Kwik Fit restores hundreds of jobs as sales and profit accelerate November 19, 2024 Sales and profit at Kwik Fit accelerated during its latest financial year as the company created restored the 200 jobs it had previous shed. The Letchworth Garden City-headquartered business has posted a turnover of £633m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. The latest total comes after [...]
Time for England’s wilting roses to blossom against Boks November 15, 2024 When penning this column the niggling thought in my mind is that there’s no possible way that England beat the Springboks. Steve Borthwick’s wilting roses are struggling across the board, and shipped a record points total against a southern hemisphere side at home under his tenure in last week’s loss to Australia. Meanwhile South Africa, [...]
A four-day week for tube drivers is a slap in the face for Londoners November 12, 2024 Christmas has come early for tube drivers, who will now work less for more pay. But the government will regret making a deal that proves that strikes work, says James Ford More money for less work. If you’re a trade union official, that is the holy grail you are pursuing on your members’ behalf in [...]
Is Borthwick’s England tenure reaching a critical point? November 10, 2024 When Max Jorgensen crossed the tryline for Australia on Saturday, it condemned Steve Borthwick’s England to a defeat in which they shipped over 40 points at home. The 37-42 loss to the Wallabies is tied second for the most points the hosts have ever conceded at Allianz Stadium. While it fell short of the 53 [...]
Borthwick needs to learn not to pull substitution trigger November 8, 2024 For so much of their 22-24 defeat to New Zealand England looked solid and like a team who could topple the All Blacks. That’s not to say they enjoyed a free run at a win or that they were the dominant team for the full 80 minutes, but they were in it at the end, [...]
Autumn Nations Series learnings: England miss chance, Scotland shine November 3, 2024 There were contrasting results for the home countries in the opening round of the Autumn Nations Series as England snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the All Blacks and Scotland pummelled Fiji at Murrayfield. But what did we learn from the weekend’s results, and what do they tell us about the games to [...]
Is it written in the F1 stars for Hamilton at Ferrari? October 28, 2024 As Lewis Hamilton prepares for life at Ferrari, the Prancing Horses are beginning to find some Formula 1 form. “I feel incredibly fortunate, after achieving things with Mercedes that I could only have dreamed of as a kid, that I now have the chance to fulfil another childhood dream. Driving in Ferrari red.” Those were [...]
Porsche Macan EV review: Popular performance SUV goes electric October 15, 2024 You’ll note the title of this review refers to the ‘Porsche Macan EV’. In truth, this car is just the ‘Macan’ – a clean-sheet new SUV intended to replace the long-serving combustion car. However, the market’s less-than-ravenous appetite for EVs has forced a rethink. So, for now at least, Porsche will continue selling the petrol-powered [...]
Is Pat a Lam to the slaughter at Bristol Bears? Not quite October 4, 2024 It’s not an official law of rugby, but as a rule of thumb you should not score 41 points and still lose a game. And that’s exactly what Bristol Bears did against Gloucester last Friday in round two of the Premiership. Sure, defence was optional for both teams in the West Country derby that finished [...]
Last orders for Amy Lame, but London still needs a night czar October 4, 2024 Amy Lame let Londoners down but that doesn’t mean we should abolish the post of night czar altogether. There are three ways we can make sure the next person to hold the post make the capital a 24-hour city, writes James Ford After eight years in post, Amy Lame is calling time on her tenure [...]