Gatwick Airport in total shutdown as drones investigation hits Christmas travellers December 20, 2018 Passengers flying from Gatwick Airport have been told not to travel to the airport today, with all incoming and outgoing flights currently suspended. At least 20,000 passengers have already been affected, with hundreds of thousands of journeys likely to be disrupted in the coming days. Gatwick's operations chief Chris Woodroofe said those travelling home for Christmas will [...]
London pipped by New York as top destination for business trips December 20, 2018 London is the world's second most popular business destination but is facing stiff competition from Paris. The capital was once top of the rankings, but was overtaken by New York four years ago. This year, 10 per cent more business travellers booked flights to New York than London, flight data from Egencia shows. But London could be [...]
Minicab and Uber drivers to lose exemption from congestion charge December 19, 2018 Minicab and Uber drivers will no longer be exempt from the £11.50 congestion charge from April next year, Sadiq Khan announced today as part of his push to curb pollution levels. TfL expects the changes to reduce the number of private hire vehicles entering the congestion zone each day by up to 8,000, a 44 per cent drop from current levels. [...]
Alibaba-backed dockless bicycle startup Ofo facing bankruptcy December 19, 2018 Chinese bike-sharing startup Ofo has reportedly considered filing for bankruptcy, after coming under "immense" financial pressure resulting from a lack of cash flow. The firm, which operates a yellow dockless bicycle scheme across London and in other cities, has raised more than $2.2bn (£1.7bn) in funding since it was founded in 2014 from the likes of tech giant [...]
DEBATE: Will the new recommendations from the CMA help rebuild trust in the audit sector? December 19, 2018 Will the new recommendations from the CMA help rebuild trust in the audit sector? Michael Izza, chief executive of ICAEW, says YES. The proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), alongside the Kingman Review, are the kind of bold intervention in audit that we have been calling for. Breaking up the larger firms was unlikely [...]
Waterfront London properties take 30 per cent premium, a bargain compared to Paris December 18, 2018 London waterfront homes come with a hefty price tag, but the 30 per cent premium to inland properties still falls well below equivalents in Paris and Sydney. While homeowners with a view of the water can expect to pay a hefty premium in London, they are fetching bargains compared to Paris and Perth, where the [...]
What might happen in 2019? A second referendum, an economic recession, and the political parties will fall apart December 18, 2018 Anyone posing as Mystic Meg in the current environment of political turmoil would either be very brave or a charlatan. In four months’ time, the UK could still be a member of the EU, or will leave in either a chaotic or an orderly manner; with a radically different or the same government; or still [...]
London loses out in cost of living rankings thanks to falling pound in the years after Brexit referendum December 17, 2018 London has become one of the cheapest major European cities for overseas workers since the Brexit referendum, according to global mobility research firm ECA International. As a result, of of the weakened pound since the leave vote, London has slipped from inside the top 50 global cities to 127th place, the company said in its [...]
Focus On Bow: A population boom and the commercial success of nearby Stratford is boosting plans for new homes in E3 December 17, 2018 It may seem like a distant memory now, but the London 2012 Olympic Games promised a lot in the way of legacy. It anointed six east London areas – Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, Barking & Dagenham and Hackney – ‘Growth Boroughs’ and predicted that the money pouring into Stratford would emanate out to [...]
Uber to hire team for Jump electric bikes launch in the UK December 17, 2018 Ride-hailing giant Uber is exploring plans to launch operations of its electric bicycle arm in the UK, entering an already-crowded space from the likes of Chinese startups Ofo and Mobike. Uber bought electric bike startup Jump in April, and has since been trialling the use of its bikes in the US and Germany. It is now [...]
