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Debenhams sale sees £700 watch that gets shoppers 'compliments' cut in price by 88%

Debenhams sale sees £700 watch that gets shoppers 'compliments' cut in price by 88%

Shoppers on the hunt for luxury items without the hefty price tag are in luck, as significant discounts on high-end products like designer watches can lead to substantial savings. Debenhams is currently hosting a watch sale that's worth checking out, offering remarkable price cuts on various timepieces, including those from the highly-regarded STUHRLING Original brand.
In one standout deal, customers can save a whopping £ 633.75 on the StarSea Ladies' Quartz Fashion Diver Watch with Stainless Steel Link Bracelet. Originally priced at £720, it's now available for just £86.25, which translates to an 88% discount.
Although two colours have sold out due to its popularity, shoppers still have the opportunity to grab the sophisticated black or the stylish blue versions.
Now at under £87, this watch is not only a perfect present for a loved one but also a wise investment in a timeless accessory. For those new to Debenhams, a customer review might offer some confidence, with one buyer describing the watch as 'beautiful' and noting: "Well packaged, reasonable delivery time, as described."
The StarSea Quartz watch boasts a sleek 39mm case with a coin edge bezel set against a crystal-studded dial, striking a balance between statement-making and elegant functionality. It's water-resistant up to 10 ATM and features a link bracelet band, reports the Mirror.
Its design, reminiscent of a starry night sky, has already earned several compliments for buyers.
For a more budget-friendly alternative, consider browsing the H Samuel sale. The Sekonda Ladies' Grey Chronograph Dial Two Tone Bracelet Watch is now available at a discounted price of £40, down from its original price of £79.99.
This watch boasts an elegant combination of rose gold and silver details, along with a face adorned with sparkling crystals, setting it apart.
Meanwhile, Amazon offers several discounted designer watches from the London-based brand Radley. Their Women's Gold Plated Alpine Genuine Leather Strap Quartz Analogue Watch is currently 33% off, priced at £39.99.
A customer who purchased the StarSea watch as a personal treat expressed: "Fell in love with this watch online. Treated myself as a gift to me for my approaching "BIG" birthday. So pleased when it arrived - it really is lovely. Comfortable to wear."
Another satisfied customer commented: "Really pleased with watch works well looks good and good price arrived quickly as well."
However, a different customer encountered issues with delivery and the watch's appearance, writing: "Took over a month to arrive finally received the item after sending a couple of emails to customer service. The item is not as vibrant as it looks in the picture. The blue face is rather dull in reality."
Focusing on practical considerations, a pleased shopper praised the watch, saying: "A beautiful heavy watch very high quality and keeps time excellently."
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Wise co-founder accuses £10bn fintech of 'misleading' investors
Wise co-founder accuses £10bn fintech of 'misleading' investors

Sky News

time12 hours ago

  • Sky News

Wise co-founder accuses £10bn fintech of 'misleading' investors

The fintech entrepreneur who has gone to war with the £10bn payments company he co-founded has accused it of 'misleading' its own investors and warned that a move to extend its current governance arrangements could be derailed in court. In a statement issued to Sky News, Taavet Hinrikus's investment vehicle, Skaala, said Wise's claim that its proposals to extend its dual-class share structure by a decade when it moves its main listing to the US should have been updated through a formal stock exchange announcement. Mr Hinrikus is angry that the voting share structure has been wrapped up in a wider vote on the move to the US, which he says is undemocratic and unfair on investors. "On 21 July, Wise released a market announcement claiming that 'three key independent proxy advisory firms - ISS, Glass Lewis and PIRC - have come out unanimously in favour of the proposal and recommend shareholders vote for it'," Skaala said. "This statement has subsequently been proven to be misleading. "In reality, PIRC's report - issued on 15 July - explicitly recommended shareholders vote against the scheme, citing serious concerns about governance. "Investors are overwhelmingly influenced by the views of professional proxy advisors. "Wise should have made a corrective announcement via RNS to update the market. "Skaala called for this immediately on learning of the issue, but Wise instead chose to quietly issue a statement on its website on 23 July 2025 with no accompanying statement to the market." It is the latest salvo in an escalating row between Skaala, which owns just over 5% of Wise's shares, and the company - which continues to be run by his co-founder, Kristo Kaarmann. Glass Lewis and ISS have both amended their reports since the public disclosure of the dispute on Monday, although neither has changed their voting recommendations. Mr Hinrikus also said that Wise's chairman, David Wells, had claimed incorrectly that "Skaala's call to separate the extension of dual-class rights from the US listing 'misrepresents how a scheme of arrangement operates legally and in practice'". He accused Mr Wells of making claims which were "legally and commercially unfounded". "Skaala has put forward several practical, legally viable options for Wise to address shareholder concerns," it told Sky News on Thursday. "These include proposing two alternative schemes of arrangement - both facilitating the US dual-listing, but offering shareholders the choice to approve it either with or without the 10-year extension of the dual-class voting rights. "These alternatives have been clearly set out in Skaala's correspondence with Wise and referenced in Glass Lewis's Report Feedback Statement to its clients. "Wise has thus far rejected these proposals out of hand." Skaala also claimed there was "a substantial risk the [High] Court will decline to sanction [the proposals] at the sanctions hearing in [the second quarter of 2026], given the procedural, fairness and transparency issues surrounding the scheme as presented". " In such a scenario, the dual listing would be materially delayed - possibly by months - and significant cost and risk would be introduced unnecessarily. "Should Wise only seek to restructure the Scheme after a failed Court sanction, any new scheme would face further delays and risk regulatory clearances being lost or needing to be reobtained. "This entirely avoidable situation is the direct result of the Company's insistence on securing enhanced voting rights for CEO Kristo Käärmann under the current proposal," Skaala said. Wise's existing dual-class structure was put in place in 2021, when the company floated in London with a pledge that it would revert to a single class of shares five years after its stock market debut. In response, Wise said PIRC's recommendation to shareholders to vote in favour of the company's plans was contained in a report submitted to it on July 10. "We were made aware [on July 23] that PIRC had made available reports to subscribers on 15 July 2025 that recommended against the proposal.

Wise is bundling founder's enhanced voting rights into ballot on US listing. It deserves to lose
Wise is bundling founder's enhanced voting rights into ballot on US listing. It deserves to lose

The Guardian

time14 hours ago

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Wise is bundling founder's enhanced voting rights into ballot on US listing. It deserves to lose

If Wise, the money transfer company whose £10bn valuation makes it a big fish in London's small pool of quoted financial technology companies, was only proposing to switch its primary listing to New York, its plan would probably sail through. A few UK shareholders may regret the loss to the London stock market of a success story out of Shoreditch. But they usually vote in favour when management – in this case, the Wise co-founder Kristo Käärmann – says 'major US growth opportunities' would be best pursued with a US listing. However, the listing location isn't the sole big item on the agenda at its extraordinary general meeting this coming Monday. Controversially, Wise also wants to extend the company's 'dual-class' structure, which gives enhanced voting rights to those who hold the 'B' class variety. A chief beneficiary would be Käärmann: the supercharged nature of the 'Bs' means his 18% economic interest in Wise becomes 55% (though capped at 50% in practice) in terms of voting clout. This arrangement was set at listing in 2021 and was due to expire next summer under a 'sunset' clause. Wise wants to extend by a full 10 years, an idea that usually upsets those investors who think good governance requires 'one share, one vote' and that tech founders are not obliged to adopt Mark Zuckerberg's levels of control freakery when it comes to other shareholders' rights. What's the problem? you may ask. If shareholders don't like the 'B' class proposal, they can just vote against it while giving a thumbs up to the switch to New York. Except they can't. Wise has structured the vote as an all-or-nothing affair. There is only one indivisible proposal on the table. If the tactic looks like a backdoor manoeuvre, the company's other Estonian co-founder, Taavet Hinrikus, agrees. Hinrikus left the firm soon after listing but still has 5.1% of the shares (and 11.8% of the votes) via his vehicle Skaala Investments. Two fundamentally distinct issues should not be bundled into a single vote, he argues, adding: 'Wise owners deserve governance structures that enhance value, not entrench power.' He's right on both scores. Wise is now 15 years old and made pre-tax profits of £565m last year, so is no longer a youthful startup, one excuse tech founders offer for supercharged voting rights. In any case, Käärmann would still have almost a fifth of the shares, enough to resist most short-term agitators who may divert him from his long-term mission to have Wise handle trillions worth of cross-border transactions rather than mere billions. The essential point is that shareholders should be allowed to decide unrelated issues – the listing and the voting rights – separately. Wise's claim that the two are inextricably entwined reads as self-interested waffle, a bad look for a company that trumpets transparency over fees in its day job. In an entertaining subplot, Wise has had to withdraw its claim that Pirc, one of the big proxy voting agencies, supported Monday's proposal. The company says it only belatedly became aware that Pirc was recommending voting against. Indeed, the proxy firm's stance is strong: 'The retention of enhanced voting rights further suggests a shift toward entrenching management control.' The proposal requires a supermajority of 75% in both classes of share by value, so the vote isn't necessarily a slam dunk for Wise, even if that's still the way to bet. But Wise and Käärmann deserve to lose. As noted in this column at the time, the company was being clumsily vague about voting rights and the sunset clause when it originally announced its US ambition at the start of June. Now everybody can see that a contentious governance proposal has been inserted awkwardly into the luggage for the US trip. It's not the way to do things: make it two proposals.

The Business Beyond Affordable Money Transfers: By Konstantin Rabin
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Finextra

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The global fintech transformation has served as the biggest catalyst for seamless money transfers, payments, and other types of transactions. Wise and Revolut have emerged as two of the most active drivers of the global fintech market. However, low-cost money transfers are not the end of the story, as these businesses expand and transform from startups to financial powerhouses in their own right. Whether you are receiving payments for freelance work, sending money online, or converting HUF to dollar, chances are that your first two choices are indeed Wise and Revolut. Aside from affordable transfers, Wise and Revolut have a lot more to offer and the list of their services keeps expanding over the years. Transparency is Key One of the major hurdles for international money transfers and payments has been the extensive KYC and AML policies which made registering and verifying your account a lengthy and inconvenient process. Major commercial banks have been relatively slow to adapt to the changing consumer behavior and the digital-first approach most users expect from their financial service providers these days. Transparency and simplified KYC is where Wise and Revolut thrive. The onboarding process is quick and easy at both companies, which makes them super convenient. Global coverage and access to multiple currencies also means that digital nomads and people who generally travel a lot, can rest assured that their payments will arrive on time. How Wise and Revolut Compare Wise is focused on its positioning as an ethical fintech company. The firm is publicly listed, consistently profitable, and avoids high-risk activities like crypto and stock trading. This ensures that Wise maintains consistency in the eyes of its users and remains a safe and reliable partner long term. On the other hand, Revolut has a more bold and maximalist approach, uniting more services like stock trading, lifestyle and travel perks, etc. With Revolut's services comes more regulatory scrutiny, which has created issues with local regulatory authorities in the past. The Swiss Army Knife of Fintech Both Wise and Revolut have plans to become the go-to app for everything financial. By integrating their entire service offerings under one roof, these companies streamlining the payment processing, invoicing, money transfer and currency exchange services for millions of users. Their international reach is also constantly expanding into new markets, which is a vital part of their growth strategies. Different segments of Wise and Revolut users have vastly different financial needs, which means that both companies have ample room for growth by expanding their services. However, their philosophy towards expansion has been considerably different, with Wise focusing on reliable and seamless cross-border payments and freelancers, while Revolut has expanded to include stock investing services. Monetizing the Ecosystem Building a large fintech exosystem also provides greater opportunities for monetization, which is evident in the robust revenue growth shown in Wise's accounts. Quarterly revenues have been increasing year over year, with the latest 2025 Q2 figure showing a 10% increase compared to the previous fiscal year. With every financial company, Wise and Revolut also face the same risks when it comes to their bottom line. When consumers are not confident in their buying power, they tend to spend less, which reduces the volume of transfers that go through Wise and Revolut channels. Robust consumer spending is essential for the success of both companies, allowing them to consolidate their financial infrastructure and give users a more well-rounded end product. Regulatory Maturity and Global Reach As Wise and Revolut mature as companies and grow into dominant players in their market, local and international regulators will need to catch on, ensuring consumer protections are in place without stifling their growth. Regulations can often be a major hurdle for fintech firms, especially when it comes to cross-border transactions and payments, due to elevated risk of money laundering and other illicit financial activities. A more flexible regulatory environment is essential for Wise and Revolut to thrive and continue their path to global expansion, reaching many unbanked individuals in developing countries and giving them access to much needed financial infrastructure. The rate of digitization in developing economies is also a welcome sign for Wise and Revolut, giving them access to frontier markets and opportunities to develop novel services to bridge the gap.

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