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 [...]
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 [...]