Big news if you live in the Capital, the iconic black cab is going electric.
The Chinese owner of the London Taxi Company has just opened a new factory in Coventry to start producing pollution-free cabs, with first sales expected by as early as the end of the year.
China's Zhejing Geely rescued LTC from the brink in 2013 and this new plant will spearhead a global sales programme for its new taxi.
The new vehicles are not cheap at prices expected to be at least £50,000 but a raft of grants are expected to make the price more palatable for taxi drivers.
A London grant of £3,000 will be part of an expected £7,500 available for buyers of the new vehicle.
Geely said 5,000 vehicles a year will be produced by 2019 with more than 1,000 jobs, including 200 engineers and 30 apprenticeships to be created at the new factory.
London Taxi Company's new Ansty Park plant opens in Coventry ... great news https://t.co/fKSy7uuGfa
— Dr. Charles Hancock (@HancockCC) 22 March 2017
On the topic of pollution in London, Thames Water has been fined £20mln for pumping nearly 1.5bn litres of untreated sewage into the Capital’s river.
It is the largest fine ever handed down to a water utility, with spills occurring at in 2013 and 2014 at four sewage treatment works: Aylesbury, Didcot, Henly and Little Marlow.
The scale of the problem was such that senior management must have been aware of it, said the presiding judge, while Environement Agency officials said it was among the worst pollution they had witnessed.
A fine that will be passed onto Thames Water customers who will have increased bills. Great. https://t.co/BgY7lfrHos
— Marcus Chown (@marcuschown) 22 March 2017
Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF) was under the cosh as investors fret about the speed of its turnaround and businesses in France.
The Screwfix and B&Q owner reported an 8% increase in adjusted pre-tax profits for the 12 months to 31 January 2017 of £743mln, on adjusted sales of £11.2bn (2016: £10.3bn).
On the surface, that seems like steady progress. Nearly all of that growth came from its UK & Ireland division though, which saw like-for-like sales rise by 6% to £5bn, with Screwfix the star performer.
#KGF Kingfisher turnaround plan on track; but could it sell off French business? https://t.co/mVDOWPth1Z via @proactive_uk
— Tom Howard (@proactivetom) March 22, 2017
Finally, in another supplier row,Tesco has reportedly pulled more than half of its Heineken beer and cider rang, after the brewing giant tried to hike prices following the slide in the pound after Brexit.
Tiger, Amstel, Sol and Kingfisher have all gone from Tesco's stores, teh Times reported, with the number of the brewer's lines the supermarket carries reduced to 22 from 53.
Tesco previously was involved in a public spat with Unilever that saw all jars of Marmite temporarily pulled.