Strike threat as tube staff are balloted July 7, 2009 THOUSANDS of London commuters face further disruption this summer, as 600 staff at London Underground (LU) prepare to be balloted on industrial action, after union leaders rejected a final pay offer. Unite union said LU’s offer of 1.5 per cent in the first year and retail prices index (RPI) plus 0.5 per cent in the [...]
New property group to float July 6, 2009 Paul Pedley, the former chief executive of Redrow, yesterday announced plans to raise £50m to buy new-build flats in London from distressed developers. The new investment company, London Residential Opportunities, aims to be listed on the London Stock Exchange in September. Steven Norris, the former Tory transport minister, will sit on the board of Callidus [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 6, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SUN VALLEY SET TO CONSIDER PAID CONTENTA debate over paid content that has riven the newspaper business and spread across the rest of the media sector is expected to frame discussions at the annual confab of media and technology power brokers and entrepreneurs in Sun Valley this week. The US recession has forced [...]
7/7 MEMORIAL UNVEILED July 6, 2009 PRINCE Charles will today officially unveil the Hyde Park monument to the victims of the 7/7 bombings of four years ago. The £1m memorial consists of 52 three-metre tall stainless steel pillars, in memory of each of the victims who died when terrorists detonated four explosive devices on public transport in London. A plaque naming [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 5, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphPRU ENSURES CHANGES TO CAZENOVE RESEARCHJP Morgan Cazenove has rewritten a piece of research about Prudential that initially made a string of adverse comments about the insurer’s accounting procedures. The research note is understood to have made disparaging remarks about reporting decisions taken by Tidjane Thiam, set to take over as chief [...]
Nat Exp east coast to be nationalised July 1, 2009 THE loss-making east coast rail line is set to be renationalised after National Express, which currently operates the franchise, failed to renegotiate its funding contract with the Department for Transport (DfT). National Express currently runs services on the line between London and Edinburgh. But the firm is walking away from the line after it failed [...]
FirstGroup’s bid rejected June 29, 2009 BUS and rail operator National Express has rejected a bid approach from larger rival FirstGroup to create a global giant ferrying millions of American school children and British commuters each day. Britain’s FirstGroup, which operates Greyhound buses in the US and ranks itself as the world’s leading transport company moving more than 2.5bn passengers a [...]
How London City Airport’s veteran boss is keeping his sights set high June 28, 2009 Whenever you meet Richard Gooding, London City Airport’s relaxed-looking chief executive, you can’t help feeling he has seen it all before – and after clocking up 42 years in the airline business, he probably has. Aged just 18, Gooding left rural Suffolk to work as an apprentice for British European Airways – which later became [...]
OTHER HOT SUMMER MOROCCO IDEAS June 28, 2009 VINEYARD TRIPMorocco is an Islamic country, but away from the major northern cities it is fairly relaxed about most things, wine included. In the hills of Meknes in northern Morocco there are acres upon acres of vineyards, and 35m bottles of wine are produced a year. Wine-lovers can now take a four-day tour, which includes [...]
Regeneration is taking off in the Olympic quarters June 25, 2009 STRATFORD has long been one of those London areas that is supposedly on the verge of gentrification. The coming of the DLR, then the Jubilee Line, were meant to turn it into an up-and-coming area attractive to thrusting young professionals. It never quite happened. But last week, two things took place which mean that Stratford [...]