CRUNCH

CITYAM.COM
TUESDAY 4 APRIL 2017
NEWS
13
THECAPITALIST
25-YEAR SPREAD London betting firm
looks back at some of the highs, and lows,
since it kicked off a quarter of a century ago
Phoney phone for addicts
DOES the idea of being without your
mobile phone bring you out in a cold
sweat? Then this is the phone for you:
More Th>n has launched a new artificial
smartphone to help the 23 per
cent of Britons who believe they are
addicted to their phones, and the 12
per cent who suffer from “phone separation
anxiety”.
The so-called mobile phone surrogate
that has been designed to
replicate the exact weight and dimensions
of a standard iPhone but
it comes without any of the technical
capabilities: no phone, no camera, no
internet. In reality, it’s just a piece of
black plastic.
But why on earth is More Th>n involved
in this prosthetic phone? To encourage
the biggest addicts to put
down their phones when they are
driving. It’s dangerous, dummy.
Got A Story? Email
thecapitalist@cityam.com
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Now I know why you
drink more than the
average doctor
World First, currency experts, take their
hat off to journalists after an afternoon
spent transcribing
SPREAD-BETTING firms may be two-a-penny in the City these days, but that wasn’t
always the case – and certainly not back in 1992 when Sporting Index was founded.
The London-based company celebrates its 25-year anniversary this month, and has
revealed its biggest loss to date: Sporting ended up nearly £1m out of pocket in
December 2012, when Arsenal beat Newcastle in a 10-goal thriller. Ouch.
NEWS
Heathrow racks up
100,000 complaints
REBECCA SMITH
@BexKSmith
HEATHROW Airport received more
than 100,000 noise complaints in
2016, with 25,672 made in the last
three months of the year and half of
those submitted by 10 people.
From October to December, 10
people submitted 13,075 complaints
between them, while five people complained
more than 1,280 times in that
period. Some 759 individuals complained
once to the airport.
According to official data, the airport
received 101,025 complaints in
2016, though that was a decrease on
the 2015 total of 108,225.
The airport, which was given the
green light by government for expansion
in October, reported Richmond
had both the most complaints and the
highest number of complainants out
of any borough, with 7,967 complaints
made by 377 people. There
were 2,222 complaints from Slough,
though these came from 10 people.
Critics of the third runway have expressed
concern that expansion will
cause more complaints, with the
Heathrow Association for the Control
of Aircraft Noise (Hacan) saying the
airport should vary flight paths.
A spokesperson for Heathrow said:
“Heathrow’s plans for expansion will
ensure fewer people impacted by aircraft
noise, offer more predictable
respite than we can now, and a worldclass
noise insulation scheme.
“Heathrow has consistently reduced
the number of people impacted by aircraft
noise, by incentivising airlines to
bring their cleanest, quietest aircraft
to the airport and driving forward
changes in how they operate through
measures like steeper approaches.”
Under-pressure Dulux chief exec
‘vlogs’ to defend deal approach
WILLIAM TURVILL
@wturvill
AKZONOBEL’S under-pressure chief
executive has taken to vlogging
(video blogging) to defend his
decision not to engage with a US
takeover bidder.
Ton Buchner addressed several
issues in the Youtube post yesterday,
including explaining why AkzoNobel
has refused to meet with PPG
Industries, which has made two
unsolicited approaches for the
Dulux-making Dutch firm in recent
weeks. Activist investor Elliott
Advisors has led criticism of
AkzoNobel’s refusal to engage with
PPG, and has been backed by other
shareholders.
Buchner said in the YouTube
video: “We very clearly assessed two
proposals that we’ve received from
PPG. We’ve seen that it clearly
undervalues the company. And then
the second proposal that we
received, it did not address the key
stakeholder issues.”