Cupras, and the range will expand beyond traditional [...]
London restaurant app Velocity lands millions more pounds in funding August 29, 2016 A restaurant app founded in London which lets diners pay their bill with their phone has landed millions of pounds in new funding. With some of London's top eateries on board such as Hix, Sketch and Gymkhana, as well others in New York and Los Angeles among other cities, Velocity has bagged £17m in a series B round [...]
Shares in outsourcer Capita have plunged after it issued a profit warning September 29, 2016 Ooof. Shares in FTSE 100-listed outsourcer Capita have fallen almost 30 per cent this morning after it issued a punchy profit warning. Shares were down 28.7 per cent at 679.3p in early trading, after the company said it expected full-year underlying profits to fall between £535m and £555m, as opposed to the £614m it had previously forecast. [...]
UK drug strategy has failed and the Treasury is missing out on as much as £1.05bn of the UK’s growing cannabis market November 21, 2016 The world is changing its mind on drug legalisation policies, and the UK will be left behind unless politicians take action. Legalisation and regulation of the UK's £6.8bn per year cannabis market could send as much as £1.05bn to the Treasury, a new report said. Ditching Britain's failed strategy and following the pragmatic approach of major western democracies like Germany, Canada and [...]
Blockchain chief executive Peter Smith talks smart contracts, homelessness and starting the world’s largest bitcoin wallet December 12, 2016 When I speak to Peter Smith, he is mid-juggling three events in as many days: a board meeting, moving his entire London team to new offices, and the office Christmas party. “We haven’t even had the office opening yet, but it’s all been fine,” he reflects. The first of these requires a day trip to [...]
World Cup 2018: What we learned from the first weekend – big guns Germany, Brazil and Argentina fire blanks and VAR increasing the penalty count June 18, 2018 Brazil’s 1-1 with Switzerland last night continued an underwhelming start from the teams fancied to win this World Cup. Tite’s men were merely following a pattern laid out by Argentina (held by Iceland), Spain (held by Portugal), Germany (beaten by Mexico) and France (unconvincing winners over Australia). Russia’s five-goal thumping of Saudi Arabia aside, it [...]
BMW 530D XDrive SE review: When a car is this good to drive, why let it drive itself? December 12, 2016 B MW flew me out to Portugal to drive the new 5 Series and made such a song and dance about its Autonomous Drive technology, you’d think it had reinvented the self-steering wheel. Frankly, I hated it. Yes, the 5 Series will drive itself for 30 seconds at a time on straight roads, and will [...]
Lotus Evora Sport 410 review: Short, sharp bursts of pleasure that the Porsche can’t come close to January 16, 2017 W hen former PSA Peugeot Citroen boss Jean-Marc Gales took over as CEO of Lotus in 2013, things were looking a little desperate. His predecessor, Dany Bahar, had made a hasty departure amidst court cases, the company was losing money hand-over-fist, and it simply hadn’t got the cash to replace its ageing model line-up. Since [...]
Editor’s Notes: Only a lack of ambition can hold Britain back, says the Legatum Institute’s researcher tasked with finding the upside of the Brexit vote March 17, 2017 Britain faces an enormous challenge in the wake of Brexit, but the prize is more than worth the fight. That’s according to one experienced former trade negotiator who now finds himself at the heart of the UK’s trade debate. Shanker Singham is director of economic policy and prosperity studies at the Legatum Institute in London. He’s [...]
Playtech’s share price and market capitalisation jump as group treats investors to €150m special dividend August 25, 2016 Gambling software group Playtech's share price popped to a record high this morning after it announced it will treat shareholders to a bumper €150m (£128m) special dividend. The figures Playtech said it will make the payout in December, though it has also hiked its interim dividend by 15 per cent to €0.11. The company said the boosts were in [...]