Latest news with #RachelHopkins
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Planning bill is sowing division, says Tory MP
The government's efforts to speed up housebuilding are sowing division in communities, a Conservative politician has said. Mid Bedfordshire MP Blake Stephenson said Labour's Planning and Infrastructure Bill was a "government narrative of builders v blockers - I think that's putting the back up of communities". The bill was introduced in March to help fulfil a promise of building 1.5 million homes in England in the next five years. Rachel Hopkins, Labour MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, said local people would "have their say" over planned development. The two MPs spoke to the BBC Politics East programme from London Luton Airport, after the government gave the go-ahead for expanding the terminal earlier this year. It is a part of the region where the challenges of growth and a changing economy are big talking points. Car maker Stellantis closed the town's Vauxhall factory in March, but over towards Bedford, Universal plans to open a giant theme park and the construction of East West rail promises to pave the way for more housebuilding. Stephenson welcomed plans for the Universal theme park and the need for new homes, but added: "We do need to take communities along with us. "We need the right types of house in the right places." He continued: "If people know the infrastructure is there as their communities expand they are going to get on board. "The builders v blockers argument may well set the government back on its target to build 1.5 million homes." Hopkins responded: "We need to make sure there is a local contribution and people have their say but ultimately we need the homes and we need to build them and that will support our economic growth with investment in construction, good jobs [and] skills training. "And we need to get on with it." The airport falls inside Hopkins's constituency, and she said the aviation hub would help support a growing population: "Luton airport is a part of the growth of Bedfordshire as a destination. "Luton has brilliant transport links that are going to be further improved." East West Rail's director of external affairs, Natalie Wheble, said its plan for a train line between Cambridge and Oxford - going through Bedfordshire - would provide an "efficient and sustainable" transport link for people. Rob Brighouse, director of business investment company Luton Rising, said Luton was yet to "achieve its potential" due to its location in the centre of the "Oxford-Cambridge-London triangle". Angelina Aziz, the co-founder of an artificial intelligence company in Luton, said more investment was needed to support start-up companies and new high-tech firms in the area. "A lot of our best talent in Luton tends to move to London. We need more investment," she said. The airport plans have been controversial and opposed by the Stop Luton Airport Expansion group (SLAE). Peter White, of SLAE, has been sceptical about the number of jobs the airport says the expansion will create. He has previously told the BBC the "quality of life" of people who live near the airport will be damaged by the project. Lord John Hutton, chair of the board of London Luton Airport, said: "We've got a once in a generation opportunity to do something pretty amazing here and provide an economic lifeline for the town. "The airport sustains and supports about 27,000 in the local economy. After expansion that number will be approaching 40,000. "The whole focus is to get moving on this as quickly as we can to bring the economic and social benefits of expansion to Luton." BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 13 July at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Plan to make it easier for councils to seize land for housing Planning reforms will end development chaos, says Rayner London Luton Airport
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Government planning bill sowing division, says Bedfordshire MP
The government's efforts to speed up housebuilding are sowing division in communities, a Conservative politician has Bedfordshire MP Blake Stephenson said Labour's Planning and Infrastructure Bill was a "government narrative of builders v blockers - I think that's putting the back up of communities".The bill was introduced in March to help fulfil a promise of building 1.5 million homes in England in the next five Hopkins, Labour MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, said local people would "have their say" over planned development. The two MPs spoke to the BBC Politics East programme from London Luton Airport, after the government gave the go-ahead for expanding the terminal earlier this is a part of the region where the challenges of growth and a changing economy are big talking maker Stellantis closed the town's Vauxhall factory in March, but over towards Bedford, Universal plans to open a giant theme park and the construction of East West rail promises to pave the way for more housebuilding. Stephenson welcomed plans for the Universal theme park and the need for new homes, but added: "We do need to take communities along with us. "We need the right types of house in the right places."He continued: "If people know the infrastructure is there as their communities expand they are going to get on board."The builders v blockers argument may well set the government back on its target to build 1.5 million homes."Hopkins responded: "We need to make sure there is a local contribution and people have their say but ultimately we need the homes and we need to build them and that will support our economic growth with investment in construction, good jobs [and] skills training."And we need to get on with it."The airport falls inside Hopkins's constituency, and she said the aviation hub would help support a growing population: "Luton airport is a part of the growth of Bedfordshire as a destination."Luton has brilliant transport links that are going to be further improved." East West Rail's director of external affairs, Natalie Wheble, said its plan for a train line between Cambridge and Oxford - going through Bedfordshire - would provide an "efficient and sustainable" transport link for Brighouse, director of business investment company Luton Rising, said Luton was yet to "achieve its potential" due to its location in the centre of the "Oxford-Cambridge-London triangle". Angelina Aziz, the co-founder of an artificial intelligence company in Luton, said more investment was needed to support start-up companies and new high-tech firms in the area."A lot of our best talent in Luton tends to move to London. We need more investment," she said. The airport plans have been controversial and opposed by the Stop Luton Airport Expansion group (SLAE).Peter White, of SLAE, has been sceptical about the number of jobs the airport says the expansion will has previously told the BBC the "quality of life" of people who live near the airport will be damaged by the John Hutton, chair of the board of London Luton Airport, said: "We've got a once in a generation opportunity to do something pretty amazing here and provide an economic lifeline for the town."The airport sustains and supports about 27,000 in the local economy. After expansion that number will be approaching 40,000."The whole focus is to get moving on this as quickly as we can to bring the economic and social benefits of expansion to Luton." BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 13 July at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Associated Press
21-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
ArrowXL Optimizes Last Mile Delivery and Unlocks Capacity with Descartes
LONDON and ATLANTA, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that ArrowXL, the U.K.'s largest and longest-established two-person home delivery and warehousing specialist, is using Descartes' route planning and execution solution to automate and optimize last mile delivery route planning. This enables ArrowXL's route planning team to plan and optimize routes for deliveries dynamically and more efficiently, unlocking transportation capacity for the organization. 'ArrowXL is focused on bespoke services centered around a customer-first approach,' said Rachel Hopkins, Chief Information Officer, ArrowXL. 'With over 40 years' experience completing deliveries for the U.K.'s leading retailers, e-tailers, and manufacturers, we manage over 2.6 million consumer deliveries annually and we're growing. We cover 100 percent of the U.K., with 98% of the country covered six days a week and the remaining 2% covered on nominated days—all from seven main hubs and eight outbases using a fleet of 250 vehicles. We offer 'Next-Day', 'Nominated Day' and 'Diary Booking' delivery appointments to customers, as well as the setting up and connection of some white goods, assembly of some furniture items, and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling and packaging removal. Managing and executing these delivery services successfully at the sheer scale that we do requires precision planning and execution. With Descartes in place, our team of planners has automated and streamlined previous manual planning processes, allowing us to optimize our vehicle usage and minimize CO2 emissions. This approach increases capacity across our operations dynamically in real-time. Since the Descartes solution interfaces between our system and our clients' systems, we provide the entire value chain with a true view of delivery capacity to take advantage of, allowing everyone to increase operational efficiency.' Descartes' cloud-based last mile delivery solution helps distribution-intensive companies improve operational efficiency and customer experience. It supports dynamic delivery requirements, including same-day delivery. The Descartes solution improves route productivity by using advanced optimization technology to reduce the distance driven per delivery, which maximizes delivery capacity and reduces costs. In ArrowXL's case, Descartes helps the company to manage deliveries efficiently where boundaries between delivery locations and team areas are unclear. Descartes also improves delivery sustainability with increased route productivity. 'We're pleased our solution is playing an important role for ArrowXL in optimizing route planning and maintaining a high-level of customer experience,' said Gary Taylor, VP Sales, EMEA at Descartes. 'ArrowXL delivers goods daily in the U.K. for some of the highest profile brands in ecommerce and on the high street. Automating route planning and helping planners to execute this function dynamically will continue to allow the business to unlock capacity, support with increasing revenue, and enable their own clients to provide more delivery slots to their customers, all of which improves overall customer experience and service levels.' About ArrowXL ArrowXL is the UK's largest and longest-established two-person home delivery and warehousing specialist. We are committed to innovation and continuous improvement - investing in technology, new services and training. Learn more at About Descartes Descartes (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG) is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, security and sustainability of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, track and help improve the safety, performance and compliance of delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world's largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Our headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and we have offices and partners around the world. Learn more at and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Global Media Contact Cara Strohack [email protected] Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ('forward-looking statements') that relate to Descartes' route planning and execution solution offerings and potential benefits derived therefrom; and other matters. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the factors and assumptions discussed in the section entitled, 'Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results' in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and other securities commissions across Canada including Descartes' most recently filed management's discussion and analysis. If any such risks actually occur, they could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In that case, the trading price of our common shares could decline, perhaps materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. We do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ArrowXL Optimizes Last Mile Delivery and Unlocks Capacity with Descartes
LONDON and ATLANTA, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that ArrowXL, the U.K.'s largest and longest-established two-person home delivery and warehousing specialist, is using Descartes' route planning and execution solution to automate and optimize last mile delivery route planning. This enables ArrowXL's route planning team to plan and optimize routes for deliveries dynamically and more efficiently, unlocking transportation capacity for the organization. 'ArrowXL is focused on bespoke services centered around a customer-first approach,' said Rachel Hopkins, Chief Information Officer, ArrowXL. 'With over 40 years' experience completing deliveries for the U.K.'s leading retailers, e-tailers, and manufacturers, we manage over 2.6 million consumer deliveries annually and we're growing. We cover 100 percent of the U.K., with 98% of the country covered six days a week and the remaining 2% covered on nominated days—all from seven main hubs and eight outbases using a fleet of 250 vehicles. We offer 'Next-Day', 'Nominated Day' and 'Diary Booking' delivery appointments to customers, as well as the setting up and connection of some white goods, assembly of some furniture items, and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling and packaging removal. Managing and executing these delivery services successfully at the sheer scale that we do requires precision planning and execution. With Descartes in place, our team of planners has automated and streamlined previous manual planning processes, allowing us to optimize our vehicle usage and minimize CO2 emissions. This approach increases capacity across our operations dynamically in real-time. Since the Descartes solution interfaces between our system and our clients' systems, we provide the entire value chain with a true view of delivery capacity to take advantage of, allowing everyone to increase operational efficiency.' Descartes' cloud-based last mile delivery solution helps distribution-intensive companies improve operational efficiency and customer experience. It supports dynamic delivery requirements, including same-day delivery. The Descartes solution improves route productivity by using advanced optimization technology to reduce the distance driven per delivery, which maximizes delivery capacity and reduces costs. In ArrowXL's case, Descartes helps the company to manage deliveries efficiently where boundaries between delivery locations and team areas are unclear. Descartes also improves delivery sustainability with increased route productivity. 'We're pleased our solution is playing an important role for ArrowXL in optimizing route planning and maintaining a high-level of customer experience,' said Gary Taylor, VP Sales, EMEA at Descartes. 'ArrowXL delivers goods daily in the U.K. for some of the highest profile brands in ecommerce and on the high street. Automating route planning and helping planners to execute this function dynamically will continue to allow the business to unlock capacity, support with increasing revenue, and enable their own clients to provide more delivery slots to their customers, all of which improves overall customer experience and service levels.' About ArrowXL ArrowXL is the UK's largest and longest-established two-person home delivery and warehousing specialist. We are committed to innovation and continuous improvement - investing in technology, new services and training. Learn more at About Descartes Descartes (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG) is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, security and sustainability of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, track and help improve the safety, performance and compliance of delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world's largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Our headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and we have offices and partners around the world. Learn more at and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Global Media Contact Cara Strohack cstrohack@ Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ('forward-looking statements') that relate to Descartes' route planning and execution solution offerings and potential benefits derived therefrom; and other matters. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the factors and assumptions discussed in the section entitled, 'Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results' in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and other securities commissions across Canada including Descartes' most recently filed management's discussion and analysis. If any such risks actually occur, they could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In that case, the trading price of our common shares could decline, perhaps materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. We do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gangs dragging youngsters into knife crime, says MP
An MP has welcomed extra police funding to tackle organised crime gangs which she says are dragging young people in her town into knife crime. Rachel Hopkins, MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, was speaking as new figures show violent crime makes up almost a third of all incidents reported in the town, and a local teacher told the BBC that based on statistics "a knife incident could happen in any school". The government has given an extra £7.3m to Bedfordshire Police to help the force tackle violent and organised crime. Meanwhile, a charity that works with pupils in Luton's schools says its preventative work is making a difference. According to Police UK there were 225 crimes reported in Luton in February. Some 72 of them were recorded as violent or sexual crimes and it is another statistic that shows the challenges facing the town. In January, Bedfordshire was ranked eighth in the country for the number of knife offences by the Office for National Statistics. Last year the county played host to a visit by the Knife Angel, a sculpture built from 100,000 seized blades, which led to the recovery of more than 1,500 knives and weapons in the county. The Att10tive charity has hosted over 100 knife crime workshops and the BBC Politics East programme joined them for a visit to the Chalk Hills Academy. A former pupil, Azaan Kaleem, was fatally stabbed in Luton in March 2018 with two teenagers jailed for his murder. "What people see is the very top of the iceberg, they don't see 95% of work that goes on to reduce it," said Montell Neufville from the charity. "There might be something that happens tomorrow or next week, but you probably won't hear that 10 times more [attacks] did not happen because of the work that goes on every day." But teachers said the threat of knife violence was always present. Michael Taylor said: "Colleagues in our pastoral team have seen an increase in the prevalence of gangs and knife crime and it only seems to be getting bigger and bigger. "If you look at the demographics of Luton and the number of incidents that are happening then a knife incident could happen in any school." However pupils at the academy said they felt safe in Luton. Katie said she heard of "some gang activity" but was not sure if that was just "the news picking out stories that are interesting". Mikhael said he felt "quite safe" as there were "not as much gangs here, compared to London". Anthony said he was worried about gangs near where he lived, but said his Mum had "warned me and told me what I should and should not do". The Wingman Mentors, who are funded by the Bedfordshire Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit (Veru), have set themselves the target of getting more than 200 bleed kits in locations across the town. One of them, Simon Philbert, said: "One of the frustrations I have is seeing a lot of young people with man bags, and they have other paraphernalia in the bags. "If one of them had a bleed kit in there, it could prevent a fatality. "For me they are a lifesaver. It is not just about the kits, but also the awareness." Hopkins welcomed the award of an extra £7.3m to Bedfordshire police which she said would ensure continued support for frontline operations including tackling serious and organised crime and targeting gangs, gun crime and youth violence in hotspot areas. "We are too aware that there is significant and organised crime in Luton which exploits young people and that's why young people get drawn into knife crime," she said. She said she was also lobbying for Bedfordshire Police to get a better deal under the police funding formula. Maria Lovell, a Labour member of Luton Council and a former mayor, said she felt the town was safe. "There is a lot of immense work going on within our community," she said. "We are working with everybody and we will all be in it together as long as we have to, and we are not giving up." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Group hopes bleed-kit project will save lives Knife Angel memorial to young victims arrives Two men seriously hurt after town centre stabbing ONS: Police force data tables Bedfordshire Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit Att10tive Wingman Mentors
