FTSE 100 falls sharply as Soleimani death rocks stocks January 6, 2020 FTSE 100 stocks fell steeply on the opening of London’s market today as tensions between the US and Iran escalated further following the killing of a top Iranian general. London’s blue-chip index sank one per cent to 7,545.4 points in early trading after the US-sanctioned assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani drove markets lower and [...]
General Election 2019: The rail industry’s Christmas wishlist December 10, 2019 The rail industry is on the verge of the most precipitous change since John Major took it private 28 years ago – whether it likes it or not. On the one hand, the Conservatives are likely to tear apart the system which decides who runs each line – known as franchising – having grown impatient [...]
Abellio boss ‘confident’ review head will not scrap franchise model August 19, 2019 The boss of Abellio has said he is “confident” the rail franchise model will not be scrapped just a day after his firm took over one of the leading contracts in the UK. Dominic Booth, the managing director of Abellio, which officially took over the East Midlands franchise from Stagecoach today, said he thought the [...]
First Group wins bid to replace Virgin on West Coast mainline August 14, 2019 The government announced today that First Trenitalia had been appointed to run the West Coast mainline from December 2019 to 2031. First Group and Italian firm Trenitalia will replace Virgin on the line that runs from London Euston to Glasgow via Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The First-Trenitalia consortium saw off a rival bid from a [...]
Arriva-run Northern Rail franchise could be nationalised October 16, 2019 One of Britain’s biggest rail franchises could be renationalised amid concerns about its financial situation and late-running trains, the transport secretary has said. Grant Shapps said he is considering whether Northern Rail, which is run by German operator Arriva, should be brought under state control. Read more: Arriva seeks £200m from government over East Midlands [...]
Data breach reports soar since GDPR, as firms fear mammoth watchdog fines July 15, 2019 The number of whistleblower reports to the information commissioner over data breaches have jumped 175 per cent since GDPR came in, according to research. People have become more vigilant about the handling of personal data, and more likely to report potential breaches, since the regulations were introduced in May 2018 according to law firm RPC. [...]
UK tech firm Unily secures $68m investment June 17, 2019 Digital workplace platform Unily has secured $68m (£53.9m) growth investment from Silversmith Capital Partners and Farview Equity Partners. Unily, which counts McDonald’s, British Airways and Mars among its clients, intends to use the investment to “capture market share from more established providers”. Read more: Tech jobs in London rise by almost two thirds The British [...]
Flybe’s last flight: How Europe’s biggest regional airline met its demise March 9, 2020 At 8.30pm on Wednesday evening, passengers were still being ushered onto planes bearing the indigo livery of Flybe. Half an hour later, members of the cabin crew on one of its last ever flights, from Manchester to Belfast, were crying, having just lost their jobs. “Staff in tears. This is so grim,” tweeted Holly Hamilton, [...]
Storm Ciara latest: Man dies after tree hits car February 10, 2020 Please update this page manually as we update it with the biggest Storm Ciara news. 3:40pm: 98 per cent of 413,000 homes have power restored UK Power Networks have announced that they have reconnected 98 per cent of the 413,000 homes that were without power due to the impact of Storm Ciara. It added that [...]
FTSE 100 plunges 3.4 per cent as Italy confirms seventh coronavirus death February 24, 2020 The FTSE 100 plunged more than three per cent on Monday as a rapid uptick in coronavirus cases outside China rattled investors and devastated European stocks. London’s blue-chip index fell as much as 3.7 per cent to 7,119 points today, as Italy confirmed a seventh person has died from the coronavirus. The FTSE 250 index [...]