Business and Economics

By Toby James Last month, American pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer had their ‘final offer’ for their proposed takeover of the British company AstraZeneca rejected. This offered shareholders £24.76 and 1.747 shares for each share they owned, valuing each share at £55 and the company as a whole at £69 billion, yet was rejected on the grounds that it “continues to fall short of the board’s view of value”. This begs the question: How much is a share in AstraZeneca worth? Thankfully, this...

By Joe Mellor Deputy Editor The best players are out there in Brazil playing sexy samba football to excite the world. Most of these superstars are paid handsomely by their clubs, but they are also given huge fees to represent their nations, during the month long tournament. Ronaldo, The 29-year old Portugal superstar, is reportedly earning $490,870 a week, after tax, amounting to a staggering $2,243,997 (USD) to take part in the 32-day event. But how far does this fortune...

By Phillip Oppenheim Cuba – sexy, sultry, sandy, salsa – and the last frontier of emerging markets? If you don’t count North Korea, that is. Maybe not everyone’s choice of place to do business, but you might be surprised. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, the Cubans tried to keep the flame of socialism burning, only to find themselves almost starving without the help of the massive Soviet subsidies they had enjoyed. Plan B from 1995 was...

By Valentina Magri Lowered rates were expected, but Mario Draghi made them real. On 5th June 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) set a 0.15 per cent intervention rate and a minus 0.1 per cent rate on banks’ deposits. But this time, the ECB has taken also unconventional measures to address deflation and credit crunch. One of them, labelled as TLTRO, is “copied from the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme”, as Martin Wolf wrote on the “Financial Times”....

Anonymous  I currently work within the online marketing industry with a variety of websites all focused on driving a massive online presence to attract more visitors. The reason I wrote this anonymously is not to advertise my company or skills, but to voice my anger at how the internet is being changed for the worse thanks to companies like the one I work for. Those of you who work in online marketing or search marketing this is going to come...

By Be Kaler of digital recruitment specialists, Futureheads According to a study by digital education company Hyper Island, addressing what digital talent will look like in the years to come, the biggest overall industry challenge is finding, keeping, and developing the right talent. In fact of the 500 business leaders asked, 20% listed technical and digital development as the top challenge. This is hardly surprising as we continue to scale new heights in digital innovation and is precisely why we...

By  Sophie Adams Director & Consultant of  Smart Resourcing Solutions Limited Since the recession in 2008/9, every article has emphasised the decline of graduate recruitment, painting a picture almost as depressing as England’s trophy cabinet from the past 40 years. This article does not completely buck that trend.  As of 2012, one in ten undergraduates who started university after 2006 (with the introduction of £3,000 annual tuition fees) have experienced long term unemployment. When the class of 2015 graduatem in...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor There are rumours the property market in London is about to cool, well we at the TLE are not so sure. These are the top ten most expensive studio apartments in London, yes that's right STUDIO; no separate bedroom/kitchen. However, on the plus side you can probably fry up some bacon while lying in bed. We think that's a positive... All properties are from Zoopla and are correct as of 13/06/14 10.  The Belvedere, Bedford Row, WC1R £680,000 Brand...

By Guy Dorrell @GuyDorrellEsq Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, interviewed on Sky News’ Murnaghan programme spoke about the risks to UK economic recovery in particular "those risks that centre in the housing market”. He was referring to the potential for overheating of a market with plenty of demand – much of it fuelled by foreign investment – but with a supply side providing half the stock of new builds compared with his native Canada. Average asking...