Why I’m on a mission to open up London’s iconic skyscrapers to the public July 24, 2014 This is an exciting time for Londoners; we live in one of the world’s great cities, and one that is changing more rapidly than at any time in its history. This change is evident all around us, as new places and spaces appear, new buildings replace old, and London’s parameters are re-defined. I launched Open [...]
Fresh contracts worth £1.3bn boost Capita’s first-half revenues July 23, 2014 A STREAM of major contract wins, including a £145m deal with Transport for London, helped outsourcing firm Capita’s profit to soar in the first half of the year. The FTSE 100-listed firm said yesterday that it secured £1.3bn in new contracts over the period, including a 10-year £400m agreement to support the management of the [...]
Capita’s bid pipeline swells to record £5.7bn as private sector strengthens July 23, 2014 Outsourcing company Capita has announced a total of £1.3bn of major contract wins in the first half of this year, as its major contract win rate has exceeded 66 per cent. Chief executive Andy Parker says that the firm's financial results have been "good", describing the start to the year as "an excellent sales period" [...]
TfL commissioner and Crossrail chief among top London bureaucrats set for pay probe July 22, 2014 Top bosses tasked with running London could be facing tough questions over their pay today, as a committee of politicians prepares to investigate excessive salaries. Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the Greater London Authority oversight committee, is calling on Mayor Boris Johnson to curb the amount top bosses are paid, after it emerged that [...]
London’s King of Mining Ian Hannam forced to pay £450K fine July 22, 2014 City heavyweight Ian Hannam must pay his £450,000 fine for insider dealing by 7 August, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ruled yesterday. Former JP Morgan rainmaker’s fall from grace sent shockwaves through the square mile when he was accused of wrongly disclosing confidential information to Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil minister, relating to client oil firm Heritage in 2008. [...]
EU could impose new hard-hitting sanctions on Russia by Thursday July 22, 2014 European foreign ministers failed to agree on fresh hard-hitting measures aimed at the Russian economy today, however new sanctions including capital restrictions could be announced by Thursday if Moscow does not cooperate on the MH17 crash investigation. Under growing pressure from the US, which says plane was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian [...]
Sky swoops for majority stake in Bake Off firm July 21, 2014 BROADCASTING group Sky has taken a 70 per cent stake in independent production company Love Productions, the firm behind shows such as The Great British Bake Off. Love was founded in 2004 by Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie, and last year its Great British Bake Off became BBC Two’s most-watched programme in a decade, with [...]
HS2 to base construction HQ in Birmingham July 21, 2014 The construction headquarters of the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line will be based in Birmingham it was announced yesterday, with a number of jobs to be moved from London. The new HQ is due to open in phases starting from 2015 and will employ around 1,500 staff. Ben Ruse, lead spokesman at [...]
Crossrail to be run by Hong Kong Metro operator MTR beating British rail firms to £1.4bn contract July 18, 2014 Hong Kong transport company MTR has been awarded the lucrative contract to run London’s new Crossrail train service by Transport for London. MTR already runs London Overground in a partnership with British firm Arriva, which it triumphed over in the bidding. Keolis with partner Go Ahead and National Express were also in the running. The [...]
Maggie’s cancer centre has green light at St Barts July 17, 2014 Plans to build a new cancer care centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital were passed by the City of London Planning and Transportation Committee yesterday, having received support from City figures such as Sam Laidlaw of Centrica and HSBC’s Stuart Gullliver, with backing from City A.M. Building of the centre, designed by architect Steven Holl and [...]