Orchard Street snaps up £55m building in Soho’s filmland December 3, 2018 Property investment firm Orchard Street has snapped up a £55m Soho building home to a British film production company. The office space in the property at 141 Wardour Street is fully let to Moving Picture Company, while retail space on the ground and basement floors is home to Princi, an Italian restaurant and bakery part-owned [...]
Crossrail and HS2 chair Sir Terry Morgan faces sack after costs spiral December 1, 2018 The chair of the Crossrail and HS2 infrastructure projects reportedly faces the sack over fears the rail link between London and Birmingham could exceed its £56bn budget by a large margin. Sir Terry Morgan has only been chair of HS2 for four months but could now be fired within weeks after his poor performance was [...]
Worst yet to come with Crossrail delay as TfL faces £400m 2021 revenue shortfall, warns Moody’s November 28, 2018 The delay to the launch of Crossrail will hit Transport for London (TfL) with a £400m funding shortfall in 2021, financial services giant Moody's has found. The £15.4bn Elizabeth Line was supposed to open this December but has been delayed until autumn next year because of issues around signalling testing. Moody's found that while TfL will manage [...]
Sadiq Khan faces fresh scrutiny over Crossrail delay after July dossier emerges November 25, 2018 London mayor Sadiq Khan is facing fresh questions over what he knew about the delay to Crossrail following the emergence of a dossier from July that indicated the £15.4bn project would not open on time. Khan has repeatedly said that he was only informed of the delay two days before it was made public on 31 August, [...]
Watchdog announces investigation into Crossrail delay November 23, 2018 The National Audit Office (NAO) is set to investigate Crossrail after it was revealed that London’s high profile transport project will be delayed by almost a year, amid rising costs. “Our investigation will examine the causes of the cost increases and schedule delays, the terms of the additional funding, and the governance and oversight of [...]
Sadiq Khan raises ‘serious concerns’ over Crossrail’s transparency and governance in letter to spending watchdog November 21, 2018 London mayor Sadiq Khan has said he has "serious concerns" about the "transparency and effectiveness of Crossrail's governance" following the fallout from the delay to the £15.4bn project. In a letter to the National Audit Office (NAO), seen by Morning Wire, Khan said that while joint sponsors Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT) [...]
London City Airport appoints former Crossrail boss Rob Holden as new chairman November 19, 2018 London City Airport has chosen former Crossrail boss Rob Holden as its new chair following the departure of Terry Morgan for HS2. Holden, who has held senior positions on major projects such as HS1, Eurostar and as the former chief executive of Crossrail, will take up his post immediately to oversee the airport's £500m expansion programme. London's most [...]
TfL bosses stopped claiming expenses during the summer as the Elizabeth Line hit the rocks November 15, 2018 Transport for London (TfL) bosses did not claim any expenses over the summer while it was embroiled in troubles regarding the £15.4bn Elizabeth Line. From July to September, TfL bosses claimed no expenses for work-related activities such as travel costs, dinners and work mobile phones for the first time since 2013, the first year for which data is available. In 2013, [...]
New Crossrail boss to be paid £45,000 more than predecessor Simon Wright amid ongoing project troubles November 14, 2018 Incoming Crossrail boss Mark Wild is set to earn £415,000 – a £45,000 increase on the earnings of his predecessor, Simon Wright. Wild, the current managing director of the London Underground, will retain his Transport for London (TfL) salary of £285,000 on top a non-consolidated allowance of £130,000 for his role as Crossrail CEO. He [...]
TfL to lose £200m from Crossrail delay next year November 14, 2018 The delay to Crossrail will cost Transport for London (TfL) nearly £200m in lost passenger fares and advertising revenue next year, the London Assembly has found. Cash-strapped TfL, which is facing a £1bn operational deficit this year, was relying on the £15.4bn Elizabeth Line to shore up its balance sheet. After months of assurances, the project [...]