Applegreen IPO: Irish owners net €20m in petrol station listing June 16, 2015 Two Irish entrepreneurs are in line for a €20m (£14.37m) windfall after floating their petrol forecourt business on the London stock exchange. Bob Etchingham and Joe Barrett, who founded Irish petrol station group Applegreen 23 years ago, will net €15m and €5m respectively from the listing, according to regulatory documents filed yesterday. Both [...]
Cargiant unveils £5bn plans for Old Oak Common regeneration June 16, 2015 Cargiant unveiled ambitions plans yesterday to turn its 46-acre site at Old Oak Common into a new £5bn district with 9,000 homes, further dashing QPR’s hopes of building a stadium on the land. The car dealership firm and its development partner London & Regional said the site would be renamed Old Oak Park and be [...]
Funerals group Dignity in £38m deal to expand with Laurel purchase June 16, 2015 Listed funeral services provider Dignity is expanding, with the purchase of 36 funeral homes from Laurel Funerals for £38m. Laurel currently operates in 83 locations across the UK. In order to avoid any potential competition concerns, Dignity is only acquiring sites that complement its own geographic spread. The transaction is expected to close in July. [...]
Gatwick airport partners with budget airline WestJet as runway expansion report looms June 16, 2015 Canadian budget airline WestJet has selected Gatwick as its first English destination from Canada, in a boon to the airport’s expansion campaign. WestJet’s wide-body Boeing 767-300 aircraft will begin flying the route next year, with the Canadian airports yet to be determined. WestJet boss Gregg Saretsky said Gatwick is the “ideal airport” for its first [...]
Why it’s not time to dump US equities: A Fed interest rate hike won’t drag down stocks June 16, 2015 For US equity investors, it’s all eyes on the Fed until we see the first lift-off in interest rates in September or potentially December this year. We’ve got beyond the patch of weak economic data earlier in 2015 and are returning to stronger growth, as signalled by healthy labour market data in recent months. Ironically, [...]
Lego figures are officially a trademark, court rules June 16, 2015 Everything is awesome for Lego (sorry). The Danish toymaker has triumphed in a trademark battle after a ruling by European courts today. Read more: KitKat copycats: Nestle loses trademark battle A Brussels court knocked back a challenge by a rival British toy firm to Lego's trademark over the cute Lego characters beloved by children (and hated by [...]
Goldman Sachs is launching an online lending platform for small businesses June 16, 2015 Goldman Sachs is launching an online lending business for consumers and small businesses, according to an internal memo. It will allow the bank to provide loans more quickly via the internet, helping it to compete with the likes of the Lending Club, for which it was a lead underwriter only six months ago. The [...]
Retail administrations claimed 5,000 jobs last year June 16, 2015 Nearly 5,000 people lost their jobs as a result of retail administrations last year, including Phones4U, La Senza, Jane Norman and Internacionale, a new report has revealed. The UK’s 13 biggest high street failures led to 735 stores closing up and down the country in 2014, with half the roles put under risk ultimately [...]
Royal Mail share price slides as Ofcom launches “fundamental” review of Royal Mail June 16, 2015 Communications regulator Ofcom today announced plans for a "fundamental" review into Royal Mail's direct delivery service, sparked by the withdrawal of Whistl, Royal Mail's only rival in the sector. Read more: Opinion – Lessons learned as final Royal Mail parcel goes on sale Shares were down 2.5 per cent at 492p as Ofcom said the [...]
UK house prices: Crest Nicholson enjoys fruits of high demand as profits rise 52 per cent June 16, 2015 Crest Nicholson’s profit before tax leaped 52 per cent in the six months to the end of April, thanks to an improving market characterised by a sustained demand. Read more: Rents growing across the UK for only the third time on record The figures Residential developer Crest reported profit before tax of £58.3m, a 52 per [...]