AJ Bell: Firm kicks off buyback as revenue hits record December 5, 2024 AJ Bell kicked off a £30m share buyback this morning as the investment platform reported record financial performance, with revenue shooting up 23 per cent.oc In its final results for the year ended 30 September 2024, the FTSE 250 firm reported a 29 per cent jump in profit before tax to £113.3m as it benefitted [...]
Ed Warner: It’s sports awards season, so here’s my team of the year December 5, 2024 ParalympicsGB are my team of the year – they succeeded where others failed and all without the fanfare they deserved, says Ed Warner. Sports award season is upon us. This of the Year and That of the Year, on red carpets and across multiple platforms with misty eyes and banging showreels. Not a vintage year [...]
Typhoo is bought out of administration – but is the brand weak tea? December 5, 2024 YouGov’s chief executive Steve Hatch takes a closer look at the data behind the biggest stories in business. This week, Typhoo was bought out of administration for £10m by the Mancunian vape-maker Supreme. The tea-maker had been in financial trouble in recent years, and the new owners have pledged to outsource manufacturing and reduce overheads. But in [...]
Could Elon Musk and Nigel Farage upend British politics? December 5, 2024 Labour’s majority is enormous, but it only gives us the appearance of stability. All the evidence suggests their support is broad but shallow and their victory was as much a question of good luck and good timing as it was a literal vote of support for Labour’s policies. The Tory party is basically neck and [...]
Budget to dent prime property market December 5, 2024 Measures introduced in the October Budget will weigh on the UK’s prime property market next year, with the value of prime central London (PCL) homes in line for a four per cent hit, a forecast has shown. Fresh analysis by Savills said that changes to the stamp duty charged on second homes, VAT on school [...]
Revolut crowdfunders in line for 400 times return on investment December 5, 2024 Some of Revolut’s earliest investors are in line for 400 times returns after taking a punt on a fledgling fintech that has grown into a banking titan. The British start-up’s early backers, including participants in two crowdfunding rounds, have been offered the chance to sell down their holdings in a secondary share sale. Brokered by [...]
Hedge fund managers could buy land, MPs told, as Tories fail to scrap ‘farm tax’ December 4, 2024 Hedge fund managers could buy up farmland if UK farmers sell up to avoid the inheritance levy, MPs were told, as the Tories brought a vote on the so-called ‘family farms tax’. Conservative MPs used an opposition day debate on Wednesday to bring a Commons vote on Labour’s Budget measure which would see farmers pay [...]
Another London-listed firm goes private as deals bonanza accelerates December 4, 2024 Another London Stock Exchange-listed firm waved through a take-private deal today in the latest of a torrent of exits from the City’s bourse this year. Learning Technologies, an AIM listed edtech company, agreed to an £836m takeover from US private equity behemoth General Atlantic, making it one of 45 listed companies to sell-up or enter [...]
UK takes down multibillion-dollar Russian crypto laundering network December 4, 2024 The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has smashed a multibillion-dollar Russian money laundering scheme which operated in Britain and had ties to the Kremlin. Investigators said on Wednesday that uncovering the Russian-speaking network, run out of London, Moscow and Dubai, marked the NCAs biggest money laundering case for a decade. The investigation was given the [...]
The Importance of Being Earnest at National Theatre review December 4, 2024 Max Webster’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest opens with Ncuti Gatwa’s Algernon swathed in hot pink ballgown and draped over a piano. Start as you mean to go. The play is a luscious, saturated explosion that unfolds like a musical number of carefully choreographed wordplay. It is a celebration of appetite and queerness, [...]