Cat cure firm Circassia in biggest healthcare float for eight years February 6, 2014 A CURE for cat allergies could soon be hitting the market after its Oxford-based developers yesterday confirmed plans to raise £175m on the London stock market in the biggest healthcare float since 2006. Circassia, which is privately backed by firms like Invesco Perpetual and hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, said it will use the money to [...]
Sunderland players dig deep to issue apology with ticket refund October 21, 2014 ASHAMED Sunderland players will offer long-suffering fans who endured their side’s 8-0 humiliation against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday an apology in the form of a monetary refund. The 2,600 fans who made the 630-mile round trip to the south coast and witnessed their side’s shocking performance will be offered a full refund on [...]
Tax competition is good for Europe: Don’t let Jean-Claude Juncker muddy the waters January 21, 2015 At the end of last week, the European Commission disclosed a preliminary finding that Amazon’s tax arrangements in Luxembourg could have constituted “state aid”. While Amazon has said that it had received no special treatment, this is not good news for the Duchy’s former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, now president of the Commission. Yet the [...]
High Celebrity to strike for Fabre in Cheveley Park Stakes September 25, 2014 HIGH CELEBRITY was an expensive failure when Andre Fabre sent her from France to Newmarket in July, but can make amends there in tomorrow’s Cheveley Park Stakes (3.10pm). She was back to winning ways impressively in a Group Three at Chantilly last time and will get a great toe into the race from favourite Tiggy [...]
Why Ferrari’s 458 Spider is a true Italian stallion March 5, 2015 I was in Paris the other week to attend the sale of France’s most talked-about barn find; the classic car collection of Roger Baillon, who made and lost a fortune building trucks. Discovered last year in appalling condition were about 100 of the rarest and most beautiful cars of the 20th century. For four-wheel aficionados, [...]
Coding for schools: How to code like a five-year-old September 1, 2014 This week thousands of children returned to school to find themselves faced with a new subject: computer programming. England's five-year-olds are the only ones in the G20 to be taught programming, in a move the government hopes will turn the nation's children into budding tech entrepreneurs. But children at academies may be spared the new [...]
The Royal Palm in Mauritius: The best resort hotel in the Indian Ocean is back with a bang December 7, 2014 The Royal Palm, haunt of former French presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, has just undergone a £10m refurbishment. It was already the best hotel in Mauritius and, in the words of Spinal Tap, it has just turned it up to eleven, upgrading to become the only six star hotel in Mauritius. The Royal Palm [...]
Tesco beware: Aldi to double UK store count September 11, 2014 Tesco beware – Aldi has set its sights on the UK as a market ripe for growth, and it's backing its expansion plans with £70m. The budget supermarket today announced plans to almost double the number of stores in the UK from 531 to 1,000, and expand its UK headquarters in Atherstone, Warwickshire. The [...]
Sanctions have cost Russia billions – but Western firms are not getting off lightly November 24, 2014 WHEN the EU agreed to place new names on its Russian sanctions list last week, it added to an ever-expanding and ever vaguer body of international rules for compliance officials to navigate. While Russia’s finance minister has warned that sanctions are costing his country $40bn (£25.5bn) a year, they also pose significant challenges to businesses [...]
Barnet is a more than fair bet to land Ayr Gold September 18, 2014 THE William Hill Ayr Gold Cup (3.50pm) takes centre stage this weekend and I’m going to put my faith in sprint king David Nicholls landing the race for a seventh time with his sole entry BARNET FAIR. The six-year-old was a decent winner at Goodwood last month and promising apprentice Cam Hardie is reunited with [...]