Nestlé has lost the latest round of its seven year battle with rivals Cadbury to trademark the shape of the KitKat bar in the UK. The Court of Appeal ruled that the four-finger design had “no inherent distinctiveness”. Nestlé’s appeal followed a High Court ruling in January 2016 that blocked the trademark attempt. The European…
IKEA is to create more than 1,300 new jobs in three new stores. A new outlet will open in Sheffield later this year, while stores in Exeter and Greenwich will open in 2018, the firm said. The jobs will increase IKEA’s workforce in the UK and Ireland by 12.5% to about 11,700, the company said.…
Much has been written in the press recently about the proposed hike in Probate Court fees. The Government looked all set to implement the fee rise in May before it called a snap General Election for the 8th June 2017. Sadly, whatever happens we must be prepared for the new Government seeking to re-introduce a…
Accounting firm PwC has been fined a record £5m and severely reprimanded over its auditing of collapsed property services group Connaught by The Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Social housing specialist Connaught had £220m of debt when it went bust in 2010. The FRC found evidence of misconduct by PwC and retired partner Stephen Harrison. Mr…
BT is to shed 4,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years and is stripping the chief executive of his annual bonus. The job cuts would fall on back-office and managerial sectors as it simplifies its Global Services operations. The move follows an accounting scandal at the Italian part of Global Services that cost BT…
A former London oil and gas trader has been ordered to pay his estranged British wife £453 million pounds in one of the biggest divorce settlements in English legal history. The 61-year- old man, who has not been named, met his wife in 1989 in Moscow where she was studying and they married four years…
Chef Heston Blumenthal’s 28 year marriage to his estranged wife Zanna Blumenthal was ended in just 90 seconds as District Judge Anne Hudd granted Zanna an undefended decree nisi at the Central Family Court six years after the couple split on the grounds that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. The couple have three children.…
Airbus’ profits have fallen due to continued problems with certain projects. Airbus stated that there were still issues over “meeting contractual capabilities” securing export orders, cost cutting, and commercial exposure. It also said that technical problems with engines for its new A320neo aircraft were still to be resolved. The warnings came as Airbus posted quarterly…
Taylor Wimpey, one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders, has set aside £130m and apologised to home buyers in a dispute over sharply rising fees. It is the first major builder to apologise after criticism for leaving customers with onerous leasehold deals. The contracts meant that ground rents, which are paid to owners of the property,…
Sports Direct and Newcastle United owner billionaire Mike Ashley has won the latest round of a High Court fight with Rangers Football Club over a merchandise deal said to result in the Rangers getting about 7p of every £1 spent. Sports Direct group say Rangers’ directors wrongly terminated a contract through which branded products, including…