The story behind the Tube strike – a new era of ‘smart travel’ beckons February 3, 2017 Next week’s proposed strike action is yet again set to cause travel misery across the capital. However, amidst the inevitable swathe of discontent as commuters take to crowded buses, bikes, and hit the pavement in a desperate bid to make it into the office, we should take this opportunity to look at the bigger picture. [...]
Oil refinery fire in south east London February 3, 2017 Firefighters have rescued two people from an oil refinery blaze in Erith in south east London. Six fire engines and 35 firefighters and officers are tackling a fire at an oil storage refinery on Manorway in Erith, and two people were rescued from the roof. London Fire Brigade was called at around 13.10pm, and fire [...]
US non-farm payrolls show jobs booming to highest growth rate since July February 3, 2017 The number of jobs added to US non-farm payrolls in January soared to 227,000, but disappointing wage growth made investors bet against a near-term interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve. Unemployment rose slightly to 4.8 per cent, according to the US Bureau for Labor Statistics, while average earnings grew by only 0.1 per cent. Economists [...]
Lettuce panic: Now supermarkets are rationing iceberg lettuce and broccoli February 3, 2017 Planning on stocking up on vegetables for your next weekly shop? Hopefully you don't need more than three iceberg lettuces – because Tesco has now rationed customers per visit, due to poor growing conditions in Europe causing a shortage in stores. Signs have been sent to all Tesco stores to notify customers, apologising for any inconvenience. [...]
UK airlines to run into Brexit turbulence stirred up by the weak pound, warns Moody’s February 3, 2017 The slump in sterling has more damage to do to UK airlines, according to the latest report from Moody's. It has predicted passenger growth in Britain's airline industry will only be half as fast as had been previously forecast over the next two years. The ratings agency said revised travel choices and operating dollar costs could [...]
Scientists have explained why noisy eating makes some people angry February 3, 2017 Does listening to someone eat a bag of crisps make you angry? Does the guy sitting next to you on the Tube with a whistling nose fill you with rage? Scientists have discovered that not only do you have a real condition – why it happens in the first place. Misophonia is the name given [...]
Little Chef roadside restaurant chain sold February 3, 2017 Little Chef's owner has announced the sale of the roadside restaurant business. Kout Food Group said today that it had sold its roadside portfolio to Euro Garages, a roadside retail company operating brands such as Starbucks, Subway and Greggs. Read more: Little Chef is being gobbled up City A.M. understands Euro Garages has bought all of [...]
Why the banking sector needs to get serious about putting the fun into finance February 3, 2017 It’s no laughing matter: my generation – millennials – has fallen out of love with banks. It’s a familiar narrative: banks don’t understand us, the relationship’s not going anywhere, we’d rather be on social media. In fact, we’d rather bank via social media which is why smart banks are cosying up to platforms like Facebook. [...]
Bank shares rally as Donald Trump’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn signals the death of Dodd Frank February 3, 2017 Bank shares have risen on news Donald Trump will today roll back Dodd-Frank banking regulation, according to a senior member of the US President’s administration. Gary Cohn, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said dismantling the regulation, which is aimed at avoiding another Lehman-style crisis, means US consumers will have "better choices". "Americans are [...]
Private equity houses trade audio mixing console maker used by Adele, Beyonce, Pharrell Williams and Justin Bieber February 3, 2017 A UK-listed private equity firm has announced the sale of an audio mixing console maker whose equipment is used by the likes of Beyonce, Adele, Pharrell Williams and Canadian popstar Justin Bieber. Epiris, the manager of Electra Private Equity, expects proceeds of £203m from the sale of Audiotonix to European firm Astorg. The £203m marks [...]