The ascent of prime London’s new hotspot July 15, 2010 FITZROVIA, the area around the BT Tower, bordered by Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Great Portland Street and Euston Road, should be Londoners’ idea of property heaven. The West End is on your doorstep, as is Regent’s Park. The ever-more exciting restaurant and bar scene of Goodge and Charlotte Streets, and the more established prettiness [...]
EU clears Iberia tie to BA July 14, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) has landed approval from European competition regulators to allow its merger with Iberia and joint venture with American Airlines (AA) to go through. The European Commission (EC) yesterday gave antitrust clearance to the airlines to launch the three-way partnership, which will include slot sharing in London and New York. Although the Department [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BANK TEAMS RUSH TO SET UP NEW FUNDS The hedge fund industry is seeing a rush of start-ups amid a series of high-profile spin-outs from the in-house trading teams at investment banks. In spite of one of the worst second-quarter performances for the industry on record, the new funds also are attracting strong [...]
Boris ramps up fight against London cuts July 12, 2010 BORIS Johnson has stepped up his campaign to protect funding for London’s sprawling transport network, after transport minister Norman Baker hinted that the capital’s Tube, buses and trains would have to suffer cutbacks along with the rest of the country. Aides to the Mayor said he was “presenting his case clearly to the government, both [...]
British Airways near to winning antitrust bid July 11, 2010 BRITISH Airways, American Airlines and Iberia are set to win EU antitrust clearance this week to deepen their Oneworld alliance. The news comes as BA and Iberia are on the brink of merging, and BA chief Willie Walsh has revealed he is already planning to buy up another airline within a year. The antitrust decision [...]
HSBC in £1.7bn trains sale July 11, 2010 HSBC could be close to finalising a deal to sell its British rolling stock leasing business for £1.7bn to a consortium of City investors. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, 3i and Star Capital are thought to have teamed up to make a bid for the business, which could see the transfer of one-third of the UK’s trains [...]
Boris calls for better transport July 8, 2010 London mayor Boris Johnson yesterday called for an upgraded Tube and Crossrail, to boost the capital’s business. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) yesterday he warned that cutting vital investment in London’s transport system would hurt London’s business and damage the UK economy. He said the government should protect vital improvements to the [...]
Back to 1926: Unions plan general strike July 5, 2010 THE prospect of the first general strike since 1926 reared its ugly head yesterday, after trade union leaders clubbed together to fight the toughest public spending cuts in a generation. Three unions – which represent train and bus drivers, prison officers, and civil servants – said they would support a general strike if the government [...]
London commuters face huge rise in tube fares, warns RMT July 5, 2010 TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (TfL) could hike passenger tube fares to “eye-watering” levels making the “travelling public pay through the nose”, RMT has warned. The trade union has said that TfL has not given it enough information over Olympic transport plans. London commuters will have to shoulder fare increases as TfL tries to “plug a £5bn [...]
Minister discusses strikes clampdown July 4, 2010 TRANSPORT Secretary Philip Hammond was reported last night to have held discussions with Mayor of London Boris Johnson about ways the coalition government may be able to avert a winter of discontent. The two men are said to have examined proposals drawn up by the employers’ organisation the CBI to declare a strike illegal unless [...]