UK firms set to slash office space in pivot to hybrid work June 3, 2021 UK firms appear ready to take the leap to hybrid working despite being unconvinced by the productivity benefits, new research today suggests. Data from PwC shows that major employers are set to reduce their office portfolio by up to 9m square feet, equivalent to 14 Walkie Talkie buildings, due to the pandemic. Of the 258 [...]
US slaps tariffs on UK goods in push for global tax deal June 3, 2021 The US has slapped new trade tariffs on six nations including the UK as President Joe Biden seeks to corral fellow economies into backing his proposals for a global tax deal. After announcing tariffs worth 25 per cent against $2bn worth of goods from the UK, Italy, Spain, Turkey, India and Austria, the White House [...]
Raab welcomes aviation watchdog probe into Belarus plane grounding May 27, 2021 Dominic Raab this evening said that the UK welcomes a probe into the forced landing of a Ryanair flight by Belarus on Sunday. Earlier today Ireland’s transport minister said that air travel watchdog International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would investigate the incident, which has been met with international outcry. Belarus scrambled a fighter and used a [...]
Ryanair’s O’Leary hammers Irish government over ‘untold damage’ to aviation May 27, 2021 Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has accused the Irish government of bringing “untold damage” on the aviation and tourism sector. The budget airline’s chief executive also criticised transport minister Eamon Ryan for having no “plan, policy or commitment” on aviation, and said the government should announce an “immediate rescue plan” for the sectors. The carrier recently [...]
Tui sells minority take in Riu Hotels for €540m May 27, 2021 Holiday giant Tui said this evening that it had agreed to sell its 49 per cent stake in Spain’s Riu Hotels SA to co-owner Riu-Group for €540m (£463.8m). The deal gives the joint venture, which comprises of 21 properties, an enterprise value of €1.5bn. The Anglo-German firm said that its separate 50/50 hotel management joint [...]
End the political games, TfL and DfT urged, as new funding deadline looms May 27, 2021 London’s politicians and business leaders called on the government and Transport for London (TfL) to end the “political games” and agree a long-term funding deal for the network as the latest round of negotiations reached their final hours. Tomorrow the latest extension to the last funding deal runs out, leaving the operator once again without [...]
First Group bus sale squeaks through as investors give green light May 27, 2021 Shareholders have this afternoon narrowly approved the sale of First Group’s US operations to Scandinavian fund EQT despite a strident campaign against the deal. At today’s AGM 61.3 per cent of investors backed the $4.6bn (£3.3bn) deal, with 38.7 per cent voting against it. The results means that Coast Capital’s attempts to derail the sale [...]
Airbus shares cruising as planemaker ups production targets May 27, 2021 Planemaker Airbus today upped its jet production targets, saying that the sector’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic had now begun. The European aerospace giant said that a recovery in single-aisle planes would lead the commercial market back to pre-Covid levels between 2023 and 2025. Investors flocked to the firm’s bullishness, with shares in Airbus up [...]
City of London saw most commuters since beginning of pandemic last week May 27, 2021 The most people travelled into the City of London last week than at any point since the pandemic began last March as life in the capital continues to edge back to normality. According to the latest figures from Transport for London, there were 258,461 trips made in-and-out of stations in the Square Mile and Canary [...]
Car production bounces back on 12-month anniversary of factory shutdowns May 27, 2021 UK car production returned to near normality in April compared to the same month a year before as automakers continued to struggle with the shortage of semiconductor chips. Britain made 68,306 cars last month, up from 197 a year ago when factories were shuttered due to the initial Covid-19 lockdown. Compared to April 2019, the [...]
