EDF seeks guarantee for nuclear project June 23, 2019 French energy giant EDF wants a government guarantee of help if a £20bn nuclear power station runs over budget. The firm is telling potential investors in its Sizewell C plant that it wants ministers to step in with a guarantee on the project, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Government headache as Hitachi pulls out [...]
Activist investor Coast Capital rails against First franchise bid June 23, 2019 An activist investor vying to shake up First Group has warned that it will pull out of a contract to run one of the UK’s leading rail franchises if it succeeds in toppling the firm’s management at a showdown on Tuesday. Coast Capital, which owns a near 10 per cent stake in transport giant First, [...]
Business leaders urge government to commit to HS2 June 22, 2019 Top business groups have penned an open letter urging the next prime minister to commit to delivering HS2 in full. The letter argued full support for the £56bn rail project was vital for the flow of investment not just in the north of England, but across the whole of the UK. Read more: HS2 bulldozes [...]
Households face £172m bill after slew of energy suppliers fail June 21, 2019 The head of Citizens Advice has called on the government to act as households face a £172m bill after 11 suppliers collapsed. Gillian Guy said consumers should not be left to bail out the industry when companies go out of business. Read more: Energy supplier owed £12m to customers when it went out of business [...]
Carnival shares sink after Trump’s Cuba cruise ban hits bookings June 20, 2019 London-listed shares in Carnival Cruises sunk 12 per cent yesterday after the travel company cut its profit forecast due to the Trump administration’s sudden ban on cruises to Cuba. The cruise giant also blamed higher expenses and an expectation of lower ticket prices in the coming months for the downgrade. The second quarter heralded better [...]
Virgin boss urges ‘level playing field’ for airlines at expanded Heathrow June 20, 2019 MPs must launch an inquiry into the allocation of take-off and landing slots at an expanded Heathrow to ensure a “level playing field”, the boss of a leading airline has said. Shai Weiss, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, has said the current rules around slot allocation allow IAG, the owner of British Airways, to [...]
Carbon chief: A green economy will be cheaper than you think June 20, 2019 The cost of ridding Britain of emissions by 2050 will not be as high as reported, the head of the Committee on Climate Change has said. His comments come after chancellor Philip Hammond claimed that the plans, adopted last week by the government, will cost the UK more than £1 trillion. Read more: Global banks [...]
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to close 12 miles of roads for Car Free Day 2019 June 20, 2019 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is set to close 12.3 miles of roads in the capital for Car Free Day 2019. Khan’s road closures will span 18 London boroughs including major roads around Tower Bridge, London Bridge and the City of London for the event on Sunday 22, September. Read more: 500 London roads breach [...]
Moody’s downgrades Jaguar Land Rover as it battles China slowdown June 20, 2019 Embattled car giant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) suffered a fresh blow today after credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the firm and warned of a “negative outlook”. Moody’s has reduced its corporate family rating to B1 from Ba3 and the probability of default rating to B1-PD from Ba3-PD. It also downgraded the instrument ratings on the [...]
RMT rail union accuses Sadiq Khan of Tory cuts ‘stitch up’ June 20, 2019 The RMT rail union has accused Sadiq Khan of carrying out “Tory cuts to the Tube” as it protests outside City Hall this morning. The union claims that Transport for London (TfL), which Khan chairs, has “given up” on restoring central government funding to the transport body. Read more: Tube strike action on the cards [...]