Transpennine: Sunak threatens to strip train operator of contract following its spat with Aslef on overtime ban January 27, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned train operator Transpennine Express (TPE) it may lose a lucrative government contract, while the firm blamed the Aslef union for its ban on overtime working. The FirstGroup-owned company is caught up in a spat with the government after the PM threatened to pull its contract, because it was offering an [...]
City Pub Group: Rail strikes cost us nearly £1m in lost sales January 24, 2023 The City Pub Group reported a boost in trading over the festive period, and said sales would have been stronger if it weren't for the rail strikes.
Marston’s bucks hospitality trend as historic pub chain reports bumper festive period January 24, 2023 Pub and hotel operator Marston’s has reported bumper sales over the Christmas period as Brits treated a pint as an “affordable treat”. The historic London-listed firm, founded in 1834, said like-for-like sales were up 12.9 per cent on Omicron-affected 2022, for the 16 weeks to 21 January. Marston’s has however experienced difficulties in this time [...]
Glass half-full: Why Fuller’s chief remains optimistic despite strikes leaving a £4m dent in Christmas sales January 23, 2023 Pub chain Fuller’s lost £4m in sales due to the impact of strikes over Christmas and new year, as its chief warned of lower expectations for the full year. Chiswick-based Fuller, Smith and Turner reported in the 43 weeks to January that like-for-like sales were up a fifth on the Covid-impacted previous year – despite [...]
Analysis: Britain’s rail firms on a delayed ride to nationalisation January 20, 2023 As if the rail operators weren’t in enough hot water, with nurses having to get seven buses to work and poor Rishi Sunak forced to hop on a private plane because the trains are so unreliable. Yesterday, they were given a talking to by the rail regulator for fudging the numbers, with the TransPennine Express, [...]
RMT receives new pay offer from train companies in bid to avert more strikes – but will its members accept? January 19, 2023 The RMT rail union has announced it has received a new and improved pay offer from train operators in a bid to avert more strikes. Union bosses said they will consider the deal – which is worth a minimum of nine per cent over two years – and decide whether to put it to their [...]
Settling rail dispute would have been cheaper than strikes, admits minister January 18, 2023 Rail minister Huw Merriman has admitted the government has lost more money due to the rail strikes’ impact than it would have if it had settled the dispute with unions months ago. “It’s actually ended up costing more than it would have if [the dispute] had been settled,” the minister told members of the Commons’ [...]
More strikes: RMT follows in Aslef’s footsteps with rail walkouts in February January 17, 2023 Rail union the RMT has followed in Aslef’s footsteps from Tuesday morning and announced two days of strikes in early February. Train drivers working at 14 companies – including Govia Thameslink and C2C – said they will down tools on 1 and 3 February after rejecting an eight per cent pay increase over two years. [...]
How Gaucho’s boss has turned the once-troubled steakhouse into a success story January 17, 2023 Martin Williams – the man behind M Restaurants – and his partners pulled Gaucho out of administration in 2018. Since then he’s turned the brand into one of the hospitality industry’s shining lights, with profits up and expansion continuing. We ask him how he’s done it. ASK regular restaurant-goers what their biggest bug bear is [...]
All aboard another year of fighting over low-traffic neighbourhoods and e-bikes January 17, 2023 Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and e-scooters will impact how we get around in London - and with transport strikes still making the headlines, it's going to be a rather interesting year, writes Claire Harding