Crossrail opening delayed until 2022 and extra £1.1bn needed to finish project August 21, 2020 The opening of London’s new Crossrail underground line has been delayed until 2022 and an extra £1.1bn is needed to complete the project, Crossrail Ltd said today. Crossrail said the central section of the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Abbey Wood will be ready to open in the first half of 2022. Crossrail has faced [...]
Square Mile builder: It’s time to get London back up and running August 20, 2020 “I’ve been getting on trains for six weeks and not once have I felt uncomfortable because I wasn’t able to socially distance,” says Square Mile construction firm Mace’s chief executive Mark Reynolds. The company, which is headquartered in Moorgate in the heart of the City, is slowly encouraging staff to return to work at the [...]
DEBATE: Should we accept that this is the end for business travel? August 20, 2020 Should we embrace change and accept that this is the end for business travel? Alethea Warrington, campaigner at climate charity Possible, says YES. The rise of virtual meetings hasn’t just given us an entire subculture of Zoom memes — it has made travelling long distances to attend meetings in person outdated and ridiculous. The pandemic [...]
John Laing profit dips on coronavirus and energy troubles August 20, 2020 Profit at infrastructure investor and manager John Laing fell in the first half because of the impact of coronavirus and poor renewable energy performance it said today. The company said its total return fell six per cent in the six months to 30 June. John Laing said its net asset value (NAV) per share fell [...]
Heathrow Airport boss tells No10 to ‘get a grip’ on quarantine policy as testing facility unveiled August 19, 2020 The chief executive of Heathrow Airport has called on Downing Street to “get a grip” of the UK’s coronavirus quarantine policy. John Holland-Kaye said the 14-day isolation period applying to many travellers should be shortened as it was “holding back the recovery of the UK economy”. Heathrow has already unveiled plans for a new testing [...]
Government working with Heathrow on coronavirus testing August 19, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock said the government is working with Heathrow Airport on its plan to roll out testing of passengers to help end the two week quarantine for international travellers. The airport is reportedly planning to test passengers to help allow them avoid the 14-day quarantine for travellers arriving in the UK from countries [...]
UK rail fares set to increase by 1.6 per cent in January despite pandemic August 19, 2020 UK rail fares are set to increase by 1.6 per cent in January, adding more than £100 to many annual season tickets to London, after an unexpected rise in a controversial measure of inflation. Official figures published today showed that retail price index (PRI) inflation rose by 1.6 per cent in July year on year. [...]
Sureserve says strong trading allows it to consider ‘sustainable dividend policy’ August 19, 2020 Compliance and energy services company Sureserve today said its strong trading performance allowed it to “consider a sustainable dividend policy”. The Aim-listed company maintains and installs boilers, and makes sure homes are energy efficient among other services. Shares jumped nearly 12 per cent to 47p this morning. Sureserve said it had been awarded 21 contracts [...]
SpaceX receives $2bn boost in latest funding round August 18, 2020 Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised a further $1.9bn (£1.4bn) in funding, a regulatory filing on Tuesday revealed. It raises the equity value of the billionaire’s private rocket company to $46bn, Bloomberg reported ahead of the funding round last week. It is the largest single fundraising round conducted by SpaceX yet, according to PitchBook data. It [...]
Stobart Group to cut jobs after Easyjet scraps Southend and Stansted bases August 18, 2020 Stobart Group today said it would cut jobs at Southend and Stansted airports after Easyjet yesterday said it would pull the plug on its operations at the two sites. Shares in Southend Airport-owner Stobart Group fell 4.7 per cent to 28p this morning. Stobart Aviations Services provides check-in and baggage handling services to Easyjet at [...]