Toyota invests in Uber to launch ride-sharing partnership May 24, 2016 Car giant Toyota is set to invest in taxi app Uber to launch a ride-sharing venture. The Japanese carmaker will offer new buyers leasing options wherein they can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers. Terms of the partnership haven’t been revealed. However, Toyota said that [...]
We spoke too soon: Now maintenance and engineering workers are striking over Night Tube May 24, 2016 Thought a deal had finally been reached to launch Night Tube? Think again: the RMT union has confirmed that there's going to be a strike over the new 24-hour service – by maintenance and engineering workers. The much-maligned service was finally given a launch date of 19 August yesterday following months of delays while drivers' unions [...]
RHS Chelsea Flower Show attracts Britain’s biggest business bigwigs including Rupert Murdoch and Richard Desmond May 24, 2016 Some of Britain’s most famous business names flocked to the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show on Monday. The annual event, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society, was attended by the former chief executive of J Sainsbury Justin King, Indian steel czar Lakshmi Mittal, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his new wife Jerry Hall, and owner of [...]
Now you can live on the site where Star Wars, ET and Superman were produced as Denham Film Studios is converted into homes May 23, 2016 Weston Homes has bought the legendary Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, and is transforming the studio once used by Hollywood film directors into a £120m Art Deco residential address. Directors including Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg have used the site for crafting their blockbusters – and soon you could live there. The "mini-Beverly Hills" will provide 224 converted [...]
Chairman of BIS select committee unimpressed by evidence given on BHS so far May 23, 2016 As the inquiry into the collapse of BHS continues today, chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee has said he is "not impressed" by the people who have given evidence so far. Iain Wright, Labour chair of the committee looking into the sale and acquisition of BHS, told BBC 5live's Wake up to [...]
London companies lost £16bn in 2015 due to risks within their control – KPMG Enterprise May 23, 2016 Businesses in London lost around £16bn last year due to risks within their control, according to new research out today. Firms suffered particularly from an over-reliance on a small number of suppliers and customers, which left them vulnerable to "costly fractures in their supply chain and a loss of vital revenues", according to KPMG Enterprise. [...]
Barclays tightens buy-to-let properties lending rules May 22, 2016 Barclays is to tighten rules on lending for buy-to-let properties, increasing minimum rental covers. The decision to tighten lending criteria means that rental payment must exceed mortgage costs by a factor of 145 per cent, up from 135 per cent. The affordability rate will also be reduced from 5.79 per cent to 5.50 per cent. The [...]
Dog lovers, look away now: Cat pictures may soon be coming to a Tube near you May 20, 2016 Hot on the tail of the city's emerging cat café culture, Londoners may soon be able to see cats during their daily commute. A cuddly Kickstarter fund aims to replace all the ads at a Tube station with pictures of cats, and it is coming within a whisker of its target. Although it was initially dismissed [...]
The City is irresistible for scores of firms – and we’ll keep doing business regardless of Brexit May 20, 2016 We hear most days how the City will be ruined if Britain votes for Brexit. It is said that there will be flight of capital to Frankfurt, trade will plummet, and international businesses will lose faith in London’s financial predominance. In the last week, Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced that, in the Bank’s view, a [...]
These are the 10 most and least expensive towns in Britain May 20, 2016 Kensington and Chelsea has been named Britain's most expensive neighbourhood, with an average price of £11,321 per square metre. Despite prices dropping one per cent in the last year, the borough’s per square metre average is still five times higher than the national average of £2,216, according to a report by Halifax. Other London areas [...]