Ofwat demands £50 water bill price cut and extra £12bn investment from firms July 18, 2019 The water industry’s regulator is demanding firms slash their household bills and bolster investment in the sector under new plans unveiled this morning. Customers could be set for an average £50 drop in their water bills from 2020 to 2025, after watchdog Ofwat called on companies to lower their prices. Read more: Ofwat hits out [...]
Tube delays hit commuters in miserable rush hour July 18, 2019 Commuters face a miserable journey to work this morning with severe delays affecting the Jubilee Line. Read more: Revealed – London’s most stressful Tube stations The Jubilee Line is plagued with severe delays between Waterloo and Stratford after engineers had to deal with a faulty train on the track, hitting thousands of east London passengers. [...]
DEBATE: Would the railways run better with a ‘fat controller’? July 18, 2019 Would the railways run better with an independent “fat controller” in charge, as recently proposed? Scott Corfe, research director at the Social Market Foundation, says YES. Commuters are right to be angry with the state of Britain’s railway network, with its unpalatable combination of high fares, delays, and trains so packed that one feels like [...]
Audioboom posts revenue surge as it doubles down on original podcasts July 18, 2019 Audioboom has posted a huge rise in revenue in the first six months of the year as it continues to cash in on advertising in the lucrative podcast market. The Aim-listed company reported first-half revenue of $9.8m (£7.9m), a huge increase on the $3.6m posted in the same period last year. Read more: Audioboom posts [...]
Young voters today care about far more than just tuition fees July 18, 2019 Student debt is, once again, pledge fodder as politicians jostle for power. Conservative leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt has promised to wipe student debt for successful entrepreneurs and reduce interest on loans, the Brexit Party has pledged to remove and reimburse interest altogether, while Labour has long vowed to scrap tuition fees entirely. It’s not hard [...]
Our next Prime Minister should understand how crucial infrastructure projects are to the economy July 18, 2019 Tory members are electing their new leader and the next Prime Minister. Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt’s premiership will be dominated by a few issues – solving the Brexit deadlock in parliament, funding public services, and healing the country’s divides. But while it hasn’t featured as prominently as the European issue, infrastructure is of key [...]
The next moon landings will spur giant leaps here on Earth July 18, 2019 This week, we celebrate 50 years since Apollo 11’s first landing of humans on the moon – one of humanity’s greatest achievements. The technologies born of the Apollo missions shaped life on Earth in more ways than we often recognise through inventions we use every day. This anniversary is about more than where we’ve been [...]
Businesses must step up and raise their sustainability game July 18, 2019 When it comes to making sure that our day-to-day consumption is as environmentally friendly as possible, where does responsibility lie? According to new KPMG research, believe it or not, just 15 per cent of consumers point to policymakers, and only 10 per cent think that they themselves are responsible. The majority – 53 per cent [...]
City Moves for 18 July – who’s switching jobs at Foundry, Callsign and Saga? July 18, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Foundry, Callsign and Saga. Foundry Foundry, which develops creative software for the digital design, media and entertainment industries, has appointed Jody Madden as chief executive officer (CEO). She joined Foundry in 2013 and has held positions as chief operating officer and most recently, chief customer officer and chief product officer. Prior [...]
Construction market ‘patience wearing thin’ with Brexit uncertainty July 18, 2019 London’s construction market appears to be losing patience with Brexit uncertainty, as output growth gains speed and workload expectations gather pace for the year ahead. According to a quarterly industry survey by RICS, 14 per cent more respondents reported an increase in construction workloads across London in the second three months of 2019. This is [...]