New Look hires JPMorgan as it eyes £2bn float February 23, 2015 Fast fashion chain New Look has taken a step closer to an initial public listing (IPO), having hired JP Morgan to work on options for a flotation. Reports suggest the retailer, which is currently owned by private equity firms Apax and Permira as well as founder Tom Singh, could be valued at as much [...]
Boris Johnson’s vision of a jetpack future is already here as Martin Aircraft Company takes off February 22, 2015 Looking to the future of London, Boris Johnson could only dream of a Jetsons-style space-age capital. “It may be that by 2020 we will all have learnt to commute with jetpacks, but until then, we need to invest in our existing transport modes,” he said a few years ago. Now, however, it seems the mayor’s [...]
24 Hour Party People? George Osborne and Boris Johnson confirm plans to turn London into 24-hour city February 20, 2015 London is just months away from taking tentative steps towards becoming a 24-hour capital, and the government is already planning the next phase. Chancellor George Osborne and London mayor Boris Johnson this morning confirmed a wider rollout of the 24 hour service across the Tube and Overground lines from 2017. That will follow [...]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway makes European investment with €400m Devlet Louis Motorradvertriebs purchase February 20, 2015 He may have dumped his stake in Exxon, but Warren Buffett is still motoring. Berkshire Hathaway has splashed €400m (£294m) on a German motorcycle business, the first in what's likely to be a series of deals in Europe where the investment firm has been looking to invest. He had earlier hinted at the deal, which went [...]
Does Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’ leather jacket make him a hell-raiser, protector or just a fading rocker? Either way, he’s going to have to be a tough guy February 20, 2015 The Holy Grail for most brand managers is to create a powerful identity icon, a shorthand which cuts to the heart of their offer. There are a number of options open to the budding marketer, but the standard fare breaks down into three options, visual – like the Nike tick; verbal – like Audi’s ‘Vorsprung [...]
ECB minutes show “large majority” in favour of quantitative easing February 19, 2015 The first-ever minutes of a meeting of European Central Bank monetary policymakers has shown that a "large majority" of its governing council supported the introduction of a quantitative easing programme. The 9,000 word document shows its governing council was concerned low oil prices would lead to long-term low inflation. This, in turn, raised the possibility [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct on target but sales growth slows February 19, 2015 The figures Shares in Sports Direct rose two per cent in early trading as it announced sales and gross profits had risen across the Christmas period – up 2.6 per cent to £771m and 7.6 per cent to £346.9m respectively. However, that was a slowdown compared to the same period last year, when sales grew 11 [...]
Labour ups the HSBC pressure on George Osborne over tax evasion row February 17, 2015 Labour’s Ed Balls has increased the pressure on George Osborne in the HSBC tax evasion row, calling on the chancellor to answer key questions. Labour are attempting to up the ante on Osborne, who has barely been seen over the course of the eight-day-long political row. HSBC’s Swiss branch is accused of helping customers evade [...]
Draghi’s bond buying sparks EU shares rush February 17, 2015 FUND managers are shunning US shares in favour of Eurozone stocks in the wake of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) massive bond buying programme, a poll showed yesterday. Allocations to listed stocks in the Eurozone rose to its second highest level ever this month, according to Bank of America’s fund manager survey, threatening to breach its [...]
Warren Buffett sheds $3.9bn Exxon Mobil stake as oil prices tumble February 17, 2015 Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shed its holding in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter of 2014 as the company reacted to tumbling oil prices. Berkshire had held 41m shares worth $3.9bn (£2.5bn) in Exxon and 471,994 shares in Conoco as recently as the end of September, but a regulatory filing has revealed that [...]
