EU energy ministers to redefine rules for fossil fuel project funding June 11, 2021 Energy ministers from the European Union have gathered in Luxembourg today to discuss EU support for natural gas projects, even though the European Commission has urged fossil fuel funding to end to reach net zero. The EU’s “TEN-E” rules can label energy ventures as Projects of Common Interest (PCI), which offers them certain EU funds [...]
BoE and BIS launch London banking hub for post-pandemic tech boom June 11, 2021 The Bank of England (BoE) and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have launched a London coordination hub today, that seeks to coordinate central banks on technological innovation. The BIS Innovation Hub London Centre, the fourth new BIS Innovation Hub in two years, will help banks in the era of digital acceleration post-pandemic. “The UK is [...]
Pizza and a pint: Fuller, Smith & Turner poaches Domino’s CFO June 11, 2021 Hotel and pub group Fuller, Smith & Turner has poached Domino’s Pizza’s chief financial officer who will join the company towards the end of the year. Joining the pub group as finance director, Neil Smith will also be placed onto the group’s board. Shares in Domino’s sank following the announcement, falling by 1.85 per cent [...]
Sanne Group and Cinven enter talks after £1.42bn bid June 11, 2021 London’s Sanne Group has entered into talks with Cinven after the private equity firm made a sweetened offer of £1.42bn to buy the asset management services provider. The asset services firm’s board confirmed this morning that it has received a fifth proposal from Cinven, which includes a possible all cash offer at a price of [...]
Heathrow passenger numbers keep dwindling as CEO urges G7 for safe travel June 11, 2021 After 15 months of restrictions, Heathrow’s passenger numbers in the UK and across the world have continued to collapse below pre-pandemic levels, with a loss of over 6m passengers in the month, the airport said this morning. From June 2020 to May 2021, there was a 79.3 per cent plunge in terminal passenger numbers in [...]
Auto Trader doubles down on digital offering amid pandemic blow June 10, 2021 Car buyers using Auto Trader’s platform has hit record levels, the group said this morning, as it bolstered its online offering after the pandemic pushed the pedal on the digital sphere. Despite doubling down on its digital presence, the group was still knocked by the pandemic as its revenue sank 29 per cent to £262.8m [...]
UK needs to shake off British empire image to avoid Scottish independence, think tank says June 10, 2021 The UK needs to shake off the nationalist stereotypes of its British Empire to avoid Scottish independence, a think tank has reported. Those who favour Scottish independence associate “Britain with empire and empire with evil”, with independence part of “the progressive arc of history”, think tank Council on Geostrategy said. “In short, if the disintegration [...]
China passes law to retaliate against foreign sanctions June 10, 2021 China has passed a law today that will allow it to counter foreign sanctions, according to state broadcaster China Centra Television (CCTV). The bill was passed by China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) standing committee after a second review, after a secret first review in April. Little is yet known of the law, but it comes [...]
Meatpacking giant JBS dishes out £7.8m in crypto ransom after cyber attack June 10, 2021 Meat processing giant JBS has dished out around £7.8m in a crypto ransom to rid its networks of hackers in a major cyber-attack, the company confirmed last night. The meatpacker’s computer networks were hacked at the end of May, which forced some operations in Australia, Canada and the US to temporarily shut down. The ransom [...]
SoftBank-backed Sinch to buy MessageMedia for $1.3bn June 9, 2021 Cloud communications firm Sinch is set to buy mobile messaging business MessageMedia for $1.3bn to bolster small and medium businesses (SMEs) post-pandemic. Sinch, of which Japan’s SoftBank has a $690m stake, will seal the deal with $1.1bn in cash around 1m new shares. “Addressing small and medium-sized businesses opens up a new avenue to growth [...]