Summer youth employment

London's delay-hit Crossrail scheme is now expected to finally open next summer, the head of the troubled multi-billion pound project has said. The budget-busting east-west line across the capital has faced repeated hold-ups since missing the original target of December 2018. Earlier this week, the outgoing commissioner of Transport for London said it was expected to open in autumn 2021. But on Friday, Crossrail confirmed it planned to open the central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood in summer 2021. It is hoped that the entire 73-mile route, from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east, would be in operation by mid-2022. Advertisement Mark Wild, chief executive at Crossrail Ltd, said: "We have a comprehensive plan to complete the Elizabeth Line and the milestones we must hit during 2020, including the testing of the signalling and train systems and safety assurance, but there are no shortcuts to delivery … [Read more...] about Crossrail boss says trains will run through central London next summer

SONY is reportedly plotting to hand a lifeline to gamers who've already maxed out the storage on their PlayStation 5s. According to Bloomberg , the Japanese tech titan will open up its new console to internal memory upgrades in the coming months. The PS5's 825GB memory drive leaves players with 667GB of usable space on which to store games and other files – and that fills up pretty fast. Gamers on social media have reported that their drives are maxed out after downloading just a handful of marquee titles. That could all be about to change, according to Bloomberg. The site reported on Friday that a firmware update released by Sony this summer will add support for additional internal drives. That will allow gamers to drastically expand their storage, releasing the bottleneck that stops them from having too many games on the go. The update will also unlock higher cooling-fan speeds to ensure the console doesn’t overheat, people close to the matter said. Unlike … [Read more...] about Sony to allow PS5 storage upgrades ‘this summer’ after gamers max out memory

BENIDORM is relaunching their beach "squares" which tourists have to reserve, despite them causing long queues last summer. The scheme was originally launched to allow social distancing at the popular beaches, and is restarting from March 1. Mayor Toni Pérez explained it was an "an extension to the organisation and operation model that we implemented in June 2020 under the ‘Benidorm Beach Safety’ project." While the initial plans will only be in place from March 1 to April 30, due to the busy period with two local holidays, it is likely to be introduced again during the peak season when Brits descend to the beaches. The proposal includes "the subdivision of the sandy areas, with spaces of 16 square metres (4×4 metres) to ensure physical distancing and personal observance of these measures," which is the same as last year's initiative . Sunloungers and umbrella rental services will also be suspended. Mr Pérez said: "The implementation of all these services is one … [Read more...] about Benidorm to restart beach ‘squares’ which tourists have to reserve – despite hour long queues last summer

A so-called "blank cheque" company set up by a group of financiers is weighing a merger with Lombard International, one of the largest UK-based wealth management groups. Sky News has learnt that Kingswood Acquisition Corp, which listed in New York late last year, is among a number of suitors expected to table bids for Lombard in the coming days. If successful, Kingswood's merger with Lombard would be among the first examples of a UK-based financial services business listing in the US via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). City sources said that Apollo Global Management was among the other likely bidders for Lombard, which has been owned by Blackstone since 2014. Analysts have suggested that the wealth manager, which had more than €47bn in assets under administration last June, could fetch around €700m. Advertisement One source said Blackstone was expected to proceed towards signing a formal deal later in the spring, with other bidders also … [Read more...] about Kingswood SPAC and Apollo among suitors for Blackstone’s Lombard

A cannabis venture, which counts David Beckham among its investors, has seen its share price rise more than four-fold during its London stock market debut. Cellular Goods, which wants to sell skincare and topical creams using biosynthetic cannabinoids, saw shares climb from their offer price of 5p to above 20p when the opening price was declared on Friday. The flotation, which was 13-times oversubscribed, was aimed at raising £13m for development work and expansion after City rules were changed last year to allow cannabis-linked listings for medicinal ventures. Sky News revealed earlier this month that Cellular would be the first company of its kind to take advantage of the relaxation of the criteria through the Initial Public Offering (IPO). The success of the launch means Beckham's holding has surged in value as a result. Advertisement The former Manchester United and England footballer's DB Ventures vehicle had a 5% stake in advance of the … [Read more...] about David Beckham-backed cannabis venture scores dizzy high on market debut