Gove planning shake-up: ‘We need housing today, not tomorrow’ July 24, 2023 Michael Gove will loosen planning laws to allow vacant shops to be converted into homes as part of his latest efforts to tackle the UK’s housing crisis. On Monday the minister for housing and levelling up revealed a slew of planning reforms as well as a further commitment to building over 1m new homes across [...]
Gatwick set for strike relief as union accepts pay rise offer July 24, 2023 Strikes by workers at Gatwick Airport have been suspended, with union members either accepting or being balloted on new pay offers, it has been announced. Unite said planned strikes by DHL workers – who are employed to provide ground handling services at the airport – have been cancelled completely after they voted to accept a 15 per cent pay rise. [...]
London office investment slumps to 14-year low July 24, 2023 London office investment slumped to a 14-year low in the second quarter of the year, new data shows, as high interest rates stifled momentum built up in the early months of the year. Some £1.2bn was spent on London offices last quarter, a 59 per cent drop on the £2.9bn spent in the previous quarter [...]
Barbenheimer lights up cinemas but strikes cast shadow on industry’s future July 24, 2023 Barbie and Oppenheimer, the pop culture power movie duo nicknamed Barbenheimer, had a triumphant opening weekend, reviving cinemas to their pre-pandemic glory – if only for a fleeting weekend. Vue cinemas witnessed their biggest weekend since 2019, raking in nearly £30m at the UK box office according to the UK Cinema Association, as over 500,000 [...]
Addison Lee boss: Khan doesn’t want to solve congestion for London drivers July 24, 2023 Sadiq Khan doesn’t want to solve congestion problems for London’s car users, the boss of private hire taxi firm Addison Lee has said. “I just think that definitely the congestion in London should be something we want to solve,” Liam Griffin told City A.M. but “I’m not sure Khan wants to solve it for cars.” [...]
Wave of pension mergers looms as Hunt presses on with reform July 24, 2023 A wave of consolidation is coming in the UK’s pension sector as bigger master trusts guzzle up smaller peers and the government throws its weight behind reform, a top UK pension chief has predicted.
Why Europe’s heatwave has not led to a solar power boom July 24, 2023 There will be no surge solar power generation from Europe's heatwave, with scorching weather unlikely to boost production levels.
‘Docklands 2.0’: Michael Gove outlines vision for new higher density London July 24, 2023 Michael Gove has outlined the government’s vision to create a “Docklands 2.0” in a key speech on housing policy, calling for higher density urban development. The housing and levelling up secretary cited the “ambitious approach” of Margaret Thatcher and Michael Heseltine and warned housing “inefficiency” is costing Britain’s productivity. It comes as the prime minister [...]
Ryanair chief O’Leary slams EU inaction over French air traffic control strikes July 24, 2023 Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has hit out at the European Commission this morning over its handling of strike action by staff at French air traffic control, describing it as a “shambles.” Following Ryanair’s first quarter results, O’Leary told analysts on a conference call that the continuing failure of the commission to take action to address [...]
Moneysupermarket expects no ‘significant’ energy switching this year July 24, 2023 Moneysupermarket has said that it does not expect customers to start switching energy suppliers in any “significant” numbers this year.
