Taxi app wars: Uber vs Hailo vs Maaxi vs Lyft – Emil Michael gaff is latest hurdle in startup battle November 19, 2014 Fast-growing “ridesharing” app firm Uber hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons again this week as senior executive Emil Michael was reported suggesting the company hire researchers to dig up dirt on its media critics. The blunder is the latest in a long line of controversies that have plagued the startup over [...]
Tube, train or bus? What your daily commute says about how you spend your time travelling November 18, 2014 Londoners waste hours of their lives commuting. If ever Jane Austen was looking for another truth universally acknowledged that would be it. But what exactly do we do with that time? Turns out it really depends on what kind of commuter you are. According to a Kantar Worldpanel study of 15,000 people, our time-wasting [...]
How we can turn London’s thriving tech startups into billion dollar digital giants November 16, 2014 Just four years after the Prime Minister and the mayor of London launched the Tech City initiative, London now has one of the fastest growing technology sectors in the world. Visitors to any of its tech hubs will be struck by the industry and dynamism of the capital’s entrepreneurs and startups, driving innovation and change. [...]
MasterCard offers “Fare Free Friday” for London travellers as contactless journeys hit 12 million November 14, 2014 The number of journeys made on London transport using contactless payment has hit 12 million since it was first introduced on the capital’s network of tubes, trains and buses.. The new figures come as Londoners are being offered free travel by MasterCard across the capital to encourage even more people to use the technology. Contactless [...]
2014 City A.M. awards: Legal & General CEO Nigel Wilson is the insurance boss with big ideas November 13, 2014 The Legal & General chief exec, City A.M.’s Business Personality of the Year. His hero is Aneurin Bevan, the firebrand post-war Labour minister and architect of the NHS. His career was inspired by a quotation from political theorist Sir Isaiah Berlin on the importance of searching after the common good. And when I meet [...]
Focus on Chiswick: Why are families flocking to west London? November 13, 2014 Many people seem to think that, between oligarchs buying up prime central London and renters occupying the trendy suburbs, the capital is becoming a place of transition. But there’s one place that’s defying that trend: Chiswick. This ancient country retreat, which was once part of Middlesex, is every inch the traditional London village. [...]
Northern line: £1bn TfL Tube extension to Battersea and Nine Elms gets the green light November 13, 2014 The extension of the Northern line to Battersea through Nine Elms was given the green light by the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin yesterday. Under the plans, the line will run from Kennington to Battersea through Nine Elms, meaning journeys to the West End and the City will take just under 15 minutes. Two new stations [...]
Is this the end of Tech City’s Silicon Roundabout at Old Street in Shoreditch? TfL plans pedestrian square November 13, 2014 A new radical plan for Old Street roundabout in Shoreditch, the home to many of Tech City’s startups, could transform the area into a pedestrian square. Made famous as “Silicon Roundabout”, Transport for London has unveiled plans to transform it into a pedestrian- and bike-friendly zone as part of £4bn road modernisation plans, effectively demolishing [...]
Not-so-old-street: Roundabout gets revamp November 12, 2014 TRANSPORT for London has produced an image of what a new Old Street roundabout would look like. Designed to improve the area for cyclists and pedestrians, the closure of one arm of the sprawling intersection is proposed, along with a new Tube entrance and segregated cycle lanes. Consultation on the proposal closes in early January [...]
Working for free? Unpaid internships in London cost £926 a month November 12, 2014 Every year thousands of young people toil away in unpaid internships, hoping to enter the increasingly crowded jobs market. They're seen as a necessity in industries such as journalism, graphic design, fashion and even some financial services roles. But for many, they're simply unaffordable, according to a report from the Sutton Trust, which had crunched university data [...]