The City is poised to benefit from economic development in Latin America October 21, 2012 SOON after taking over as lord mayor last November, I had the honour of hosting the President of Colombia at Mansion House. In his thoughtful lecture, Juan Manuel Santos outlined the striking progress that his country, and Latin America more generally, has made in recent years – across governance, security and economic management. He also [...]
Go-Ahead’s bus plan impresses as revenues rise October 18, 2012 SHARES in transport group Go-Ahead leapt 5.8 per cent yesterday as it reported strong trading and ambitious growth plans for its UK bus business. The firm told investors that it aims to organically grow operating profits in buses to £100m over the next three years, up from the £70m it generated this year. Go-Ahead also [...]
As Gatwick looks to build a second runway, does expansion make good business sense? October 17, 2012 YES Corin Taylor London needs more aviation capacity without a doubt. And a second runway at Gatwick would help to address that crunch, though it would not be enough to solve the shortage on its own. Gatwick is growing healthily again, and should be able to attract enough new passengers to justify a new runway. [...]
Minister to pick an interim West Coast operator October 14, 2012 TRANSPORT secretary Patrick McLoughlin will today reveal who will run the West Coast Main Line while the government gets to the bottom of the failed franchise competition. McLoughlin is due in front of parliament this afternoon to outline the plans for the route once Virgin Trains’ current franchising agreement ends on 9 December. Both Virgin [...]
London back on top as best financial city October 11, 2012 LONDON has won back its crown as the best financial city on earth after climbing to the peak of a global ranking of the best places to do business, a heavyweight study showed yesterday. The capital climbed four spots from last year to claim joint first position with New York in a ranking of 27 [...]
McLoughlin is upbeat on HS2 October 9, 2012 TRANSPORT secretary Patrick McLoughlin insisted yesterday that the failure of the West Coast franchise competition will not scupper the chances of the High Speed 2 route linking London to the north. He told an event at the Conservative conference that he would not review the case for HS2 in light of the franchise fiasco. McLoughlin [...]
Fish Market may look a bit like an aquarium but the food is ace October 8, 2012 RESTAURANT FISH MARKET Old Bengal Warehouse, New Street, EC2 Tel: 020 3503 0790 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £30 The Fish Market is one of the four new creations by restaurant group D&D to have found a home in the newly renovated Old Bengal Warehouse. Alongside the fish restaurant [...]
Government caps planned rail fare rise October 7, 2012 COMMUTERS will be hit by smaller than expected fare rises in January, after the Department for Transport yesterday lowered the planned price hikes to an average of 4.2 per cent. The DfT cut the planned increases to one per cent above the retail price index (RPI) rate of inflation for the next two years, down [...]
Wincanton to run Morrisons’ M Local centre October 7, 2012 WINCANTON, the logistics company, has won a multi-million pound contract to run Morrisons’ new distribution centre in West London as the grocer prepares to roll-out 20 convenience stores across the capital by year-end. Wincanton said the five-year contract will see it managing both the 100,000 square feet warehouse, opening in Feltham next year, and the [...]
PM is shunted off track by Branson win October 3, 2012 THE COALITION’S rail policies have been left in disarray by the collapse of the West Coast handover, after “terrible mistakes” in the bidding process were uncovered. Department for Transport officials met with erstwhile winning bidder FirstGroup and current operator Virgin Trains yesterday to make peace and ensure the intercity rail route continues to run after [...]