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 [...]
NASA flies helicopter on Mars in world first April 19, 2021 NASA has today made history by performing the first ever powered, controlled flight from the surface of another planet with robot helicopter Ingenuity. The mini helicopter took off from the surface of Mars and was airborne for less than a minute before landing, the space agency said. MiMi Aung, project manager for Ingenuity at Nasa’s [...]
Eurostar secures lender support as it eyes government bailout April 18, 2021 Eurostar is said to have signed a deal with its lenders to refinance hundreds of millions of pounds of debt as it looks to secure financial support from the UK government. A group of banks, including Natwest, have agreed to refinance £400m of loans that were due to be repaid this summer, the Daily Telegraph [...]
Nissan to idle Sunderland staff amid semiconductor shortage April 16, 2021 Car giant Nissan will reportedly put 800 staff at its factory in Sunderland on furlough due to the worldwide shortage of semiconductors. The Japanese automaker will send about a tenth of its 8,000-strong workforce at the plant home until the current squeeze eases, the Nikkei reported today. The decision comes as it was revealed that [...]
World’s biggest semiconductor maker warns that shortage could continue into 2022 April 15, 2021 The world’s biggest semiconductor maker this morning warned that the current chip shortage could well last into 2022. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) said that it was doing everything it could to alleviate the drought of the processors, which are vital for a vast range of electric devices. Chief exec C. C. Wei told investors [...]
Mass sacking at British Gas as 500 engineers lose job amid contract row April 15, 2021 Nearly 500 British Gas engineers lost their jobs yesterday after refusing to sign new contracts which will reportedly cut their pay by around 15 per cent. British Gas owner Centrica told various media last night that around 2 per cent of its staff had chosen not to sign the new contracts, though it refused to [...]
Wizz Air dives to €590m loss as wait for recovery goes on April 15, 2021 Wizz Air came back down to earth with a bump this morning as the firm braced itself for a net loss of up to €590m for the full financial year. The Hungarian flier warned that it did not expect traffic to pick up until late in the summer due to continued restrictions across its core [...]
Ford to further cut car production due to global semiconductor chip shortage April 14, 2021 Ford to further cut car production due to global semiconductor chip shortage