Kier Group plans to raise up to £240m to ease debt pile April 21, 2021 Kier Group has said it plans to raise up to £240m by offering new shares as it looks to ease its debt burden. The construction firm said the proposed raise, which it plans to launch in the coming weeks, will help to bolster the group’s balance sheet by reducing net debt. The construction firm has [...]
The hidden impact of Brexit: Supply chains are failing UK trade and construction firms April 20, 2021 Since the reopening of the construction sector in the summer of 2020, confidence has been sky high, with last month’s the highest on record since 2014. According to figures from IHS Markit/CIPS, the growth of output had grown in line with increased commercial, domestic and civil engineering projects. These works have largely come in the form of restarting delayed projects, critically [...]
BA looks set to recover from pandemic, so why are its 40-something pilots giving up their gold-plated pensions? April 20, 2021 In turbulent times, when the future of a company is being called into question, it is not uncommon for staff to transfer out of their employer’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, if they have one. Although seen as “gold-plated”, some DB scheme members worry about their scheme falling to the pension lifeboat fund, and that [...]
Sold: Esken sells stake in Stobart Air for £2 April 20, 2021 Aviation and energy group Esken has sold its stake in Irish flight operator Stobart Air for £2 this morning to avoid the company collapsing. A buyback sale of £1 for aircraft leasing company Propius was initially tabled by Esken in April 2020 when the pandemic sprung into full force in the UK. The buyback was [...]
United Airlines dives to $2.4bn loss as fuel prices soar April 19, 2021 United Airlines plunged to a $2.4bn adjusted loss for the first quarter of the year, dragged down by a plunge in passenger number and climbing fuel costs. The Chicago-based carrier said that aviation fuel costs rose nearly 30 per cent over the three month period, to $1.70 per gallon. At the same time, the airline [...]
JetBlue given regulatory clearance to join transatlantic dogfight April 19, 2021 The UK’s aviation regulator has today given US carrier JetBlue clearance to begin operating flights to Britain, in a blow for transatlantic rivals such as British Airways. It is the first time since the UK left the EU that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has given regulatory approval to a foreign carrier. New York-based JetBlue [...]
Tesla share price slides following fatal car crash April 19, 2021 Two people have died after a crash involving a Tesla in Texas, with authorities saying there was no-one in the driver’s seat. A Harris County constable told television stations in Houston that there was a person in the front passenger seat and another in a rear passenger seat after the crash in the Houston suburb [...]
Rail union gears up for strike action amid fears of 10,000 job cuts April 19, 2021 The UK’s rail union is preparing for industrial action over fears that thousands of rail workers lose their jobs in the coming months. The RMT said that Network Rail had made plans that would result in “thousands of job losses by this September and a wholescale dilution of safety standards, including a halving the frequency [...]
Esken in ‘advanced talks’ with Isle of Man firm over Stobart Air sale April 19, 2021 Esken – formerly Stobart Group – has today confirmed that it is in “advanced talks” with Isle of Man-based Ettyl over the sale of Stobart Air. The firm has been looking to offload the regional carrier in recent months, having only bought back the airline from bankruptcy last April. Alongside a sale of the airline, [...]
Mayor of London election: Shaun Bailey pledges City Hall infrastructure bank as part of Covid recovery April 19, 2021 Tory mayor of London candidate Shaun Bailey has pledged to create a new taxpayer-funded and City Hall-owned infrastructure bank for transport projects if elected next month. Bailey’s plan would aim to “attract private sector finance into large scale, costly infrastructure projects” in order to get projects like Crossrail 2 and the Bakerloo extension funded. The [...]