Endemol Sold

Endemol, which was formed in 1994 and are the creators behind Big Brother has been sold to a consortium for £2.4 billion. The consortium today announced it had acquired 99.54% of shares in the firm. Endemol is one of the biggest independent TV companies in the world. The same consortium bought 75% of Endemol shares from Spanish telecoms group Telefonica for £1.78 billion in July and 6% shares from the Cyrte investment fund, controlled by Endemol co-founder John de Mol.

Barclay's Bid Formally Launched

Barclays has today formally launched its takeover bid for ABN Amro. The formal bid was at £45.5 billion and it is hoped that this bid will beat a £48 billion bid led by Royal Bank of Scotland. ABN Amro investors will receive £8.89 per share in cash and 2.13 shares in Barclays for each ABN Amro share if the Barclays bid is accepted.

The Little Entrepreneur

Mr Duncan Bannatyne was born on Wednesday, 2 February 1949 at Springfield House in Dalmuir to the west of Glasgow. He was named after his father’s uncle. Springfield House was a large six-bedroom house. This house was shard with six other families and each family had just one room. They were seven children, Helen (the oldest sister), younger brother George, Anne, William, Campbell and youngest sister Sandy that was born on his dad’s fifty-first birthday. He joined the Navy after his dad’s birthday. Mr Bannatyne’s mother was born on 26 October 1925, the seventh of seven children. His parent married in May 1946.

His first business venture when he was only 11years old was being a paperboy. To secure this job he lied to the newspaper agent in telling her (Jenny) that he will deliver 100 news papers. He did not have a bicycle and there was no money to buy one. So he was determined to make this work and buy himself a bicycle to be like other kids at school. Jenny obviously did not believe him, and he had to get 100 names to prove to her that he will deliver 100 newspapers. He did just that and had to knock on 150 doors to get 100 signatures for papers.

He left school because he knew his parents would not be able to afford for him to go to college. He left school at his earliest convenience to join the Royal Navy. Because he was under sixteen and wanted to join the Royal Navy, he needed his parent’s permission to join and his mother refused to sign the forms. He then threatened to run away from home to force his mum to sign the forms.

Mr Bannatyne - Anyone Can Do It

Duncan Bannatyne was born in Clydebank and left school without qualifications. He joined the Royal Navy to pursue a career, but left the Royal Navy after four years after being dishonourably discharged after trying to throw his commanding officer overboard. He started his business with an ice cream van and sold his ice cream business for £28 000 in 1987 for a nursing home business. The latter has helped him to make enough money and helped him build out his fortunes to the point where he is today. He has the reputation as a tough operator and once walked out of a meeting with City Brokers that would have netted him millions of pounds on a point of principle over £12 000. In 2004 he received an OBE for his charity work following a sustained commitment to children’s projects in Romania. He is the Chairman of the Bannatyne Group mostly known for Bannatyne Fitness Ltd, Britain’s largest independent health club company. He’s wealth is estimated in the Sunday Times Rich List at £200 million. He has six children and homes in London, North East & Cannes.

Mr Bannatyne on of Britain’s most successful and unconventional entrepreneurs, said himself: “if someone like me can make £100 million, then anyone can do it”

New Business Ideas

Since I am going to start our business personality with Mr Duncan Bannatyne who started his company with an Ice-cream van, I thought that if you are looking for new ventures ideas to start a company then I might have the solution for you. Check out the recommended links section at the bottom of this page. Two companies that might be of interest are the following:

Coolbusiness Ideas:
Based in Singapore, CoolBusinessIdeas.com is dedicated to the gathering of brand new promising business ideas and opportunities from around the world and informing newsletter subscribers of emerging trends in the business world so that their worldwide subscribers can gain an edge over the relentless competition. They draw on a large network of business 'informers' as well as on their own research through many channels to present cool business ideas in their newsletter. Very promising new business ideas, opportunities, concepts and systems which are ready for adaptation to local businesses are tracked by them on a consistent basis.

To maintain global and local coverage, the CoolBusinessIdeas.com team scans online data and publications regularly as well as keeps in close contact with industry 'insiders' around the world. They rely on an international network of informers as their first-hand sources of new business ideas. Their findings are presented in their biweekly newsletter which you can subscribe for free as well as a regularly-updated blog.

Springwise
Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. Ferociously tracking more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities, digital cameras at hand. To ensure true ‘glocal’ coverage, the central office is in close contact with more than 8,000 Springspotters in over 70 countries worldwide. The full colour, monthly Springwise (and related trendwatching.com) newsletters, to which you can subscribe for free, get sent to more than 210,000 business professionals in more than 120 countries. So whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, head of a start-up, management consultant, marketing manager, business development director, trend watcher, or anyone else interested in creating or expanding companies, Springwise will instantly inspire you by getting the world’s most promising young ventures right in front of you. To check out the most recent newsletter, visit the Springwise website. Springwise is the first company to compile and send out a newsletter like this on a global scale, making optimal use of an ever more networked world. Established in Spring of 2002, Springwise is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Who is it for?
Springwise is required brain food for entrepreneurial minds! Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, head of a start-up, management consultant, marketing manager, consumer insights expert, trend watcher, journalist, private investor, business development director, or venture capitalist, Springwise will instantly inspire you by getting the world’s most promising new business ideas and young ventures right in front of you.

Dow Jones sold to News Corporation

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of the News Corporation that also owns The Sun and the Times has offered £2.76 billion for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones and this offer has been accepted yesterday. He bought the Wall Street Journal after agreeing a takeover with Dow Jones’s controlling Bancroft family. Fox News, Twentieth Century Fox film and TV studios, internet site MySpace will all be part of the News Corporation owned by Mr Rupert Murdoch.

HMV buys Fopp

Troubled music and books retailer Fopp has been bought by HMV for an undisclosed sum. Fopp recently went into administration, closing 81 stores with 700 job losses. HMV said this deal would save up to 70 jobs. HMV said it would maintain Fopp's unique identity and trading culture.