Flying high: Former RBS and RSA boss Stephen Hester to be next Easyjet chairman August 23, 2021 City heavyweight Stephen Hester, who led RBS and insurer RSA, has been named the next chairman of budget airline Easyjet. Easyjet this morning named Hester as its director and chair designate. Hester will join the Board as a non-executive director on 1 September and then he will succeed John Barton as the airline’s chair on [...]
Less rush hour traffic means major commuter train services could be cut next year August 21, 2021 Train operator Govia Thameslink are considering reducing services on major commuter lines into London, in anticipation of the end of “big spikes in rush-hour commuting”, according to reports. The train company operates the Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern lines which hundreds of thousands of people commuting into London and other cities use every day. The [...]
Space race between US, China and Japan to bring Mars soil to Earth intensifies August 20, 2021 Space agency scientists in Japan said today they plan to bring soil samples back from the Mars region ahead of the United States and China, which started Mars missions last year, in hopes of finding clues to the planet’s origin and traces of possible life. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or Jaxa, plans to launch [...]
Vertu profits get an upgrade as used car market booms August 20, 2021 Car dealership chain Vertu Motors expects higher profits for the year than previously forecast as the secondhand car market continues to grow, the company said in a statement this morning. The announcement is the second profit upgrade made by the company in the space of a single month. Vertu’s profits for the year are now [...]
Commuting again after pandemic? Never again, say one in ten Londoners August 20, 2021 Many office workers in London are to set to embark on their return to the workplace after the summer. However, many commuters are not too keen to board a train or catch the tube again, mainly due to increased concern over infection control and social distancing on the daily commute. According to a survey conducted [...]
Watch: Elon Musk’s satellites beam internet into Chilean boy’s life August 20, 2021 A school in the small remote fishing hamlet of Sotomo, Chile, is the beneficiary of a pilot internet program run by Starlink, a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Watch the full report.
Thames Water coughs up £11m to compensate 13,8000 businesses for wrong bills August 19, 2021 Following an investigation by regulator Ofwat, Thames Water has agreed to pay more than £11 million to 13,800 businesses for billing them the wrong amounts. The company said it would hand out the cash to non-household customers and water retailers for errors dating back to 2017 after the Ofwat probe. Investigators found data used to [...]
Semiconductor chip shortage puts on the brakes for Volkswagen and Toyota August 19, 2021 A semiconductor supply crunch is forcing world leading car manufacturers Volkswagen and Toyota to slash vehicle production. Toyota, the world’s largest car maker, announced it will cut production by 40 per cent in September. Instead of making 900,000 as planned the manufacturing giant will now produce just 500,000 cars. Likewise, Volkswagen’s parent plant in Wolfsburg [...]
First of its kind: Energy giant Wood secures £430m green transition loan August 19, 2021 London-listed energy and engineering giant Wood has secured a £430m government-backed green transition loan – the first of its kind in the fight against climate change. Firms operating in the UK’s “industrial heartlands”, like Aberdeen-headquartered Wood, will be backed by the government in its bid for net zero emissions by 2050, the government said in [...]
Eurostar ramping up services as London-Europe bookings jump by 98 per cent August 19, 2021 Eurostar has announced it is expanding its timetable due to growing demand for cross-Channel travel. The rail operator will run eight daily return services from 6 September until 1 November. Five trains will run in each direction between London and Paris. Three return services will operate on the London-Brussels route, one of which will be [...]