£13.4bn raised in City listings October 9, 2014 BUSINESSES wanting to raise capital are increasingly looking to the London stock market, with the total funds raised from initial public offerings (IPOs) during the first nine months of 2014 reaching £13.4bn, according to research released today. The figure is nearly triple the £4.7bn raised in the same period in 2013, according to PwC’s IPO [...]
Britain’s punitive tax on flying is 20 years old – and more harmful than ever October 29, 2014 AIR PASSENGER Duty (APD) is 20 years old this week. Since it was first levied on flights from 1 November 1994, it has raked in a staggering £27bn for successive governments. Originally considered to be an environmental tax, APD’s annual yield for the Treasury is now in excess of £3bn – not far behind inheritance [...]
Quindell eyed for group legal action by rival law firm Your Legal Friend December 16, 2014 Embattled insurance outsourcer Quindell is being eyed for potential group legal action by a rival law firm Your Legal Friend. Liverpool-based Your Legal Friend, which was formerly known as Camps Solicitors, is appealing for investors burnt by their investment in Quindell to get in touch. The company's share price has lost around 75 per cent in [...]
Paperchase sent greetings from potential buyers October 12, 2014 HIGH street stationery chain Paperchase has brought in advisers to help with a potential £150m sale of the business after receiving approaches from several suitors. Paperchase is owned by private equity firm Primary Capital, which acquired the business four years ago in a management buyout from the now defunct US book chain Borders. The retailer [...]
European court adds massive VAT bill to British financial companies September 17, 2014 Banks, insurers and other financial services firms operating across Europe face extra hundreds of millions of pounds of extra tax costs, following a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling yesterday. The ruling means services supplied between a group’s headquarters and its branches may now be subject to VAT. Until now, services such as IT and [...]
HMRC to detail its spend November 3, 2014 HM REVENUE and Customs’ (HMRC) first annual tax summary – breaking down exactly how tax is spent by the exchequer – will become available to 24m taxpayers from today. Some 8m taxpayers who have completed self-assessment returns will be able to access their tax summaries online, while the remaining 16m PAYE taxpayers, who received a [...]
From Dar es Salaam to Luanda, Africa’s booming cities are a huge opportunity for UK firms August 6, 2014 Africa’s most populous and thriving cities pose huge opportunities for UK investors, with demographic growth that could triple the size of their economies in just a decade and a half, according to research released today. Although many European firms have accessed markets in Lagos, Kinshasa and Johannesburg, Africa’s three biggest cities, they are missing out [...]
Phones 4u stores could be picked off by EE September 21, 2014 Mobile network operator EE is in talks to buy 60 Phones 4u stores following the retailer's collapse into administration, according to reports. The collapse was triggered by EE, Phones 4u's last remaining network partner, terminating its distribution agreement with the retailer soon after Vodafone had done the same. Phones 4u described EE's decision as a [...]
The UK could be the world capital of the sharing economy if we take these steps November 25, 2014 EVERYONE seems to be talking about the “sharing economy”, and while this may not be a model that will work for every industry, it is a trend that requires attention. So much so that, in September 2014, the UK government raised the need for an independent report to examine the social and economic potential of [...]
City Moves for 7 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 6, 2014 Brooks Macdonald International (BMI) The investment manager has appointed Darren Zaman as chief executive of its offshore business. He was chief executive of DPZ Capital, a wealth management firm acquired by BMI in April. Zaman has also held roles at HSBC Investments and Le Masurier James and Chinn. BTMU Masato Miyachi has been promoted to [...]