Hapag-Lloyd warns Panama Canal drought restrictions could hurt shipping giant August 14, 2023 Shipping group Hapag-Lloyd has warned that using smaller ships on the Panama Canal could make the group “no longer competitive,” as severe droughts continue to disrupt the world’s largest trading route. One of the driest years ever recorded has led the government to impose extended restrictions on shipping groups using the route, with water levels [...]
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars boss rakes in £1.77m pay packet after record year August 14, 2023 The boss of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was handed a bumper £1.77m pay packet, up 72 per cent from last year, after sales and profit at the carmaker hit record levels in 2022. Rolls-Royce’s latest company filings show the group delivered a record 6,021 cars in 2022 – with the US, Greater China and European markets [...]
No end in sight: Nearly 4m working days lost to strikes in past year as negotiations falter August 14, 2023 Talks between government and unions to resolve ongoing industrial disputes have repeatedly faltered, despite the UK losing nearly 4m working days to strikes over the past year. According to new research from the Resolution Foundation think tank, 3.9m working days have been lost to industrial action, higher than at any point since the 1980s. Highly [...]
“Dogma”: Why Seat’s boss is no fan of UK’s 2030 ban on petrol engines August 13, 2023 The British boss of the Volkswagen-owned automakers Seat and Cupra has blasted the UK government’s 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles as inflexible “dogma.” “I don’t think the solution is prohibition,” Wayne Griffiths, who serves as CEO of both European marques, told the Sunday Times. “I don’t think that’s the [...]
Starmer parks nationwide ULEZ plans in attempt to woo motorists August 13, 2023 Keir Starmer has ditched Labour’s commitment to introduce Ulez-style clean air zones across the country, in a loss for Mayor Sadiq Khan. According to reports, a statement supporting the roll-out of clean air zones, which charge drivers whose vehicles fail to meet emissions standards, has been scrapped from the party’s policy programme. It follows Labour’s [...]
More strikes: 20,000 train workers to walk out later this month bringing UK to a halt August 11, 2023 Members of the biggest rail workers union are to stage fresh strikes in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said 20,000 of its members in 14 train operators would walk out on August 26 and September 2. The union said it had been left with “little [...]
Heathrow Airport: Damp July weather sends 7.6 million Brits jet-setting in search of sun August 11, 2023 Some 7.6 million jet-setters flocked to Heathrow Airport in July as damp weather sent Brits searching for summer sun. New figures from London’s biggest airport shows that while they still remain below pre-pandemic levels, demand for international travel is picking up. Over 73,000 passengers flew to Turkey in July, the busiest month ever for the [...]
Car insurance premiums hit highest levels since records began August 11, 2023 Motor insurance premiums have soared to their highest levels since records began, according to research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Over the last year, the average price paid for car insurance rose 21 per cent to £511, the highest since the ABI began collecting data in 2012. The ABI said that “sustained cost [...]
HS2 status update: Now they’re burying the diggers August 10, 2023 Engineers are being forced to bury diggers at Old Oak Common in case ministers give the go-ahead for project's Euston leg
North and West London faces ‘bus standstill’ as workers vote on strike action August 10, 2023 North and West London’s bus network could grind to a halt this autumn, the Unite Union has warned, as hundreds of workers are to be balloted for strikes in an ongoing dispute over pay. 500 employees French-owned operator RATP in London will vote over the next month on whether to launch a campaign of industrial [...]