London 2012: bus workers threaten Olympics strike - Daily Telegraph
At least 800,000 extra passengers are predicted to use London's buses during the Olympics, said Unite.
Peter Kavanagh, regional officer for the union, said: "There are only seven weeks until the Olympics and the whole world is watching London.
"It's a disgrace that London's mayor, Boris Johnson, and the bus companies have allowed this dispute to get this far.
"Our members are only asking for an extra £17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics.
"Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out.
"We have given Transport for London and the bus operators almost a year to resolve this issue.
"Every single London transport worker in London will receive a reward to recognise their major contribution to this historic occasion except for London's bus workers.
"It is time for TfL and the bus companies to consider this landslide vote in favour of strike action and resolve this dispute.
"This dispute could be brought to an end now if the bus companies and TfL have the will to provide the relatively small amount of money compared to the billions being spent on the Games."
Transport for London (TfL) said the union was demanding a £500 "bonus" for each of the 24,000 bus drivers in London for working during the London 2012 Games.
TfL maintains bus drivers are employed by private companies and that their pay and conditions are a matter for those private companies.
Leon Daniels, TfL's managing director of surface transport, said: "I am not surprised that 70% of London's bus drivers did not vote for strike action.
"That is because about 70% of London's local bus services are not affected by the Olympic Games.
"The whole country is really entering into the spirit of the Games and the overwhelming responsible majority are pulling out all the stops to make it a huge success.
"Only Unite appears to want to exploit it by adding a further multi-million pound burden to the hard-pressed farepayers and taxpayers of London.
"We are really disappointed that the Unite leadership is encouraging its members to take this unnecessary strike action.
"Unite has already negotiated binding deals for pay and conditions with each of the London bus companies for this year and those companies are keeping their end of the deal.
"Attempting to tear up those agreements and get a new one with less than 50 days to go before the Games is completely reprehensible and out-of-step with every other provider of services in this city this summer."
London 28 Widnes 24 - The Sun
Kaufusi rumbled over as the hooter sounded at the Stoop and Powell said: “That is the type of win that galvanises you as a group — and I really hope this builds the chemistry of the squad.
“For us to get two late scores shows our resolve and it is great to have something positive rather than negative to focus on.”
Kaufusi bailed out a London side who looked on course for an eighth straight defeat after try doubles from Widnes’ Cameron Phelps and Frank Winterstein.
Phelps touched down after three minutes, with Winterstein levelling things up at the break after home scores from Aussie Craig Gower and Omari Caro.
The Widnes pair struck again after the interval, but London scores from Tony Clubb and Dan Sarginson kept it close before prop Kaufusi’s late show.
Denis Betts, who saw Broncos move above his Vikings in the table, said: “We have to be philosophical about it.
“We won a game in the last minute last week and lost one in the last minute here.
“It would have been great to push ourselves away from the foot of the table but it was not to be.”
Concierge firms boom as the rich flee to London - The Guardian
London is facing an unprecedented surge in the number of companies offering concierge and other special services to the very wealthy, as new groups of rich emigrés relocate to the UK to escape instability abroad.
Russians have been joined by Indians and continental Europeans among the overseas buyers that have purchased 60% of the prime property available in central London in the past few years, according to estate agents. The growth in foreign purchases appears to be matched by the growth in companies that are willing to do anything for their clients – any time, any place, anywhere.
Alistair Gill, the manager of Mayfair Concierge, which started business last month, said companies such as his were there to open doors, simplify procedures and obtain the unobtainable for those who could afford it. "While times are tough, there are still a lot of people who enjoy a high quality of life – who are cash-rich and time-poor. It's a growth market," he said.
Clients typically pay a retainer of around £5,000 a month, for which they expect 24-hour service but still must meet all other costs. Neither the price of the services nor the economic climate has had much effect on demand. Andreas Ash, marketing director of Greek Concierge Group, which has been in business for three years, said his company was working at capacity with a waiting list of 350 people. "We won't be able to accept most of them. It's all about service, and if we take too many members we'll degrade our service," he said.
Russian, Indian and French buyers have accounted for almost one third of recent central London house purchases, but there has also been an increase in Greek and Italian arrivals, a spokeswoman for estate agent Knight Frank said. The French are escaping a tax regime in which the wealthy are likely to be required to pay more under the new presidency of François Hollande; the Russians are investing in an insurance policy against possible persecution from an authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin; and other Europeans are moving their money out of the unstable eurozone.
What they share is a desire for certain aspects of British life – private education, hunting and fishing – as well as everything they might expect from a playboy's paradise, such as reservations at restaurants and nightclubs, and sometimes even drugs and prostitutes. But going to the right shoot, ensuring your child jumps the school waiting list or getting a seat at a restaurant that is fully booked for the next year require skills and contacts beyond most of us.
Gill describes the typical concierge as someone who has worked in five or six-star hotels, "someone who loves people and is well balanced, understands what people want and is unshockable".
People in the industry are happy to talk about extravagant requests but less comfortable talking about personal services such as prostitution and drugs, which they are often asked to accommodate. According to Ash: "We have been asked for some things like escorts. We always do our best, but if it's not a healthy business situation we have to say that is as far as we go."
Even some of the legal requests are as demanding as they are unusual. One company recounts how it was requested to organise a two-hour shopping spree with an unlimited budget for a client and her two friends in the style of the film Pretty Woman. "With no prior warning, and without being allowed to explain the challenge, we had to get the co-operation of managers and numerous assistants at more than a dozen stores, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Hermès, Chanel and Yves St Laurent. Two hours later, what had started as a stroll for four friends had become a convoy of cars and vans carrying £250,000 of shoes, clothes and accessories," the website recounts.
The same site describes how the company received a call from a client at 10.40pm, saying he wanted to get engaged at breakfast the next morning. "We sourced $20m of diamond jewellery overnight in time for him to propose when his girlfriend awoke," according to the site. On many occasions, the company has been commissioned to make clients' wives burst into tears of happiness.
Some of the companies employ linguists to ensure London feels just like home. Ten Lifestyle Concierge has teams of Russian and Chinese speakers to deal with the growing number of clients.
Bryn Dyer, a director of Ten, said: "Typically our London-based Russian members will use us to get set up here. They also ask us for tutoring services, help getting their children into private schools, finding exclusive retail items, booking high-end restaurants and finding theatre tickets. Our London-based Chinese members are similar in tastes, but tend to be younger students. They tend to use us to book high-end restaurants, hotels and taxis."
All the companies say they expect their business to expand over the coming years and many are opening branches all over the world and recruiting staff. Bryn Dyer said: "The demand for our services is most definitely increasing. Not just in London but globally, as the wealthy elite are increasingly mobile."
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