How airports and captive audiences are driving a revenue spike at WH Smith May 31, 2023 WH Smith continued to reap the benefits of resurgent post-pandemic travel demand, with the newsagent improving its expectations for the financial year in a trading update this morning, on the back of a 31 per cent year on year rise in revenues from its airport shops. In the 13 weeks to May 27, the newsagent [...]
Tier to launch new AI tech to boot out unsafe riders and reduce costs May 31, 2023 E-scooter mobility giant Tier has announced it will launch a first of its kind AI technology in the UK, which aims to improve the safety and sustainability of its e-scooters and reduce costs. The system, described as a ‘Parrot’ e-scooter brain, is capable of recognising “anti-social riding behaviours” without requiring the use of complex and [...]
Derby day chaos: All you need to know about this week’s triple-hit train strikes May 30, 2023 Brits are bracing for fresh industrial action on the railways this week, with the RMT and ASLEF unions having announced planned walkouts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – which is the day of three major sporting events. It is the latest action in an ongoing pay dispute between the unions and government, which began in [...]
Toyota chair under pressure as proxy adviser urges shareholders to vote against board reappointment May 29, 2023 Toyota came under pressure over the weekend as proxy advisers urged shareholders to back calls to improve the automaker’s disclosure of climate-related lobbying, and vote against the reappointment of its chair as a director. On Friday, US-based proxy adviser Glass Lewis recommended that Akio Toyoda, who stood down as president and CEO in January and [...]
Boeing eyes up new Saudi deal to offload 150 737 Max jets May 29, 2023 Boeing is eyeing up a major deal to sell 150 of its 737 Max jetliners to the Saudi Arabian airline Riyadh Air, according to reports published on Sunday. According to Bloomberg, the newly-launched startup Riyadh Air is looking to obtain 300 to 400 single-aisle jets from Boeing, but sources say the talks remain complicated and [...]
Half-term havoc as British Airways cancel 175 flights following IT glitch May 26, 2023 Half-term holiday plans for thousands of families have been thrown into disarray after British Airways’ flight cancellations due to an IT failure reached 175. Most of the affected flights were on short-haul routes to and from Heathrow Airport. British Airways said the “technical issue” was resolved on Thursday night, but disruption continued into Friday because of aircraft [...]
China’s EV makers are our biggest rival, says Ford boss May 26, 2023 Ford’s CEO Jim Farley has warned that Chinese manufacturers are the companies’ biggest rival in the EV space, not competitors like Toyota or General Motors (GM). ”I think we see the Chinese as the main competitor, not GM or Toyota,” Farley told the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit, in comments first reported by Reuters this [...]
Ealing and Woolwich among Elizabeth line winners as house prices surge May 26, 2023 Boroughs located along the Elizabeth Line have seen a surge in house prices as the new line cuts City commuter times from areas like Ealing and Woolwich. As London battles a lack of supply, the quick transport links introduced by Crossrail have seen the price of homes in Ealing Broadway rise nine per cent in [...]
Rail cancellations swell as figures reveal 2022-23 worst year on record May 25, 2023 Train passengers in Britain have faced record levels of disruption over the last twelve months, with new figures revealing 2022-23 was the worst year ever for rail cancellations. Passengers have faced record levels of disruption after the past year was the worst on record for train cancellations, figures from the Office for Road and Rail [...]
Analysis: Do Ford and Volkswagen stand a chance in battle for China’s electric market? May 25, 2023 Some of the world’s biggest carmakers have announced big plans to bolster their electric vehicle (EV) segments in China this year. Japanese carmaker Toyota announced major plans earlier this month to accelerate its EV push in China, on the back of a profit boost caused by an ease in the global chip shortage. Volkswagen, which has [...]