Latest news with #P&OFerries
ITV News
2 days ago
- Business
- ITV News
MPs demand proof that P&O Ferries is a viable business
MPs are questioning whether P&O Ferries can stay afloat despite a written assurance from the company that it has enough money to keep trading. Last month, Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, wrote to P&O's chief executive after the company missed a legal deadline to file its accounts and its auditor, KPMG, suddenly resigned. P&O's Ferries Holdings Limited 2023 accounts are now eight months overdue - the third year in a row it has filed late. In a written response, published this morning, the boss of P&O, Peter Hebblethwaite, blamed the delay on 'a period of transformation and restructuring' and said the accounts would be published 'by early July 2025'. He added: 'P&O Ferries is a going concern, with the full backing of DP World' - the Dubai-based, global ports operator that owns P&O. Failure to report accounts on time is a criminal offence and it leaves investors, creditors, suppliers, staff and customers guessing at a company's financial health. Liam Byrne says the committee wants greater proof P&O is a viable business. 'It's good that finally P&O have come clean and said yes, they are a going concern,' Bryne told ITV News. 'But I'm asking for something simple: I want the accounts to prove it and I want the guarantees in writing from their parent company and I want those on the table. Now.' Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, Liam Byrne MP tells ITV News he wants to see P&O Ferries' accounts. P&O Ferries has been heavily loss-making in recent years. In March 2022, the company fired 800 staff in the UK, without notice, and replaced them with cheaper agency workers in order to cut costs and avoid bankruptcy. P&O's accounts for 2022, which were submitted 13 months late, showed the company had borrowed more than £300 million from its parent company, DP World, in order to continue trading. The same accounts showed that P&O was struggling to repay the money it owed and was 'in breach of covenants with respect to its external debt'. MPs are demanding to know exactly how much financial help P&O Ferries is getting from DP World, on what terms and whether the support is enough to keep the business going. They have given the company until 16th June to offer clarity. 'P&O is not being transparent,' says Byrne. 'We are completely open to recalling P&O to give a better account of themselves in front of the House of Commons. This company is too important for it to go wrong. Too much is at stake and, frankly, this saga has been going on for too long.' P&O Ferries declined our request for comment.
Telegraph
18-04-2025
- Telegraph
Millions to face Easter travel disruption
Millions of people are set to face disruption to their Easter travel plans this weekend because of rail engineering works, strike action, heavy traffic and possible flooding. Queues were forming at the Port of Dover on Friday morning as many people sought to get away for the long weekend. In a post on X, the port warned of 'extended processing times' at Border Control with around a 40-minute wait before the border and at the P&O Ferries check-in. Ferry operator DFDS said there are no queues on its check-in routes. Elsewhere on the roads, the AA estimated nearly 20 million people will travel by car on Good Friday alone, with just under that number expected to make journeys on the remaining days of the weekend. Traffic hotspots are expected on the M6 in Birmingham and near Blackpool, the south and western M25, the M5 at Bristol and the A303 in Wiltshire. The A303 was subject to half-hour delays westbound near Stonehenge on Friday morning, with tailbacks stretching between the A345 at Amesbury and the A360 junction just after the ancient monument. There were also 20-minute delays on the M1 between junctions 8 and 9, with one lane closed northbound after a traffic accident. RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson warned of the potential for 'big jams', particularly if there is a break in the weather. She said: 'It's vital to plan ahead and be prepared for trips to take longer because of the wet weather and the expected getaway congestion.' National Highways said it has lifted roadworks from more than 1,100 miles of motorway and major A-roads, with 97.5pc of its network free from traffic cones. Meanwhile, more than 300 engineering projects are being carried out by Network Rail across Britain between Good Friday and Easter Monday, prompting warnings for passengers to check their journeys in advance. The worst-affected rail routes include those serving London Euston, where no trains will run to or from Milton Keynes on Saturday and Sunday due to work to renew overhead electric lines and improve drainage. A reduced timetable will operate on Good Friday and Monday, while services on the West Coast Main Line will begin and end at Carlisle from Saturday to Monday. Replacement buses are covering northern stations. Platforms 1 to 8 at London Victoria will be shut throughout the bank holiday, with Southeastern trains diverted to London Bridge or London Cannon Street. Routes around Southampton and Brockenhurst will also be hit by closures. Helen Hamlin, Network Rail's director of system operations, said: 'The vast majority of the rail network will be open as usual for people wanting to travel over the Easter bank holiday, but there will be changes to services in some areas so we're asking passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel.' She added that Easter presented a key opportunity to carry out works because passenger numbers are lower and the double-length bank holiday allows more time for upgrades. The company said £86 million will be invested in the rail network over the weekend. At Gatwick Airport, more than 100 members of the Unite union who work for ground handling firm Red Handling are striking across the weekend in a dispute over pensions and pay. Strikers include baggage handlers, check-in staff and flight dispatchers for some airlines based at the Sussex airport, including Norwegian and Delta. Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said: 'Workers have had enough of Red Handling playing fast and loose with their retirement plans and waiting weeks for pay they are rightfully owed for their hard work. 'The union will not stand back and watch members be treated in such an appalling way and they have the full support of Unite in this dispute.' A London Gatwick spokesman said the strike 'will impact thousands of passengers during one of our busiest times of year'. 'We are supporting the airlines impacted, who hold the contracts directly with Red Handling, with their contingency plans,' he continued. Data from Flight Radar 24 suggested departures were being delayed by around 20 minutes on average on Good Friday morning. The Met Office is forecasting 'changeable weather for many', with deputy chief meteorologist Steven Skeates warning of 'heavy and possibly even disruptive rain' on Good Friday in parts of south-west England, South Wales and Northern Ireland. There are also warnings of potential flooding in the South West into Saturday, with drivers urged to take extra care in affected areas. A yellow weather warning is in force over the potentially affected areas. Some 2.2 million people are expected to head abroad this weekend, travel association Abta said, with Good Friday anticipated to be the busiest day for outbound travel. A total of 11,282 flights are scheduled to leave UK airports over the four-day period, with popular destinations including Dublin, Amsterdam, Malaga, Alicante and Mallorca, aviation analytics firm Cirium added.
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Employment rights bill must do more to stop ‘disposable labour' in UK, say unions
The UK government's employment rights bill has made 'important strides' to stop another P&O Ferries scandal happening – but more must be done, according to trade unions. The TUC, Nautilus and RMT unions said more measures to prevent 'unscrupulous' employers such as P&O Ferries from treating staff like 'disposable labour' were needed as they marked the three-year anniversary of the firing by P&O of UK workers. More than 780 mainly British workers were sacked by P&O Ferries with no notice or consultation, and replaced with low-cost agency staff from countries including India, the Philippines and Malaysia. The scandal sparked outrage across Britain and political parties. The company later admitted that the lack of consultation before the sackings meant it broke UK employment law. In November, the Guardian reported that the company spent £47m on the sackings. The scandal re-emerged the month before when the prime minister, Keir Starmer, rebuked his transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after she referred to the ferry company as a 'rogue operator'. DP World, P&O's Dubai-based owner, had reportedly threatened to pull out of a £1bn investment in the UK. A Guardian and ITV News investigation revealed a year ago that the new staff were earning as little as £4.87 an hour, lower than stated by the company. On Monday, the unions accused the Conservatives of doing next to nothing while in power. However, they said the Labour government's employment rights bill, which passed its third reading in the House of Commons last week, would help to close legal loopholes exploited by P&O Ferries by beefing up collective dismissal laws, bolstering 'fire and rehire' protections and strengthening seafarers' working conditions. The legislation will close a loophole exploited by the ferry operator by toughening the collective redundancy notification requirements for operators of foreign-flagged vessels. It means operators planning to dismiss 20 or more employees will be legally required to first notify the government. The bill includes a measure that will address 'fire and rehire' practices except where employers genuinely have no alternative and face insolvency. The government is also doubling the maximum protective award that can be given to employees by tribunals, to discourage employers who are trying to 'price in' sackings. Government amendments to the bill create the powers to set higher employment and welfare conditions for seafarers with regular UK port calls, on pay, hours of work and rest and wider conditions, the unions said. The Seafarers' Wages Act came into force last December, which requires most ferry operators to pay their seafarers with regular UK port calls at least the equivalent of the UK national minimum wage. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The unions are calling for powers for the government and unions to take immediate legal action to block employers from dismissing workers and rehiring them on less favourable contracts. The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said the bill 'will make our labour laws fit for the 21st century and boost pay and conditions in the ferries sector for good'. 'But there's still more to do. Ministers should ensure minimum standards for seafarers include key rights like sick pay and holiday pay, and they should lower the number of times a ship must visit UK ports to be liable to UK laws.'
The Independent
07-03-2025
- The Independent
How to get to Paris from London: Flight and ferry options as Eurostar trains cancelled by WWII bomb
Eurostar says all its 32 trains between London and Paris are cancelled on Friday, leaving an estimated 25,000 passengers out of position. Tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at either end of the Eurostar link following the discovery of a wartime bomb at St-Denis, a few miles north of Gare du Nord in the French capital. The closure has happened on the busiest day of the week for Eurostar – and the key day for leisure travellers heading for a weekend away in Paris. These are the options as at 1.15pm on Friday. Car and ferry or Eurotunnel Lots of room is available on DFDS, Irish Ferries and P&O Ferries sailings from Dover to Calais (and DFDS to Dunkirk) over the weekend. The same applies for shuttles from Folkestone to Calais. Train The Independent has made multiple attempts to see what seats are available on trains running from London to Lille, from where other surface options – including trains to Marne la Vallée/Disneyland Paris, east of the capital. But neither the Eurostar app nor the website allows bookings to be made. The app tells customers: 'Sorry, something went wrong. Go to the homepage.' The website simply features an endlessly revolving Eurostar logo. So at present it is impossible to recommend any solutions involving Eurostar. Train and ferry The best solution is DFDS from Newhaven to Dieppe, because onward trains via Rouen to Paris serve St-Lazare station in the French capital, which is unaffected by the closure. P&O Ferries normally carries foot passengers on only a few sailings each day from Dover to Calais. But because of the Eurostar shutdown, it is making more evening sailings available. You can reach Dover from London easily on the High Speed 1 line from St Pancras to Dover Priory. The ferry fare is £37.25. Foot passenger check-in closes 90 minutes before departure. From Dunkirk or Calais on the other side of the Channel, the best plan is to head for Lille and try to get a train to Marne la Vallée/Disneyland Paris. It may be that some Lille-Paris services are restored by Friday evening – or, failing that, a coach may be available. All direct services are fully booked from London to Paris, though FlixBus is showing a weird connection via Antwerp taking over 17 hours. Air Many passengers have chosen to fly from a different UK city – including Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds – to Paris. All such flights for Friday are fully booked. The same applies to other French cities – though there are seats on easyJet from London Gatwick to Strasbourg on Friday evening, with an early train from the Alsatian city to Paris Est arriving before 9am on Saturday.
BBC News
21-02-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Weather: Ferries and flights cancelled as NI faces high winds
Ferry and flight passengers are facing travel disruption on Friday morning due to high yellow wind warnings have been issued by the Met Office - one for Friday until 13:00 GMT and another for Stena Line and P&O Ferries have cancelled sailings from Belfast and Larne on Friday morning. A number of flights from Belfast City Airport have also been cancelled. Friday's wind warning covers mainly the eastern up to 65mph are expected on Irish Sea and North Channel coasts and gale force gusts are also likely inland for parts of counties Antrim, Armagh and second warning comes into force on Sunday and affects the whole of Northern Ireland, with the peak likely to be through the late morning into the early will be in force for 12 hours from 03:00 gusts up to 70mph are expected towards Irish Sea coasts with some coastal routes being affected by large waves. Travel disruption Stena Line has cancelled three sailings from Belfast to Cairnryan on Friday morning, while P&O Ferries has cancelled three from Larne to the Scottish port. Flight cancellations at Belfast City Airport include routes to Edinburgh, Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight directly with the airline before travelling to the airport. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has also advised drivers to avoid the Pettigo Road, Kesh, due to fallen trees, which have blocked the road. A spokesperson for the PSNI said they have received several reports of telegraph poles and trees down across the Ards and North Down policing district, especially in coastal Northern Ireland Electricity Networks is dispatching teams to deal with power cuts across the country.
