Goodbye Jammersmith, hello to Wombling free? Mayor Boris Johnson outlines radical plans to solve capital’s congestion headaches February 9, 2015 London mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled plans to reduce congestion and open up more land for housing developments and public space across some of London's busiest hubs. Five of the capital's biggest traffic pinchpoints – including the A4 in Hammersmith – are going under the knife as part of the plans, which will see [...]
Profits soar for Carlyle Group’s Addison Lee February 8, 2015 DESPITE increasing competition from smartphone apps like Uber and Hailo, minicab company Addison Lee continued to grow last year as its revenue and profits surged. The group, which was snapped up by private equity firm Carlyle Group in April 2013, said revenue rose 11 per cent to £196.6m during the year to the end of [...]
Spending on contactless cards triples in just one year February 7, 2015 Peoples' penchant for contactless cards pushed total spending on them to a record £2.32bn last year according to data from The UK Cards Association. This was three times more than last year's figure. Shoppers can make contactless payments of up to £20 by touching their cards against a reader. It means small purchases can be made [...]
Tender process opened to develop Transport for London’s properties February 6, 2015 Property developers are being invited to tender bids for partnerships on more than 50 sites across London as part of Transport for London's plans to turn property tycoon. The transport body revealed last month it was planning to develop 10m sq ft of the 200m sq ft land it owns across the capital as part [...]
Boris Bike sponsorship deal: Santander reportedly in line to beat Coca-Cola as Barclays replacement February 5, 2015 Santander UK is reportedly on the cusp of signing a £50m deal which would see it replace Barclays as the main sponsor of London's Boris Bike scheme. The deal would see Santander UK pay up to £7.5m annually for seven years, putting its red-and-white branding in the place of the blue hues currently offered by Barclays. [...]
London bus strike: More than half of all services are running February 5, 2015 Update: Transport for London is now reporting that more than half of its bus services are running as usual, despite the strike over pay. While it still noted there was “disruption” to services, and warned that passengers check before travelling, the impact appeared to be considerably less than last month, when Unite held similar [...]
Bus strikes for next 24 hours February 4, 2015 TUBE and train carriages will be more crammed than usual this morning as many London bus drivers are on strike over pay and conditions today. The strike, involving Unite bus drivers in the dispute, began at 4am and will go until 4am tomorrow. Transport for London (TfL) said customers with a Bus and Tram Pass [...]
Boris Johnson’s Crossrail for Bikes gets green light from Transport for London February 4, 2015 Boris Johnson's ambitious Crossrail for Bikes scheme has been given the green light by Transport for London, after it was updated to reduce knock-on traffic delays. Four new cycle superhighways running throughout London have got the go-ahead and work will begin on the project within the next month. The scheme will cost £160m to [...]
TfL and MySingleFriend.com bring love to London’s cable cars and river buses February 2, 2015 All aboard, singletons! The capital’s river buses and cable cars are set to transport Londoners on a journey to love – and all in time for Valentine’s Day. Transport for London (TfL) and website MySingleFriend.com plan to host a date night on board MBNA Thames Clippers and the Emirates Air Line on Thursday 12 February. [...]
From Greek elections and Apple’s record-making profits to Thameslink floods and Afren’s misery: Here’s what got us talking this week January 30, 2015 News was dominated by results from the US this week, but it was Apple that really made waves with its history-making profits of $18bn in one quarter. Here are five things that put that into perspective. (Hint: It's huge). Meanwhile as the results of the Greek election began to sink in, investors started reacting. [...]