BSkyB buys up lion’s share of Sky Deutschland November 6, 2014 PAY TV broadcaster BSkyB will own a larger-than-expected 87.45 per cent of Sky Deutschland once its takeover closes next week. The Sky Europe deal – as it has been dubbed with BSkyB buying up its Italian and German counterparts – will create a media empire spanning six countries and reaching 20m customers. With the purchase, [...]
Ex-City sheriff Sir Paul Judge hit by setback over ENRC leak case November 4, 2014 The High Court has rejected an application made by Sir Paul Judge to strike out claims brought against him by his former employer, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC). He has also been ordered to pay 80 per cent of the company’s costs, which have yet to be determined. A source told City A.M. they [...]
Holiday pay ruling: Three ways it will harm business November 4, 2014 Long after it was agreed, the EU Working Time Directive continues to pose a significant headache for business. Yesterday’s ruling by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on holiday pay has its roots in a separate but related judgment from the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) earlier this year. It will continue to reverberate across the [...]
Tinder CEO and co-founder Sean Rad is out as boss of IAC’s star startup November 4, 2014 The chief executive and co-founder of hugely successful dating app Tinder has been removed by majority owner IAC. Sean Rad will stay on as president and remains on the board. He will stay on until a new chief executive is found. Rad was ousted from the position after a call last month from IAC’s Sam [...]
A digital billboard revolution: The top out-of-home advertising sites changing the face of London November 2, 2014 In creative terms, advertising mediums can be split into “hot” and “cool” media. This distinction was first put forward by Canadian media critic Marshall McLuhan 50 years ago. The difference is that hot media grabs you, whereas people actively choose to get involved with cool media – the audience does the grabbing. Print, cinema, [...]
Lloyds branch closures are just the start: The UK is dramatically over-banked October 28, 2014 IT MIGHT be an uncomfortable truth for many to hear, but the UK is dramatically over-banked for the digital age. There are a little less than 10,000 bank branches across the UK, far fewer than the approximately 38,000 in France, for example. But for the UK, this is still too many. Lloyds Bank seems to [...]
The art of theft: Why do thieves steal famous paintings when they’re so hard to sell? October 28, 2014 On a freezing Stockholm evening just before Christmas 2000, a group of six to eight Middle Eastern men put into action a plan they’d been working on for months. The group parked cars in the middle of the three central roads leading to the Swedish National Museum and set them ablaze. As fire engines [...]
Mortgage firm braves a stock market debut October 27, 2014 The Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) wants to float on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), yesterday announcing its plans to go public. It comes after challenger bank Aldermore scrapped its initial public offering, blaming poor market conditions, and Virgin Money postponed its attempted stock market debut. But the brokerage has not been dissuaded by the flow of [...]
Shareholders to take on Lloyds over HBOS deal October 27, 2014 FORMER Lloyds TSB shareholders are gearing up for legal action over the ill-starred acquisition of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), in one of the largest funded actions ever started in the UK. Lawyers acting for thousands of retail and City institutional investors are looking for millions of pounds from the bank over claims it misled [...]
Luxury in the air at Earl’s Court’s Lillie Square October 20, 2014 The designers behind the north hall of Covent Garden Market and the Met Bar unveiled a new collection of luxury penthouses in Earl’s Court to bring it up to the standard of its illustrious west London neighbours. The penthouses are part of the Lillie Square development, a residential scheme that’s the centrepiece of the regeneration [...]