Friday 19 January 2024

Sébastien de Montessus £23 million Steal . Tip of the Iceberg ?

 

Sacked FTSE 100 chief executive to forfeit £23m in pay and benefits

Sébastien de Montessus of Endeavour Mining was sacked this month over allegations of a multimillion-dollar ‘irregular payment


How many Other Bosses should be giving back their overblown remittances .

Dreadful People running such large businesses .

Where is you magnanimity .

Bosses continue to DISAPPOINT everyone else But themselves .

Monday 8 January 2024

Self Deprecation & Why You should know what It means 08/01/2024

 Self deprecation or self defecation .


Seems to be a lot of Internet users whom seem to be oblivious that , only the former Practitioners are worthy of your time & attention .

Schools are lacking in teaching thus  ; more Sir Humphrey and less there`s a Humphrey about please .

 While your at It , less greed , more satiate the need  .

Thankyou , happy New Year Indeed .


          bbr391


The billionaire boss of Bet365 pocketed more than £270m last year in another huge payday for the founder of the Stoke-on-Trent-based gambling company.

Denise Coates, who set up Bet365 in a portable building in the Staffordshire city in 2000, received the bumper payout despite the firm making a £60m loss.


Thursday 4 January 2024

Boss You Mate 04/01/2024

The bosses of Britain’s biggest companies will have made more money in 2024 by Thursday lunchtime than the average UK worker will earn in the entire year, according to analysis of vast pay gaps amid strike action and the cost of living crisis.

The High Pay Centre, a thinktank that campaigns for fairer pay for workers, said that by 1pm on the third working day of the year, a FTSE 100 chief executive will have been paid more on an hourly basis than a UK worker’s annual salary of £34,963, based on median average remuneration figures for both groups.

Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, the umbrella body for UK trade unions, said: “While working people have been forced to suffer the longest wage squeeze in modern history, City bosses have been allowed to pocket bumper rises and bankers have been given unlimited bonuses.”

Nowak blamed politicians for allowing the gap between bosses’ and workers’ pay to increase. “The Conservatives are presiding over – and enabling – obscene levels of pay inequality,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We need an economy that rewards work – not just wealth. 

History Itself Repeats . Ten years until the Bust is on the radar .

Bulls enjoy IT whilst you can 

bbr391 / Guardian / Murdo

YES he is still alive


CEO of Endeavour Mining 


A Top ten Mining company by world valuation


Sebastien De Montessus  REMOVED as CEO

This followed an investigation by the board into an ‘irregular payment’, worth an estimated £4.7m, made by the Frenchman. 

Endeavour became aware of it during a review of its acquisitions and sales of parts of the business. 

It is unclear where the payment was directed and a review is ongoing into the details. 

De Montessus, 49, who has led the gold miner since 2016, also faces separate allegations over his personal conduct with colleagues – plunging it into even further scandal about Its culture .

The allegations were reported in October through a ‘confidential whistleblowing channel’ and prompted an external investigation, the company said in a statement to the London market. 

Tuesday 19 December 2023

Inrastructure India PLC........ Christmas 2023

 Infrastructure India PLC - infrastructure fund investing directly into assets in India - Says it expects to release 2023 results in the first quarter of 2024. Will be able to publish interim results immediately afterwards. Also expects to convene an annual general meeting in the first quarter. Says results delay is due to delays in the disposal of Distribution Logistics Infrastructure Private Ltd. Says this transaction allows it to remain invested in the Indian logistics sector and is expected to realise enhanced value for shareholders at the time of exit, most likely within 24 to 36 months from closing. Says both Distribution Logistics and purchaser Pristine Malwa Logistics Park Private Ltd are "working diligently towards completion", with "certain complex issues" now "nearing resolution". Currently expects to complete sale by January 15. Adds that planned sale of Indian Energy Ltd to FA Power Renewables Private Ltd, closing of which was delayed due to "regulatory matters", is now close to finalisation.

Current stock price: Suspended in London, last closed at 0.50 pence on October 2

12-month change: down 99%

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News report


Should be an Interesting 2024 for IIP holders 

Wednesday 13 December 2023

Looney fined £32,426,000 13/12/2023

 

Former BP boss Bernard Looney forfeits £32m after ‘serious misconduct’

The former chief executive of BP, Bernard Looney, is to lose up to £32m in pay after the oil giant concluded that he had commited “serious misconduct”.

In September Mr Looney resigned from BP after it emerged he had failed to fully disclose previous relationships with colleagues.

The company today said that, in 2022, it had “sought assurances regarding disclosure of his past personal relationships with Company colleagues and his future behaviour” and that these were given.

BP said:

Following careful consideration, the board has concluded that, in providing inaccurate and incomplete assurances in July 2022, Mr Looney knowingly misled the board. The board has determined that this amounts to serious misconduct, and as such Mr Looney has been dismissed without notice effective on 13 December 2023. This decision had the effect of bringing Mr Looney’s 12 month notice period to an immediate end.

The company said that Mr Looney would receive no further salary or pension allowance or benefits from today. In addition, share awards and bonuses since 2021 that are unvested (that is, set aside but not paid until certain conditions are met) would “lapse”.

BP added that:

The total maximum value of the potential remuneration that has been forfeited or clawed back is £32,426,000.

87pc of this value is automatically forfeited as a result of Mr Looney’s resignation with immediate effect on 12 September 2023. 10pc results from the board’s decision that he should be dismissed following serious misconduct and the further 3pc has been clawed back at the discretion of the board.

Mr Looney has been contacted for comment

Wednesday 29 November 2023

Barclays (Staley was Epstein`s most cherished of friends ) 2023

 Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) Securities Fraud Class Action:

The complaint alleges that Defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that:

(1) contrary to his false public statements and assertions to Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), Barclays’ ex-CEO Jes Staley had a very close relationship with Epstein;

(2) Staley was reportedly aware of Epstein’s criminal activities and may have even sexually assaulted a victim who had previously been trafficked by Epstein;

(3) Staley’s close, personal relationship with Epstein, and potential criminal activity, if discovered could bring reputational, legal, and financial harm to Barclays;

(4) as a result, Barclays’ response to the FCA inquiry regarding Staley’s relationship with Epstein was materially false; and

(5) Barclays, having become aware of information contradicting its response to the FCA’s inquiry, then failed to update the response so that it would be accurate, or otherwise take any meaningful action.

Investors began to learn the truth on Nov. 1, 2021, when Barclays announced Staley’s departure after becoming aware of the FCA’s preliminary conclusions regarding the company’s and Staley’s characterization of the Epstein relationship.

Subsequently, the Financial Times reported that Staley and Epstein exchanged 1,200 emails over a four-year period and, just before joining Barclays in 2015, Staley sailed his yacht to Epstein’s island in the Caribbean.

Finally, on Oct. 12, 2023, the FCA announced that “Staley recklessly approved a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA, which contained two misleading statements, about the nature of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the point of their last contact.” The FCA fined Staley, barred him from the financial services industry and observed that Staley’s emails described Epstein as one of his “deepest” and “most cherished” friends.

Each of these events drove the price of Barclays American Depositary Shares lower.

“We’re focused on investors’ losses and are investigating whether Barclays may have intentionally misled investors about the nature of the Staley-Epstein relationship,” said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you invested in Barclays and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm’s investigation, submit your losses now »

If you’d like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the Barclays case and our investigation, read more »

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Barclays should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email BCS@hbsslaw.com .

Shell PLC / Hudson Energy FINED ( yet again ) 2023

 Proposal of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (‘the Authority’) to impose a financial penalty on Shell Energy UK Limited (SEUK), following an investigation into that company relating to matters while under its previous name of Hudson Energy Supply UK Limited (‘HES’) 1 and its compliance with its obligations under Standard Licence Conditions (‘SLCs’) 0A, 7A.1, 7A.8, 7B and 21B.1 of its electricity supply licence. 1. Summary 1.1. This case concerns acts or omissions which, in the opinion of the Authority, constitute contraventions of the above SLCs committed by HES in relation to Non-Domestic Customers supplied under its electricity supply licence. 1.2. From 2015 to July 2020, HES had an arrangement (“the arrangement”) with a third-party (“the third-party”), whereby the third-party acquired customers for HES and then conducted customer facing activities with those customers (including those activities subject of breach in this case). 1.3. Whilst the third-party carried out some of the actions that are the subject of the breaches set out in this document, HES, as licensee, is responsible for the actions of the third-party and the resultant poor treatment of its customers. On this basis HES itself is found in breach of the above SLCs.


A company owned by oil and gas giant Shell has been slapped with a fine by the energy regulator Ofgem, weeks after the communications regulator also fined part of the customer-facing part of the group.

Hudson Energy Supply (HES), a non-domestic market energy supplier which Shell purchased in 2019 as part of its efforts to take on the UK retail energy supply market, must cough up £1.6m after the regulator found it “failed its customers by failing to comply with a number of important licence conditions.”

An investigation by Ofgem opened in July 2020, found a number of breaches, including outsourcing services without supervision, leading to poor provision, and a “serious unjustified overcharging of customers, in one case of £22,500.”

The probe found that on average customers were overcharged by more than £1,800, with some not receiving their money back for seven months.



MORE Larger fines for this behaviour please Conservative PLC

Wednesday 8 November 2023

The State of Israel ( Pricing Supplement) Nov 2023

 PUBLICATION OF PRICING SUPPLEMENT

Released 07:00:06 
RNS Number : 8639S
State Of Israel
08 November 2023
 

State of Israel - Ministry of Finance

Publication of Pricing Supplement

The following Pricing Supplement is available for viewing:

Pricing Supplement dated 8 November 2023 in respect of an issue by the State of Israel (the Issuer) of EUR260,000,000 0.625 per cent. Notes due 18 January 2032 (the Notes) to be consolidated and form a single Series with the outstanding EUR1,500,000,000 0.625 per cent. Notes due 18 January 2032 issued on 18 January 2022.

 

The Notes are issued under the Euro Medium Term Note Programme established by the Issuer. The Pricing Supplement must be read in conjunction with the Offering Circular dated 15 July 2021 (the Offering Circular) in relation to the Programme.

To view the Pricing Supplement in respect of the Notes, please paste the following URL into the address bar of your browser.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8639S_1-2023-11-8.pdf

To view the Offering Circular, please paste the following URL into the address bar of your browser.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8639S_2-2023-11-8.pdf

 

DISCLAIMER - INTENDED ADDRESSEES

This announcement is not for distribution in the United States.

Please note that the information contained in the Pricing Supplement and the Offering Circular may be addressed to and/or targeted at persons who are residents of particular countries (specified in the Pricing Supplement and/or the Offering Circular) only and is not intended for use and should not be relied upon by any person outside these countries and/or to whom the offer contained in the Pricing Supplement and/or the Offering Circular is not addressed. Prior to relying on the information contained in the Pricing Supplement and/or the Offering Circular, you must ascertain from the Pricing Supplement and the Offering Circular whether or not you are part of the intended addressees of, and eligible to view, the information contained therein. 

In particular, none of this announcement, the Pricing Supplement or the Offering Circular shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities law of any such jurisdiction.

The securities referred to in the Pricing Supplement and/or the Offering Circular (the Securities) have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), or under any relevant securities laws of any state of the United States of America and are subject to U.S. tax law requirements. Subject to certain exceptions, the Securities may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons or to persons within the United States of America, as such terms are defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act. Any forwarding, distribution or reproduction of the Offering Circular in whole or in part is prohibited. Failure to comply with this notice may result in a violation of the Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions. There will be no public offering of the Securities in the United States.

The Pricing Supplement and/or the Offering Circular has been made available to you in an electronic form. You are reminded that documents transmitted via this medium may be altered or changed during the process of electronic transmission and consequently none of the Issuer, its advisers nor any person who controls any of them nor any representative, employee nor agent of it or affiliate of any such person accepts any liability or responsibility whatsoever in respect of any difference between the Pricing Supplement and/or the Offering Circular made available to you in electronic format and the hard copy version available to you on request from the Issuer.

For further information, please contact:

Ministry of Finance of Israel

1 Kaplan St.
Hakiria
Jerusalem 9195015
Israel

Telephone: +972-2-5317555

Fax: +972-2-5695387


Thankyou LSE

Wednesday 25 October 2023

Electric Cars Can Kill You 26/10/2023

 “Home chargers use a smaller current but AC generates a different magnetic field than DC. Home charging is likely safe with sensible precautions, such as not staying next to the charging cable for extended periods of time.

“Patients with cardiac devices can be reassured that charging electric cars with high-power chargers is safe. The risk of malfunction of pacemakers and defibrillators is extremely low in this situation.

“Sitting inside the car or standing next to the charging cable or charger is also safe. However, we would recommend not placing the charging cable directly over the cardiac device to maintain distance from the charging elements.”

As expected only more fail -safes can save humanity from It`s own Absurdities .

Courtesy European Society of Cardiology

www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/business/wilson-greatbatch-pacemaker-inventor-dies-at-92.html

Rest In Peace Mr Greatbatch

Sunday 22 October 2023

How To ( Fraud ) 22/10/2023

 

How to prevent fraud

The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign is urging people to:

  • Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe
  • Challenge: Could it be fake? It is OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you
  • Protect: Contact your bank immediately if you think you've fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud
  • Watch Atomic Shrimp Scammers Revealed 
  • Use Your common sense before signing your funds to Whomever .

 BBC / bbr391

The New BogeyMan 22/10/2023

 China has now usurped Russia as the new Bogey .


Shares are very static , we wait for big news from Maxify / Plaza .

Other shares ,even on the Market are doing the Stasis dance too .

Great news we have an electric car ( Welcome Zoe ).

Plus , huge congratulations is in order to Dave ( making it through the rain ,yet again ) ,

Will be good to have you around home base .


  bbr391 / Gold or Silver 

Friday 29 September 2023

Tax Receipts Soar , The Budget giveaway is coming pre election 2023

  TAX COMMENTS OFF

ON TAX TAKE SOARS BY ALMOST 10%

Recent HMRC data shows that the Treasury collected £786.6 billion in taxes in 2022/23 – a 9.9% increase on last year’s total of £715.3bn.

Receipts from income tax, capital gains tax and National Insurance contributions hit £47bn – accounting for over half (57%) of the total tax take.

Meanwhile, property price increases mean more families are now over the inheritance tax threshold, which raised a further £7.1bn – around £1bn more than the same time last year.

Business taxes for 2022/23 also rose significantly, jumping by £17.5bn to £84.9bn. According to HMRC, this was partly due to higher offshore receipts as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the new energy profits levy.

The surge in total tax receipts can be largely attributed to recent tax threshold freezes, often dubbed “stealth tax rises”.

The inheritance tax nil-rate band is frozen at £325,000 until 2026, while both the personal allowance and higher rate threshold for income tax will remain frozen until 2028.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts that inheritance tax receipts will raise £45bn between 2022/23 and 2027/28. The OBR expects the tax take to increase further in coming years as property prices and wages rise with inflation.

Contact us to talk about your tax liability.

Sunday 17 September 2023

2020 Evidence in forming neocartilage. Trachea Research Update

 Table 2. Principal tracheal reconstruction attempts from 1994 to current.

AuthorsMethodsResults
Vacanti et al. [91], 1994Tubular scaffold from sheets of fibrous polyglycolic acid cellularized with chondrocytes.Implanted in four rats, as substitutes for 4–6 tracheal rings. The animals died soon after surgery.
Kanzaki et al. [92], 2006Prevascularized Dacron support covered by a layer of rabbit tracheal epithelial cells.Four weeks after transplantation, the tracheal grafts were covered by a mature, pseudostratified columnar epithelium.
Macchiarini et al. [62], 2008A tissue engineered tracheal graft (TETG) was implanted in a patient with severe bronchial stenosis following treatment for tuberculosis.Most patients died after the implantation of tissue-engineered airways.
Weidenbecher et al. [18], 2009Sheets of cartilage obtained from the auricular cartilage of New Zealand white rabbits used in combination to a muscle/silicone.Demonstrated mechanical stability without degradation but all rabbits expired due to obstruction/stenosis between 1 and 39 days after surgery.
Naito et al. [94], 2011Fibroblast and collagen hydrogels, mechanically supported by osteogenically induced mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in ring-shaped 3D-hydrogel cultures.Six of the nine animals died during implantation, while three of them survived for 24 h and died the day after.
Jungebluth et al. [68], 2011Polymer in POSS-PCU [polyhedral oligomericsilsesqui-oxane (POSS) covalently linked to poly (-carbonate-urea) urethane (PCU)], cellularized with stem cells by dynamic culture in a bioreactor carried out urgently on a 37-year-old man.Partial epithelial colonization of the polymer.
Hinderer et al. [14], 2012Composite PCL–gelatin–decorine scaffold with a three-dimensional structure and pores of an average size of 14.4 ± 6.4 μm.Uniform composition of the scaffold, but a poor mechanical resistance and the presence of cells only at the outer surface of the construct.
Gustafsson et al. [89], 2012Rat mesenchymal stromal cells cultured on a polyethylene terephthalate [PET] and polyurethane [PU] scaffold and coated with adhesion proteins.Similar cell densities and MSC proliferating cells; no advantages with adhesion proteins.
Shi et al. [90], 2012Copolymer of N-carboxyethylchitosan/nanohydroxyapatite chitosan/nanohydroxyapatite composites for tissue-engineered trachea.Satisfactory tensile strength.
Huang et al. [16], 2016PCL-based scaffold coated with an artificial pleura patch on a 47-year-old woman affected by tracheomalacia after tubercular disease.Progressive improvement of the tracheal respiratory space (from 0.3 to 1 cm in maximum diameter).
Johnson et al. [101], 2016In vitro characterization of design and compressive property of 3D-biofabricated/decellularized hybrid grafts for tracheal tissue engineering.Decellularized swine trachea was reinforced with a PCL scaffold, using a 3D printer.
Tan et al. [83], 2017Stent of Nitinol coated with porcine dermis, continuously irrigated with a solution of Ringer’s lactate with added neoangiogenic factors and antibiotics.Patient survived and was discharged on month after implantation.
Ikeda et al. [106], 2017Implantation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived tracheal epithelial cells.Survival of tracheal epithelial tissues in rat.
Hsieh et al. [108], 20183D printing of tubular scaffolds with elasticity and complex structure from multiple waterborne polyurethanes for tracheal tissue engineeringStability and cartilage growth.
Chan DS [109], 20193D-printed polycaprolactone implants to reconstruct circumferential tracheal defects in rabbits.Feasibility but overgrowth of granulation tissue.
Kim et al. [107], 2020Transplantation of a 3D-printed tracheal graft combined with iPS cell-derived MSCs and chondrocytes.Evidence in forming neocartilage.

Saturday 16 September 2023

A Potted History of Bracknell 16/09/2023

The first known residents of Bracknell were the Beaker People (2300-1000BC) who built a round barrow just south of the present residential area. At Wooden Hill and Bill Hill there is also evidence of bowl barrows. Nearby is Caesar’s Camp, an Iron Age hill fort built about 800BC. It is unusual in that it has a curious oak leaf outline, the ramparts taking advantage of the existing uneven terrain. By the end of the Iron Age the area was occupied by the Atrebates, a people originating from Gaul.

 

During the Roman occupation of Britain a military road was built from Staines to Silchester (Calleva) passing close to Bracknell, today it is known as the Devil’s Highway. At Wickham Bushes a small industrial town grew up around a possible staging post on the route. There is evidence of a Roman villa and coins, pottery and tiles have been found on the site.

 

With the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain the area reverted to scrub and forest until a group of Saxon invaders decided to settle here, probably to the north of today’s Bracknell, where the land is more fertile. Bracknell is first mentioned in a Saxon charter dated 923AD and in 942AD a Saxon royal charter describes Bracken Heal as being one of Winkfield’s boundaries. The derivation of the name is uncertain, it is likely a projecting angle or corner of land (Heal) covered with bracken. It is known Binfield, Warfield and Easthampstead had chapels or open air crosses at this time, and Old Bracknell sprang up where these three parishes converged. Prior to 1066 the whole area was made up of various manors, some belonging to the crown and others the church. Following the Norman invasion there was little change. The Domesday book lists separately Lachenstede (Easthampstead) and Warfelt (Warfield), both of which were in the hundred of Ripplesmere. Beynhurst (Binfield) in the manor of Cookham, gets a mention as “the other half is in the Windsor Forest” this refers to both Binfield and Sunninghill.

 

Windsor Forest covered the whole area, extending west beyond the castle being built at New Windsor. Royalty enjoyed the chase and a hunting lodge was built at Easthampstead in Plantagenet times. It was nearby that the Tudor princes Arthur and Henry welcomed Catherine of Aragon to England and it was Easthampstead Park where she spent some time after her divorce from Henry VIII. Charles II ended the royal connection by giving the park to William Turnbull.

 

Towards the end of this period Bracknell Street was beginning to take shape as can be seen by the few remaining buildings from that era, The Bull, The Red Lion, The Old Manor and Wynscar. Also in outlying areas there are many ancient farms and cottages proving that the population in this part of Berkshire was on the increase. Windsor Forest was still a dangerous place and Bagshot Heath was the haunt of highwaymen. In 1759 the Windsor Turnpike Act was passed and the road from Wokingham was extended across Priestwood Common and through Bracknell and in 1770 another road passed through Warfield and Binfield. Coaches now stopped at Bracknell on their way to the west. This ended Bracknell’s isolation. In 1813 the Windsor Forest enclosure act was passed, the crown surrendering forest rights.

 

 

From the 17th century until 1888, Bracknell had three annual fairs 25th April, 22nd August and 1st October; this last was also a hiring fair, where anyone from cooks to farm labourers announced their skills for hire. These fairs were famous for their bull baiting and cock fighting (banned in 1835). This could be the origin of naming of the Bull Inn and Lane. Alternatively, it could be associated with the cattle drives that passed through Warfield, the drovers stopping over at the Horse Shoes (later the Four Horse Shoes Inn) on their way to Smithfield.

 

The environs of Bracknell were thought to be very healthy and this is why by the end of the 18th century the area had started to become a popular residential district among the gentry. In addition to Easthampstead Park, several mansions were built, South Hill Park, Warfield House and Warfield Park. Among the many famous personages associated with Bracknell were Alexander Pope and the Pitt family at Binfield, Oscar Wilde who stayed on the Downshire estate and Shelley who briefly lived in Reeds Hill cottage at Easthampstead. As can be seen Bracknell was growing and needed a church of its own. Holy Trinity was built by public subscription and consecrated in 1851.

 

In 1856 this bucolic life was about to change with the coming of the railway. Thomas Lawrence would make an impact on the town with his brick making, exploiting the one valuable local resource, clay. TLB bricks became world famous, with an annual output of 12 million bricks. He also owned a large Emporium in the High Street, so Bracknell became virtually a company town. In 1870 a cattle and poultry market was established at the top of the High Street behind the Hinds Head (later to be pulled down to make way for Bracknell College of Further Education). Easthampstead Rural District Council was created in 1859 covering the same area as the old Union Workhouse.

 

Ranelagh School was relocated in Bracknell in 1905. Soon after this the World War broke out through this does not seem to have made much mark on the town. The short lived Peace saw some expansion of houses and shops, and the motor car was beginning to appear on the roads. Twenty years later the country was at war again. Closely following the call up of troops was the arrival of evacuees from London. A stick of bombs fell on Warfield. The US army had a camp at Binfield and they also commandeered the house at Warfield Park. The local forest was used to hide munitions dumps. Several important refugees from overseas stayed locally including the Dutch royal family.

 

In 1947 the government passed the New Towns Act and Bracknell was chosen as one of the eight new towns for the London overspill. Bracknell Development Corporation was set up. By 1950 the first houses had been built at Priestwood, followed later with estates at Easthampstead and Bullbrook. The population target was raised from 25000 to 40000 and the New Town area was raised from 757 hectares to 1336 hectares in 1961. It has since considerably increased. Meanwhile new industries were replacing the declining brickmaking. Big companies like Sperry Gyroscope, Honeywell and later 3M settled here and the Meteorological Office arrived really putting Bracknell on the map.

 

Bracknell Sports Centre was built on the Bagshot Road, eventually providing facilities for most sports, followed later by the John Nike Centre which catered for ice skaters and has a dry ski slope. The mansion in South Hill Park was opened as a centre for arts in 1973. The next year saw local government reorganisation establishing Bracknell District Council as the local authority for the area replacing Easthampstead Rural District Council. Bracknell Parish Council was re-designated Bracknell Town Council. 1974 also saw Bracknell twinned with Opladen in Germany and a declaration of friendship signed. As time went on more neighbourhood estates were built to the south of the town.

 

In 1982 the Bracknell Development Corporation was wound up and a year later the final transfer of assets to the Bracknell District Council took place and Bracknell ceased to be a New Town. The district gained borough status in 1988 and was renamed Bracknell Forest Borough. The Borough continued to develop. New leisure facilities are provided, the Look Out Heritage Centre, a leisure pool called the Coral Reef and two shopping centres at the Peel Centre and the Meadows. In 1992 the borough council adopts the North Bracknell Local Plan. Land is earmarked for a northerly expansion. Extensive building takes place and the Northern Distributor Road from Chavey Down to Priestwood is built following the line of the ancient Harvest Ride. Despite the early construction of Charles Square and Princess Square the town centre badly needed refurbishing. In 1997 the council received two planning applications for its redevelopment. Berkshire County Council is wound up and Bracknell Forest Borough Council becomes a Unitary Authority (1988).

2014, plans to completely refurbish and rebuild town centre begin. Most of the old shopping areas are demolished to be rebuilt and opened by 2017. To view developments, click here…..

 

CHRONOLOGY OF BRACKNELL

 

Between 200 BC and 40 AD: ‘Caesar’s Camp hillfort built by the Celts.

 

10th Century: ‘Braccen Heal’ first mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon Charter

 

1463Old Bracknell mentioned in a Goring charter.
1607Norden’s map of Windsor Forest shows Old Bracknell and New Bracknell as separate places.
1759Windsor Forest Turnpike Act passed, leading to improvement in communications to Bracknell by road.
1760The original South Hill Park mansion built and thirty acres of common land enclosed for its park.
1813Windsor Forest Enclosure Act passed; the Crown surrendered forest rights. Bracknell had been in the Forest for more than 700 years.
1845Queen Victoria paused at the Red Lion inn, Bracknell High Street on her way to visit the Duke of Wellington at Stratfieldsaye.
1847Bracknell: a small village on the main road to the West of England, a long narrow street occupied principally by small shopkeepers. (Kelly’s Directory)
1851Bracknell population about 650.
1851Holy Trinity Church begun a new ecclesiastical parish formed round it.
1856The railway came to Bracknell.
1864Easthampstead Park mansion built on the ancient estate of Easthampstead Park by the 4th Marquis of Downshire.
1870A cattle and poultry market established.
1900The local brick making industry was flourishing. Thomas Lawrence’s brickworks had reached an annual output of 12 million bricks.
1908The co-educational grammar school Ranelagh moved to Bracknell.
1948The local brick making industry was in decline.
1948Draft Designation Order for the New Town of Bracknell.
1949Bracknell Development Corporation set up to lay out and develop Bracknell New Town on 1870 acres (757 hectares) for a population of 25,000.
1951Population of Bracknell now 5000.
1951Priestwood neighbourhood: first new houses occupied.

1953: Queensway laid out to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

1954: Ten shops opened in Priestwood Square.

1957First 19 new shops in the Town Centre.
1954Easthampstead neighbourhood: layout approved.

1957: first 178 houses finished. 1958: first ten shops.

1964: Point Royal completed, 102 flats in 17 storeys.

1957Bullbrook neighbourhood: building commenced.

1958: first 72 new houses completed.

1959: Community Centre opened, the first in Bracknell.

1961New Town population target raised to 40,000 with growth to 54,000.
1961/2Area of the New Town increased to 3300 acres (1336 hectares).
1961Harmans Water neighbourhood: first new houses completed.
1967Wildridings neighbourhood: first residents move in.

1969: first 14 shops completed.

1967Great Hollands neighbourhood: first houses ready. 1971: 16 shops opened.

 

 

 

1971Hanworth neighbourhood: development commenced.
1972New Town population reached 38,000.
1973South Hill Park Arts Centre opened.
1973Bracknell twinned with Opladen, Germany.

1974: declaration of friendship signed.

1974Birch Hill neighbourhood: development commenced. 1976: first occupants.
1974Bracknell Parish Council re-designated Bracknell Town Council.
1976Bracknell’s first Health Centre opened at Great Hollands.
1978Crown Wood neighbourhood: first occupants.
1978The Development Corporation transferred about 10,000 new houses to Bracknell District Council.
1981New Town population now 48,750.
1982Development Corporation dissolved, and transfer of its houses to the District Council completed.   In all the Corporation built 13,117 houses.
1983Forest Park neighbourhood: house building commenced.

Princess Square shopping centre opened.

1984Parish of Easthampstead north of the Nine Mile Ride (including Easthampstead Park) absorbed into the Parish of Bracknell.
1986Population of Bracknell District 90,670 of which 51,070 live in the New Town.
1988Bracknell District Council re-designated Bracknell Forest Borough Council.
1990Borough population about 97,200, about 57,000 of them in the New Town. 37,000 dwellings in the Borough, about half of them in the New Town.