Exclusive: Taxpayers to front extra £4bn for recent HS2 delays July 2, 2025 Recent delays to HS2 have increased costs for taxpayers by up to nearly £4bn, according to a government document detailing the value of mega-projects in the UK. The Office for Value for Money, a cost-saving unit set up by Rachel Reeves, found deferrals over the last two years would increase costs on Phase 1 from [...]
Manchester Airports Group takes off amid expansion drive July 1, 2025 The UK’s largest airport group has reported a record year of passenger traffic and rising profit as it presses ahead with a major programme of expansion. Manchester Airports Group, the conglomerate which owns Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, reported a 12.5 per cent increase in adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization [...]
Heathrow eyes earnings crunch as national insurance hike weighs June 27, 2025 London Heathrow airport expects its earnings for 2025 to take a hit as it weighs the cost of Labour’s hike to employer’s national insurance contributions. The airport expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to decrease by three per cent to near £1.98bn over the year due to higher operating costs brought on [...]
Driving a Ferrari Purosangue through sleepy St Mawes, Cornwall June 27, 2025 Ah, Cornwall, the second home capital of England. Of course, the locals loathe the incoming hoards from West London and the home counties, breezing in for a few sunny weeks of the year with their 4x4s, yoga mats and Big Green Egg barbecues. Following the G7 summit held in Carbis Bay in 2021, an especially [...]
Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: Foodie delights in Dubai June 25, 2025 Martin Williams is one of the judges for our first Toast the City awards. Here he tells us about his recent trip to the gastronomic paradise of ever-sunny Dubai. The Serpentine Summer Party never disappoints. After a wonderful lunch at Petrus, I found myself enjoying Mujen Sochu Cocktails, created by the bar legend Tato Giovannoni, who [...]
James Reed: UK jobs market is among worst I’ve ever seen June 25, 2025 After 35 consecutive months of decline, the UK jobs market is unlike anything in the past few decades, writes James Reed.
Driverless taxis will make black cabs extinct – and that’s no bad thing June 25, 2025 The imminent advent of ‘robo taxis’ may well be the final nail in the coffin of the London cab trade, suggests James Ford By all accounts, a London cabbie’s lot is not a happy one. You may get to drive around the capital in one of the great transport icons (the black cab is up [...]
Scrapping al fresco dining in Northcote Rd proves Labour hates fun June 24, 2025 Labour-run Wandsworth council has scrapped a popular pedestrianisation scheme, and Conservatives are fighting back.
Brent crude could hit $110 if oil flow through Strait of Hormuz halved June 23, 2025 Oil prices could surge to new highs, Goldman Sachs has warned, after the US attacked three sites in Iran spiking fears that a crucial Iranian-controlled waterway could be disrupted. The price of Brent crude oil spiked 5.7 per cent in the aftermath to $81.40 a barrel – marking a five month high. Prices later gave [...]
New Piccadilly Line trains delayed by up to a year June 20, 2025 New Piccadilly Line trains will begin operating on the London Underground up to a year later than planned, it has been revealed. The 94 new trains, which will have walk-through air conditioned carriages and CCTV, were supposed to come into service in late 2025. But Transport for London (TfL) said on Friday the fleet would [...]