A moratorium on building is certain to choke growth March 16, 2011 IF you are ever tempted to complain that London is too crowded, just reflect that it would be much worse if it were the opposite – deserted. One of the best indicators of how well a city is doing is its population. People move to thriving cities, and leave struggling ones. So many people have [...]
First could axe Western route March 13, 2011 Transport operator FirstGroup could hand back its First Great Western rail contract three years early in a bid to save £800m. The company, whose rail unit operates the £1.1bn franchise which runs into central London from Wales and the west of England, is looking at activating a break clause in the contract allowing it to [...]
City property vital to London’s world standing March 13, 2011 LAST week I joined 15,000 leading practitioners from across the property industry at MIPIM, the international property conference hosted in Cannes every year. Contrary to what you may have read, I can assure you it is not all sun, champagne and parties on yachts. Throughout the week, I spoke publicly about the challenges facing the [...]
FirstGroup on track for full year earnings March 11, 2011 Transport operator FirstGroup said it was on course to achieve overall earnings and cash targets for the year, as strength at its UK rail division offset continued margin weakness at its student business. “We are encouraged by improving trends in UK rail and Greyhound and a continued steady performance in our UK bus and transit [...]
Vive la difference March 8, 2011 DRIVING the Peugeot iOn is certainly unusual. Until now the only electric cars I have driven have been the excellent Tesla sports car that looks like a Lotus Elise, and the considerably less good G-Wiz which looks like Noddy built it on his weekends from a kit. These cars exist at opposite ends of the [...]
Activist investors eye bumper 2011 as market improves March 6, 2011 THIS year has started well for activist investors, those outspoken stake-builders that push boards to buck up their strategy. 2011 has kicked off with a spate of high profile public exchanges between funds and their targets. Activists claimed their first major scalp last month when Sherborne Investors ousted City veteran Nick MacAndrew from the chair [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD March 6, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Ireland’s biggest bookmaker Paddy Power will announce its end of year results on Monday. ● So will the financial spread betting and CFD provider IG Group. Both will be betting on good results. ● On Tuesday, Weir Group, founded in 1981 by descendants of Robert Burns, will hope to have engineered strong [...]
Green light given to Hitachi for £4.5bn train fleet order March 2, 2011 THE GREEN light has been given for a fleet of new high-speed trains to be built to serve routes to London. The government yesterday said it would press ahead with plans to replace Britain’s ageing InterCity fleet with trains built by Japanese conglomerate Hitachi. It has placed a £4.5bn order for 500 carriages with the [...]
London’s success means the government is ignoring it March 2, 2011 IS London too successful for its own good?” What a thought! Like the Mayor, I have always believed it possible to have your cake and eat it. A report out last week from Citigroup proclaimed an ever more successful future for London – predicting that its economy would grow more than any other city in [...]
New high speed train line hit by strong opposition February 28, 2011 THE government yesterday launched its consultation into the proposed high speed rail link between London and Birmingham, amid a wave of complaints. The new line, dubbed HS2, will cost an estimated £32bn – a bill described as “utterly indefensible” by the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA). “There are more affordable ways of getting the capacity needed,” said [...]