DOUBLE CROSSWORD
EASY ACROSS
3 Summarise (5)
8 Unsuitable (5)
10 Lowest point (5)
11 Pistachio (3)
12 Teeth (5)
13 Capital of
Venezuela (7)
15 Different (5)
18 Container (3)
19 Thick oil (6)
21 Kneecap (7)
22 Talk (4)
23 Obscenity (4)
24 Estimates (7)
26 Of the stars (6)
29 Unhappy (3)
31 Braid (5)
32 Leaves (7)
34 Class (5)
35 Attach (3)
36 Strong coffee (5)
37 Reimburse (5)
38 Melodies (5)
DOWN
1 Chronicle (5)
2 Quick light taps (7)
4 Epochs (4)
5 Mohair (6)
6 Adhesive (5)
7 Slates (5)
9 Animal’s coat (3)
12 Decisive (7)
14 Crib (3)
16 Hurts (5)
17 Relaxes (5)
19 Spectacles (7)
20 Fragment (5)
21 Spaghetti (5)
23 Tranquillises (7)
24 Cake (6)
25 Weaken (3)
27 Sailing vessel (5)
28 Correct (5)
30 Thieve (5)
32 Nobleman (4)
33 Rend (3)
CRYPTIC ACROSS
3 Pair of spectacles for a player? (5)
8 Do fully, as before (5)
10 An Irish saint and an excellent
fellow (5)
11 Exclamation no real orator uses! (3)
12 Open, due to start tomorrow (5)
13 One-eyed thing to wear (7)
15 Puts pressure on, thanks to
politicians (5)
18 Shell out for peas, etc. (3)
19 A broken romance (6)
21 Shady type chary of having his rest
disturbed (7)
22 But not exactly oily (4)
23 English garden (4)
24 Said to be placed amid wild deer (7)
26 Name the girl Romeo’s after (6)
29 It’s from the laity, this song (3)
31 It discusses things religiously (5)
32 Sort of museum where Ruby gets to
do her stuff? (7)
34 The lazier waster? (5)
35 So much work in the underground
section (3)
36 Oscar, upset by a bit of mildew? (5)
37 An exhausting thing to do, though the
purpose is lofty (3,2)
38 Pines irrationally for a bird (5)
DOWN
1 Show in advance (5)
2 Just one cup can cause physical deterioration (7)
4 Sweet nothing (4)
5 Two-way traffic, no cash needed (6) 6 The moving stair makes musical sounds (5)
7 Frank would have a striking effect on the public-address (5)
9 A speed at which not to reverse! (3)
12 Gaffer possibly sold a half of butter (7)
14 See some boys being bashful (3)
16 Confused by many an editor (5)
17 On which to chalk a tick? (5)
19 To put a wrong clause right is only
civil (7)
20 Single performances can make a little
chap very big (5)
21 Dead snail, maybe (5)
23 A minor point on the map of
Florida? (3,4)
24 Seem embarrassed by a brightly
coloured room (6)
25 It reduces one’s income (3)
27 Poem composed by Cyril (5)
28 Empties the wide open spaces (5)
30 He’s all eyes, this hard-hearted
fellow! (5)
32 We kept inside to grieve (4)
33 A mineral or tea centre (3)
THE Government’s hopes that more tech companies will float on the London Stock Exchange had a major boost today as two new IPOs were launched with a combined value of around £1.1 billion.
Trustpilot, the online review site, hopes to be valued at £1 billion, and fashion e-tailer In The Style is targeting a £100 million valuation.
They follow a string of online lockdown winners planning listings in the City after seeing demand soar during the pandemic. Recent floats have included The Hut Group and online cards retailer Moonpig, while Deliveroo, Virgin Wines and auction platform ATG are all planning IPOs now.
Trustpilot was launched in Denmark in 2007 by founder and chief executive Peter Holten Mühlmann, and has since become one of the world’s biggest platforms
We examined a number of locations, and on balance London was the natural choice for us Peter Holten Mühlmann Trustpilot
for online ratings of businesses and products — with more than 128 million reviews posted to date. It previously raised around $173million in private financing, and saw revenues of $102 million from just over 20,000 paying business subscribers in 2020.
Businesses pay to host Trustpilot ratings on their websites.
Mühlmann told the Standard: “We examined a number of locations, and on balance London was the natural choice for us for a couple of reasons. The UK is one of our most important markets, and I think London is a growing tech scene. In the future I expect a lot of the significant tech IPOs will happen in London. The London stock market has a lot of liquidity, and they are exhibiting the right long-term mindset on how they are looking at operating the listing rules.”
The Government is hoping tech floats will help drive Britain’s recovery, and is reviewing the rules for companies listing here to make it possible for founders to retain a “golden share” blocking unwanted takeovers.
Last week a Government-commissioned review by former Worldpay boss Ron Kalifa recommended such listing reforms. Sector leaders including Tech Nation chair Stephen Kelly have said there are multiple signs 2021 will be “a golden year for UK tech”.
Trustpilot’s founder said he expects listing will also be a key “tool to incentivise staff and to continue to attract the best talent”. The company said it hopes its listing would raise around $50 million, which it would use to support growth plans and repay debts, that on IPO it would have a free float of at least 25% of issued share capital, and will be admitted into the FTSE indices.
Holten Mühlmann added: “I think we are still at less than 1% of what we can become. In today’s world the entire economy is moving online… You need to show that you’re trusted, and to do so in a way that consumers trust.”