Does your business have a Brexit plan? Good, now it needs a Corbyn plan too August 15, 2019 In the mid-1970s, when I was a 10-year-old in love with Choppers and Sherbet Fountains, the ideological war between Thatcherism and Bennism began. Small versus big state, low versus high taxation, light versus tight regulation, and private versus public ownership. Now, 45 years later, we have a neo-Thatcherite government facing a Bennite-controlled Labour party. And [...]
Sports Direct left looking like giant mugs as auditor Grant Thornton quits August 14, 2019 Sports Direct shares have tumbled to their lowest level since 2011 after it emerged that Mike Ashley’s retail empire could be left without an auditor, breaching stock market rules. The company is understood to have sought government advice over what would happen if it is unable to find an auditor after its current auditor Grant [...]
Grant Thornton quits as Sports Direct auditor August 14, 2019 Sports Direct faces being left without an auditor after Grant Thornton told the retailer it would not apply for reappointment. The decision threatens to leave Sports Direct high and dry as all of the Big Four firms have indicated they are reluctant to take on the role. The Financial Times reported that Sports Direct has [...]
Woodford to offload stake in Push Doctor-backer ADV to Legal & General August 13, 2019 Beleaguered fund manager Neil Woodford is set to offload his firm’s stake in Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV), which has backed startups including GP on-demand service Push Doctor. Woodford Investment Management is expected to strike a deal this week to sell its 40 per cent stake in ADV to fellow shareholder Legal & General, Sky News [...]
By trolling Anthony Scaramucci, Trump has crossed a line August 12, 2019 When I woke up on Sunday, like a lot of entrepreneurs and people who work in the media, I reached for my smartphone to check Twitter (Mrs B was still asleep; I am an early riser). One story that caught my eye straight away was President Trump – where would Twitter be without him, or [...]
Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital buys influencer agency IMA August 12, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell’s advertising company S4 Capital has bought IMA, Europe’s largest influencer marketing company, for €10m (£9.3m) and will merge it with its existing content arm, Mediamonks. Amsterdam-based IMA, which was founded in 2010, selects influencers to create tailored online marketing campaigns for brands including Microsoft, Heineken, and Samsonite. Sorrell founded S4 Capital last [...]
North Korea fires ‘short-range ballistic missiles’ August 10, 2019 North Korea has fired two missiles into the sea, which South Korea’s military believe to be short-range ballistic missiles. It is the fifth launch of its kind in recent weeks, and if confirmed, would be a breach of 11 UN security council resolutions. Read more: Trump makes history by stepping into North Korea The two [...]
Tories outspend all their political rivals combined on Facebook advertising August 9, 2019 The Conservative Party has spent more money than any of its political rivals on Facebook advertising over the last month, within which time Boris Johnson has taken over from Theresa May as Prime Minister. The Tories have spent £51,719 on Facebook Ads during that period, almost three times more than the Labour Party, according to [...]
Boris Johnson warns civil servants against ‘complacency’ over no-deal Brexit August 9, 2019 Boris Johnson has warned the civil service that there are “no grounds for complacency” as the UK rushes to prepare itself for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. The Prime Minister sent a letter to all civil servants today telling them that “preparing urgently and rapidly for the possibility of an exit without a deal [...]
Brexit panic ‘not justified’, says former Trump trade adviser August 9, 2019 The current levels of panic around Brexit are “not justified”, according to a former top trade adviser to the US President Donald Trump. The former general counsel on trade, Stephen Vaughn, believes the UK has “enormous leverage” in any trade deal agreed with the US, he told the BBC. Read more: End of austerity? Chancellor [...]
