London becomes fourth most expensive city in the world: Rent, petrol and cooking oil drive cost of living June 9, 2022 A perfect storm of rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and soaring house prices and rent, have turned London in to a pressure cooker of expense, making it the fourth most costly place to live in the world. London move up one place according to new research about cost of living for expatriates around the [...]
Cost of filling up average family car shoots to £100 for first time June 9, 2022 The cost of filling up the average 55-litre family car has shot to £100 for the first time ever. According to data released today by Experian Catalist, petrol prices have reached an all-time record of 182.3p, going up by 1.6p from Tuesday, while diesel increased by 2.9p to 188.1p. Commenting on the increase, RAC fuel [...]
First Group rejects £1.2bn takeover bid from private equity I Squared June 9, 2022 Public transport titan First Group has rejected a £1.2bn takeover bid from US private equity I Squared. FirstGroup is the latest UK company to be sought after by foreign investors, as rival Stagecoach was snatched from underneath National Express by German asset manager DWS in late May. In an update to the London Stock Exchange, [...]
Thousands of Brits received ‘unacceptable service’ after Storm Arwen, Ofgem rules June 9, 2022 Electricity networks provided an “unacceptable service” to thousands of customers following Storm Arwen, which left nearly one million homes without power, industry watchdog Ofgem has said. Winds of 100mph caused widespread disruption, uprooted trees and damaged power lines, cutting the electricity supply from November 26 across northern England and Scotland. Power outages lasted for more [...]
Labour throws weight behind biggest railway strike in decades: ‘We are on the rail workers’ side’ June 9, 2022 Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy has said she supports the strikes by rail workers in the coming weeks if the Government fails to address their concerns. Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said: “We want to avoid the strikes and we’re on the public’s side on this. “We’re also on the rail workers’ [...]
Richard Branson’s right hand man: Mastering rail is ‘harder than space’ June 8, 2022 Mastering rail is “harder than space”, according to one space veteran, formerly Richard Branson’s right-hand man in the making of Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit. As Britain prepares to launch satellites from its own soil for the first time this summer, unions are set to bring the country’s rail network to a standstill in later this month. Speaking on [...]
Sadiq Khan blames govt funding for ‘extremely frustrating and disappointing’ tube strike as Unite joins RMT walk-out June 8, 2022 City Hall lambasted the government’s refusal to grant Transport for London (TfL) long-term backing, blaming it for indirectly causing the tube strike scheduled for 21 June. The strike is the latest disruption to affect the Transport for London (TfL) network after 4,000 tube workers walked out on Monday. “At the heart of this industrial action [...]
Italian strike leads to more chaos in UK June 8, 2022 A strike called by Italian air traffic controllers has led to more chaos in the UK. Thousands of passengers were left stranded at British hubs after Ryanair, Easyjet, British Airways (BA) and Jet2 collectively cancelled dozens of flights from the UK to Italy. Easyjet axed 20 flights from Gatwick telling passengers it was doing “all [...]
Analysts downgrade National Express following margin pressures June 8, 2022 Analysts at Peel Hunt have downgraded National Express’s ratings from Buy to Hold after the company said keeping prices affordable will slow its margin recovery. Peel Hunt have also cut National Express’s earnings per share forecasts by around 20 per cent. “This is clearly disappointing, but the medium-term targets remain in place and the group [...]
During Platinum Jubilee weekend London Underground returned to pre-pandemic passenger levels for first time June 8, 2022 Londoners returned to the Underground in record numbers last weekend for the Platinum Jubilee, with passenger numbers exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time in more than two years. Figures released by the Department for Transport today show tube-users were up 118 per cent and 108 per cent on 2 and 3 June, representing a [...]