London: Our city of eternal resilience is not endangered by Brexit February 24, 2017 We have been here before. Seismic political or economic events strike like a tsunami; panic breaks out that London’s position as a leading world city is endangered. It happened in the aftermath of 2008’s financial crisis and it’s happening as Brexit looms. In 2009 the Economist observed magisterially, “Before the credit crunch, talk that London [...]
Norwegian launches a raft of new transtlantic flights from Belfast, Edinburgh and Dublin to the US February 23, 2017 Low-cost airline Norwegian has announced a series of new transatlantic flights from five cities in the UK and Ireland to the US, offering tickets from £69. In total, Norwegian is launching 10 new routes with 38 new transatlantic flights this summer from Edinburgh, Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Dublin. The flights will start on 15 June [...]
Ryanair launches biggest London winter schedule but underlines commitment to pivot growth away as Brexit looms February 23, 2017 Ryanair has launched its biggest ever schedule out of London to date, with three new routes from London Stansted. But the airline has also reiterated its commitment to pivoting growth away from Britain in the wake of the Brexit vote. The Irish carrier’s 2017 schedule will have three new routes from London Stansted to Aalborg [...]
PSA nearly doubles profits as it announces first dividend in six years ahead of Opel takeover February 23, 2017 As PSA's proposed takeover of General Motors' European business looms, the French maker of Peugeot and Citroen announced net profit nearly doubled last year. Read more: Unite plans to meet PSA on Friday for clarity over growing job concerns The figures The company posted better-than-expected full-year results and also announced it will pay shareholders the [...]
Gale force winds from Storm Doris are set to cause travel disruption across Southern rail routes today February 23, 2017 A storm is brewing on Southern rail. An actual storm. No, it's not fed-up passengers staging an intervention, but a warning that Storm Doris is going to cause some significant troubles on the network today. Passengers have been advised to check before travelling today as gale force winds from Storm Doris have prompted Network Rail [...]
National Express raises its dividend off the back of a surge in profits February 23, 2017 National Express has upped its dividend after announcing a 10 per cent rise in pre-tax profits, thanks to solid growth outside the UK. Read more: Mamma mia! National Express exits UK rail, leaving it to the Italians The figures Pre-tax profits of its continuing operations for the year rose 11 per cent to £136.3m, while pre-tax profits for [...]
Nissan has appointed a new chief executive as Carlos Ghosn steps aside February 23, 2017 Hiroto Saikawa has been appointed the new chief executive of Nissan after Carlos Ghosn last night stood aside. Ghosn, who has stood at the company's helm for 16 years, will turn his focus to developing an alliance between Renault and Mitsubishi Motors. The new appointment comes after years of speculation over when Ghosn would leave the top job [...]
Government isn’t doing enough to mitigate the environmental hit from Heathrow expansion, warn MPs February 23, 2017 The government looks set to flout recommendations made by its own climate change advisers regarding the environmental impact of Heathrow expansion, MPs warned today. The Environmental Audit Committee has found the government is not doing enough to show it can mitigate the environmental hit the new runway is expected to have, and looks set to [...]
Serco shares plummet. But it’s all part of a long and winding road to recovery, says its boss February 22, 2017 Serco's share price plummeted over 18 per cent after the FTSE 250 firm posted a 14 per cent fall in profits for the year to December. But analysts warned investors in the supply services giant would likely take flight owing to a cut to forecast earnings in 2018 and an increased tax bill. The figures Total revenue fell [...]
Here’s why analysts think Britain could soon stop making the Vauxhall Astra altogether February 22, 2017 Despite PSA pledging to respect existing Opel and Vauxhall job guarantees if it buys the European branch of General Motors, analysts still think jobs are at risk. And investment bank Evercore thinks Britain could soon cease to manufacture the Vauxhall Astra altogether. In terms of making a combined business work, Evercore said: "It's about hard restructuring [...]