Volkswagen emissions scandal: Bumpy road ahead for VW as probes launched September 28, 2015 Scandal-hit German car giant Volkswagen faces another tough week as several governments are set to launch investigations into the fiddling of emissions tests on its diesel engines. The news comes as it emerges that Volkswagen, already reeling from the backlash over what is known – inevitably – as dieselgate, was warned about cheating emissions tests [...]
SSI facing fuel shortage but still stays silent on plans for Redcar September 28, 2015 The owner of Redcar steel works could be forced to announce its plans for the future tomorrow, when it is expected to run out of fuel. Thai steel firm SSI suspended production at the plant last week, citing rising costs and a slump in demand. Almost 2,000 workers are awaiting more information from the company [...]
Countryside Properties eyes up £1bn return to the stock market September 28, 2015 Housebuilder Countryside Properties is planning to return to the stock market with a £1bn float, over 10 years since it delisted. The company was bought for £222m in 2005 by a joint venture between HBOS, now Lloyds Banking Group, and the founder Alan Cherry. It was subsequently bought by US private equity firm Oaktree Capital [...]
Debenhams set for shareholder leadership coup September 28, 2015 Debenhams is facing further shareholder unrest, with several more of its biggest investors joining broker Cenkos in its attempts to unseat the retailer’s top bosses. Milestone Resources, Schroders and Old Mutual are said to have teamed up with Cenkos, which was last week revealed to be in talks with other shareholders about possibly replacing chairman [...]
Sale of Tesco’s Clubcard business to WPP on the verge of collapse September 27, 2015 Tesco is likely to be forced to give up on the sale of its loyalty card business Dunnhumby as talks with WPP look set to collapse. The advertising agency has struggled to agree a price, according to the Sunday Times. Tesco hired Goldman Sachs earlier this year to look into selling a portion or all [...]
Soho House to raise £200m to fund expansion September 27, 2015 Soho House is trying to raise £200m in its second financing drive in two years. The group, which owns Shoreditch House and has 15 outposts around the world, including the recently opened Soho Farmhouse in Oxford, is looking to raise the funds to open six new houses and up to 30 restaurants over the next [...]
RSA prepares to make more overseas sales September 27, 2015 British insurer RSA is believed to be preparing to sell its Russian and Middle East operations in the next few months. The company has been disposing of its non-core business over the past two years, since chief executive Stephen Hester was brought on board to turn the group around. Earlier this month, the insurer sold [...]
Volkswagen warned over emissions test cheating “years ago”, German reports claim September 27, 2015 Volkswagen was warned about cheating emissions tests several years ago by the company's own staff members and by one of its suppliers, according to German media reports. The warning from internal engineers as far back as 2011 is said to have surfaced from VW's internal investigation into the scandal which has rocked the company, German [...]
Uber wants to bring the party to its customers with UberEvents September 26, 2015 Need some help getting the party started? Ride-sharing app Uber is trialling its new service UberEvents for business customers. The pre-paid service allows event organisers to buy rides for their guests, and the company envisions it being used for things like company parties and weddings, as Kimiko Ninomiya, Uber’s senior marketing manager wrote on the [...]
Volkswagen emissions scandal: Switzerland bans sales of VW Euro5 diesel models September 26, 2015 The backlash against Volkswagen has hit its hardest point yet as Switzerland has banned sales of Volkswagen diesel cars after the company admitted to cheating in emissions tests. The emissions cheating scandal has escalated over the week as the German car maker admitted that as many as 11m cars could have been equipped with a [...]