Government considers taking a 25 per cent stake in Tata Steel’s UK business and reveals plans for millions of pounds’ worth of financial support to buyers April 21, 2016 The government has said it would be willing to take a 25 per cent stake in any rescue of Tata Steel’s UK operations and will be providing debt finance to potential buyers. A package of support worth hundreds of millions of pounds will be made available. The announcement follows a second meeting between business secretary Sajid Javid [...]
FTSE closes flat but miners fall to six-year low – London Report August 18, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index closed flat yesterday, weakened by US data and by mining companies hitting multi-year lows. The FTSE 100 index closed down a tiny 0.007 per cent – or 0.44 points – at 6,550.30. This followed the release of a survey which showed manufacturing activity in New York state at its weakest level [...]
UK house price growth speeds up in January as buy-to-let stamp duty hike looms February 4, 2016 House price growth sped up in the year to January, new data showed this morning – suggesting buy-to-let investors are trying to sneak in those transactions before new stamp duty rules are introduced in April. The annual figure was up from 9.5 per cent in December and nine per cent in November, according to Halifax's house [...]
Crest Nicholson shares rally as full-year profits jump by a third January 26, 2016 Crest Nicholson has posted bumper full-year profits as the housebuilder stormed ahead with plans to build 4,000 homes by 2019. Home completions rose by eight per cent to 2,725 homes in the year to 31 October, with sales revenues up by 26 per cent to £804.8m. The strong performance helped drive a 32 per cent [...]
Jobs saved at Powa as buyers swoop for PowaTag and PowaWeb businesses March 3, 2016 Jobs have been saved at UK fintech giant Powa, after its PowaTag and PowaWeb businesses were sold. The company, one of the UK's only $1bn tech "unicorns", filed for administration last month. But today administrators Deloitte said 69 jobs were saved after PowaTag was sold to a consortium led by Ben White, while the the PowaWeb business has [...]
Area guide: Woolwich – why it’s tomorrow’s town April 1, 2016 It’s an unfortunate consequence of over-enthusiastic estate agents that an area described as “up-and-coming” is often, well, getting there but taking its sweet time about it. Woolwich was one such place for a long time, but 2016 is the year SE18 arrives on the property scene. “Woolwich has been touted as up-and-coming for the last [...]
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reportedly considering selling Borsa Italiana and LCH.Clearnet as part of potential bid for London Stock Exchange Group March 3, 2016 A possible bid by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) is reportedly likely to include selling off the London exchange's Italian business and French clearing arm. Shares in the LSE soared to a record high on Tuesday, after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner ICE confirmed it is considering bidding [...]
BHS administration: Sir Philip Green could face MP grilling over £571m pension deficit April 26, 2016 MPs are to decide tomorrow whether former BHS boss Sir Philip Green should be called in for questioning over the demise of the iconic high street name and its towering £571m pension deficit. BHS entered administration yesterday with debts of £1.3bn. The pension liabilities have been passed onto the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) – which is [...]
From Sir Philip Green to Frank Field, these are the most important reactions to BHS’ wind-down June 2, 2016 It's the end of an era: after weeks of uncertainty, today BHS' administrators finally announced they were calling time on the sale of BHS – without a buyer. That could mean the disappearance of one of the high street's biggest names, with all 163 stores closing. Not surprisingly, given the size of the collapse – some [...]
Why the EU referendum should not be used as a scapegoat to explain falling M&A activity May 5, 2016 Barack Obama probably dealt with a wide array of important issues during his recent UK visit, but it’s doubtful anyone noticed. Only one subject dominated, and that was the US President’s views on Brexit. So loud is the discourse surrounding the EU referendum that, as was the case with President Obama’s visit, it threatens to [...]