Screenshot: Who will win the summer TV ratings war? July 2, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Rob Beckett’s Wembley wisdom **Who will win the summer TV ratings war? **Kantar’s boardroom carousel Media Moment of the Week: Rob Beckett’s Wembley wisdom We all had a great time on Tuesday, didn’t we, but arguably no one had a better time than Rob Beckett. Fortunately, the comedian [...]
Ride-hailing firms have ‘moral imperative’ to give drivers’ workers rights, says Heidi Alexander July 2, 2021 London’s deputy mayor for transport has said that ride-hailing firms have a “moral imperative” to offer their drivers basic workers’ rights. Speaking to City A.M., Heidi Alexander said that City Hall would like to see minicab operators like Bolt and Ola adapt their business models to embrace the Supreme Court’s historic judgement on Uber. Her [...]
TfL under fire over ‘hidden subsidies’ for Uber Thames Clipper services June 30, 2021 Transport for London (TfL) is tonight under pressure after a complaint was lodged with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over “hidden subsidies” for the Uber Thames Clipper ferry service. Romford MP Andrew Rosindell and London Assembly Member Keith Prince have written to the CMA saying that the firm is being given “an unfair and [...]
Store to door: Dixons Carphone in talks with Uber to ferry tech to homes June 30, 2021 Dixons Carphone, the company behind Currys PC World, has begun talks with Uber to speed up its delivery offering, which was recently slimmed down from 24 hours to an hour. The deal would see Uber drivers deliver the company’s products as it looks to expand its home delivery services, a market not yet ventured by [...]
Uber tells its staff: Work where you want, half the time June 30, 2021 Sources say Uber will let employees work half their hours from wherever they want as part of a revamped return-to-office strategy. Watch the full report.
Deliveroo founder and Amazon gain £70m shares windfall after today’s court ruling June 24, 2021 Shares in Deliveroo shot up 8.5 per cent today after Britain’s Court of Appeal ruled that its riders were self-employed, dismissing an appeal by the IWGB union against past judgements on their status. The boss of Deliveroo saw his fortune balloon by nearly £25m after the company’s riders were dealt a blow in their fight [...]
Bolt drivers strike over workers rights snub June 22, 2021 Drivers for ride-hailing app Bolt have this morning begun a 24-hour strike against the firm, saying that has failed to respect their rights as workers in line with the Supreme Court’s historic Uber judgement in February. The App Drivers & Couriers Union (ACDU), which called the strike, said that it believed Bolt drivers worked under [...]
There are staycations – and then there’s the Savoy June 21, 2021 Tribal rivalries run strong in London, as we all know. Proper south Londoners don’t go north of the river unless under duress; east Londoners think west London is just the bit you have to fight through to get to Heathrow. But if lockdown has taught us one thing, it’s that no matter how buzzing, lively [...]
Addison Lee becomes London’s largest taxi firm with ComCab deal June 16, 2021 Addison Lee has inked a deal to acquire black cab operator ComCab, creating the capital’s largest private hire and taxi firm. Under the terms of the deal, Addison Lee will purchase the London operations of ComCab, City Fleet Networks and Flightlink International from the ComfortDelGro Corporation. The combined company will have over 7,000 vehicles, making [...]
The Analyst: Ian Whittaker on the future of media June 15, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his first monthly column for City A.M. After twenty years covering media, technology, and everything else in between, it’s always tempting to look back and marvel [...]