Britishvolt chooses Welsh site for UK’s first battery ‘gigafactory’ July 17, 2020 Battery firm Britishvolt has chosen a site in Wales for the development of the UK’s battery manufacturing “gigafactory”, it was announced today. In a statement, the start-up said it had signed an MoU with the Welsh government to work on plans for the 30 gigawatt facility at Bro Tathan in south Wales. The company said [...]
British Airways retires entire fleet of Boeing 747 jumbo jets July 17, 2020 British Airways marked the end of an era today as the world’s largest operator of Boeing 747s said it will retire its entire fleet of jumbo jets with immediate effect due to the coronavirus pandemic. Global travel bans imposed to stem the spread of the virus has put the future of many airline companies in [...]
BMW inks €2bn battery deal with Sweden’s Northvolt July 16, 2020 Auto giant BMW has signed a €2bn(£1.8bn) deal with Swedish energy firm Northvolt to provide battery cells to power its electric vehicles. The Scandinavian company, which was founded by two former Tesla executives, will make the cells using only renewable energy at a new facility in the north of Sweden. In a statement, BMW said [...]
Biffa eyes ‘steady recovery’ as revenues start to come back July 16, 2020 Waste management firm Biffa said it was seeing a “steady recovery” in demand for its services, with revenues last month recovering to 83 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels. In a trading update, the FTSE 250 firm said that its business had performed “slightly” better than expected over the last three months. However, it warned that [...]
Kapten and Free Now launch joint service in bid to topple Uber July 16, 2020 Black cab app Free Now and Kapten have today launched their newly combined service in a bid to topple Uber as the country’s biggest ride-hailing company. The new service, which will be available through a new app under the Free Now brand, will give users access to 35,000 drivers in London alone. It is the [...]
Vauxhall to restart Ellesmere Port production on 17 August July 15, 2020 Vauxhall has this afternoon announced that production will restart at its plant at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire on 17 August. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the PSA-owned firm shuttered the facility, where it builds the Astra model, on 17 March. The announcement came despite reports that the plant would not open again until September at [...]
Tube cleaners accidentally scrub out Banksy coronavirus artwork July 15, 2020 Artwork worth potentially hundreds of thousands pounds by street artist Banksy was removed from a London Tube carriage accidentally, after cleaners had no idea about the value of the works. Transport for London (TfL) removed the artwork, after the world-renowned artist painted a series of his trademark rats posing with face masks, due to TfL’s [...]
Carr’s reinstates dividend as farming firm avoids coronavirus damage July 15, 2020 Agriculture firm Carr’s Group today confirmed that it would pay shareholders a single combined dividend in October, saying the coronavirus pandemic had had “no material financial impact” on business. In an update, the London-listed company said that trading remained in line with expectations for the whole year. In April, the company, which makes agricultural equipment [...]
German court bans Tesla ads over self-driving claims July 14, 2020 Germany has banned Tesla from repeating what a court says are misleading statements relating to its driver assistance systems and autonomous driving. The case was brought by Germany’s Wettbewerbszentrale, an industry sponsored body tasked with policing anti-competitive practices. Tesla can appeal the Munich court’s ruling. The court agreed with the industry body and banned Tesla [...]
Virgin Atlantic secures £1.2bn rescue deal after months of turbulence July 14, 2020 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has secured a £1.2bn rescue deal after nearly four months of uncertainty over its future. The deal, which Sky News reported could be unveiled this afternoon, will save thousands of jobs at the embattled carrier. In a statement, chief executive Shai Weiss hailed the deal, saying that the “last six [...]