Sigh. There’s going to be another British Airways strike this month February 10, 2017 Another day, another life-disrupting transport strike: today the Unite union announced members working for the company will stage a four-day strike, from midnight on 17 February to midnight on 20 February. It's the latest in a series of walkouts by cabin crew over low wages. The announcement was generously timed to coincide with the penultimate day [...]
Pay-to-use motorway fails to secure bidders February 10, 2017 A £1.9bn deal to sell M6 Toll road has fallen through, prompting lenders to consider refinancing Britain’s only pay-to-use motorway. Plans to sell the motorway were announced in February last year and were already delayed as a result of the summer’s EU referendum vote. The sale is now not expected to take place, according to [...]
HS2 payments to incoming chief executive’s firm CH2M surge from £1.4m to £32.5m in four years February 9, 2017 High Speed Two payments to its incoming chief executive’s company have surged, as the rail project awarded another contract to CH2M today. New figures have revealed that CH2M – where HS2’s new boss Mark Thurston is head of European operations; he joins HS2 in the spring – has been paid increasing amounts from HS2 over the [...]
HS2 announces flurry of new contracts including another for CH2M – the firm of its chief exec-to-be February 9, 2017 New contracts have been awarded for the second phase of HS2, including one for CH2M – HS2's incoming chief executive's company. The announcement comes after questions were asked over Mark Thurston's appointment last month and possible conflicts of interest. Thurston joins from his post managing European affairs at CH2M in the spring. American engineering giant CH2M is already the engineering delivery [...]
Sir Stelios plans to keep up the pressure on EasyJet’s board after protest vote at annual general meeting February 9, 2017 Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou plans to keep up the pressure on EasyJet’s board after grilling them with a series of questions over a sale and leaseback deal at today’s annual general meeting (AGM). The airline’s founder and now its biggest shareholder, put a raft of questions to directors over a sale and leaseback deal for 10 aircraft at [...]
RAF jets sent to intercept Russian bombers after they approach UK airspace February 9, 2017 No need to panic but RAF fighter jets have been dispatched to monitor two Russian bombers, which flew near UK airspace. The pair of Tupolev TU-160 Blackjack bombers were in the UK's area of interest, but didn't enter British territorial airspace. So no worries then… RAF Typhoons were dispatched from the Lossiemouth base in Scotland [...]
RMT’s row over role of the guard to spread as it ballots Arriva Rail North workers for strikes February 9, 2017 Southern rail and Aslef union might have struck a deal in the long-running dispute over the role of the guard (subject to a members' referendum), but the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is yet to follow suit. And now it's balloting workers on Arriva Rail North for strikes in another row over the role of [...]
Guy Hands’ Terra Firma completes disposal of all Infinis Energy assets February 9, 2017 Terra Firma has agreed to sell the onshore wind assets of renewable energy firm Infinis to JP Morgan, bringing to an end Guy Hands’ ownership of the Infinis group. Terra Firma, owned and run by Hands, floated Infinis in 2014 but took it private again after then-chancellor George Osborne introduced a series of levies on green [...]
Trump: I’ve got a corporate tax reform coming. It’s the best corporate tax reform. It’s just phenomenal. February 9, 2017 Airline shares rose this afternoon after it emerged Donald Trump is planning a "phenomenal" tax announcement in the next couple of weeks. At a meeting with airline bosses this afternoon, Trump promised to ditch "burdensome regulations" and said a corporate tax announcement in the next couple of weeks will "lower the overall tax burden of [...]
McLaren’s opening a £50m supercar chassis facility in Sheffield February 8, 2017 Supercar maker McLaren is revving up the UK's manufacturing credentials with the announcement it's moving production of carbon fire chassis from Austria to the UK. It's moving into Sheffield with a £50m investment in manufacturing facilities, creating 200 jobs in the process, as the firm looks to launch a production facility next to the University [...]