FirstGroup buys 955 new buses March 29, 2011 FirstGroup, the UK’s largest bus and rail operator, yesterday said it was ordering £160m of new vehicles over the next two years. The order for 955 vehicles will include 200 buses earmarked to transport people to and from the London 2012 Olympic Games. FirstGroup said 40 hybrid buses, part funded by the government’s Green Bus [...]
TfL reveals details of £7.6bn savings March 28, 2011 TRANSPORT For London (TfL) has promised to make £7.6bn of savings between now and 2018 – well above the £5bn target announced in October’s government spending review. The bus and trains operator said most of the sum will come from outsourcing changes, IT cutbacks and an overhaul of the company structure to be led by [...]
Refresh, revive and get fit at a Swiss mountain retreat March 27, 2011 WHETHER it’s the ski season or the summer holidays, the Swiss Alps are crawling with tourists. If people aren’t whizzing down a snow-covered hillside in the winter, come summer they’re resolutely trudging up a well-marked, well-trodden path. But head to these same Alpine villages only a week or two out of season and you’ll have [...]
Wi-fi to be installed at tube stations by Olympics March 25, 2011 Commuters will be able to check emails on the Tube by the start of the London Olympics. Transport for London (TFL) said a successful trial at Charing Cross meant wi-fi coverage would eventually be installed on the whole Underground network. Telecoms companies will now bid to set up the network with 120 stations to be [...]
No prams allowed: where singles rule March 24, 2011 ACCORDING to 2009 statistics from the Office of National Statistics General Household Survey, the number of single women has more than doubled over the past three decades. Singleness is on the rise and London is increasingly being divided into two camps: buzzy, occasionally gritty singleton hotspots stuffed to the rafters with bars – and family [...]
At a glance: All the crucial points from Osborne’s Budget for Growth March 23, 2011 THE ECONOMY/PUBLIC FINANCES The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised its growth forecast for the economy, blaming higher-than-expected inflation as a result of recent global commodity price shocks and the weather-affected final quarter of 2010. GDP growth has been revised down to 1.7 per cent in 2011. Growth is expected to peak at 2.9 [...]
WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? March 23, 2011 CATHERINE GANNON, 48 MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CITY LAW FIRM GANNONS LAW LLP Catherine is single with two children, earns a gross income of over £100,000 a year and pays a mortgage on her family home. She has a share portfolio and also has mortgages on various investment properties. She does not drink or smoke. She [...]
Paper giant to list in London March 22, 2011 INDIA’S biggest paper producer, Bilt Paper, is to list on the London Stock Exchange to raise $330m (£203m) to fund growth, it said yesterday. Bilt will use the net proceeds of the issue to finance $170m of capital expansion, including bigger wood pulp mills and paper production facilities. The rest will be used to pay [...]
G4S wins £100m contract to provide security for Olympicsa March 21, 2011 SECURITY services firm G4S said it had signed a contract, estimated to be worth £100m, to be the official security services provider for the London 2012 Olympic Games. G4S, which provides services ranging from cash transportation and facilities management to security and protection, said it will recruit, train and manage the 10,000 guards needed for [...]
Nuclear risk threatens supply chain March 20, 2011 With nuclear uncertainty hanging over Japan, supply chains reliant upon technological components made there have been severely disrupted. Japanese exporters have suffered, while companies reliant upon the country are weighing up their exposure and searching out alternative suppliers. These are uncertain times for technology companies across the world. Sony, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and many other Japanese [...]