New Birmingham HS2 station to cost £100m more than expected June 7, 2021 A new HS2 rail station in Birmingham will cost £100m more than originally expected, the company behind the controversial high speed rail project revealed today. Launching the procurement process to find a contractor to build Birmingham Interchange station, which is expected to open in 2026, HS2 said the contract was worth £370m. In 2019, however, [...]
ArcelorMittal ‘awaits EU approval’ for Liberty Steel France bid June 7, 2021 The EU is currently examining steel giant ArcelorMittal’s bid for Liberty Steel’s French assets at Hayange and Ascovel, it was reported today. EU documents seen by Bloomberg show that the Luxembourg-based firm has submitted an offer for Liberty Steel France Holding SAS, which owns the assets. The deadline for the EU to give the deal [...]
Bezos Lightyear: Amazon founder set for space June 7, 2021 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will join the winner of a competition on Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight, with 20 July the target launchdate. Writing on Instagram, the world’s richest man said that he and his brother Mark would join the winner of an auction on New Shepard’s first suborbital sightseeing trip. Bidding for the final [...]
Number of Uber UK rides back to pre-pandemic levels June 7, 2021 Uber this morning said that the number of rides booked by UK users has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. The ride-hailing app said that the loosening of restrictions on hospitality venues had been the main driving force behind the return of demand. Most of the trips currently being taken are in the evening, Uber added, [...]
Portugal debacle shows traffic light system risks another chaotic summer June 4, 2021 There was something inevitable about the government’s decision to remove Portugal from the UK’s quarantine-free travel list last night. Despite hopes that more countries could be added to the list, by the afternoon, holidaymakers, airline bosses and travel firms were once again facing the realisation that their best laid plans had once again been trampled [...]
Airline stocks dive and bosses fume after Portugal axed from UK travel ‘green list’ June 4, 2021 Airline stocks dropped as London’s markets opened for trading today after the government removed the one popular holiday destination from its travel “green list”. Wizz Air led the fallers on the FTSE 250, dropping 3.5 per cent by the mid-afternoon, while Easyjet shed 1.9 per cent. Easyjet had added hundreds of extra flights to Portugal [...]
Number of Tube journeys rises again as reopening continues June 4, 2021 The number of Tube journeys rose five per cent last week as more and more people continued to head back to workplaces, shopping districts and hospitality venues. Last Thursday there were 1.89m underground journeys made in total, up from 1.78m the week before. Once again, that is the most journeys to be made in a [...]
EU to ban Belarus airlines from airspace June 4, 2021 EU ambassadors have today agreed a plan to ban Belarus airlines from flying over EU territory or landing in EU airports. The decision will come into effect at midnight Central European Time (CET), barring any surprise last-minute objections by EU states, three diplomats told Reuters. The EU is also strongly recommending that EU airlines do [...]
Surging wine sales leave sweet aftertaste for Chapel Down after bitter year June 4, 2021 Winemaker Chapel Down said that lockdown had sent its wine sales up over a third over the last year, but this was not enough to stop it from falling to a £7.9m full year loss. The company also said that it would launch a new crowdfunding campaign in a bid to raise nearly £7m to [...]
UK car sales up eightfold as market recovers from last year’s skid June 4, 2021 UK car sales increased eightfold last month compared to a year ago as customers continued to return to showrooms and garages. There were 156,737 new cars sold in May, up from a mere 20,247 in the same month in the previous year, when showrooms were closed due to lockdown. However, the statistics, which are compiled [...]
