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Heathrow and Gatwick await historic verdict: Heathrow and Gatwick were gearing up for a media circus, ahead of publication of the biggest decision in the history of modern British aviation.

Galliford Try awarded £360 million Silvertown Way development: Galliford Try has been awarded a contract by the Greater London Authority to build the £360 million Silvertown Way development in Canning Town.

Wood Group signals confidence with Canadian acquisition: Wood Group has returned to the acquisition trail with the $14 million (£9 million) takeover of a Canadian oil and gas engineering firm, which signals confidence in the prospects for the industry in spite of the crude price plunge

North Sea players make progress amid challenging conditions: North Sea-focused Independent Oil & Gas has highlighted the opportunities there are for small firms to prosper in the area after the company made progress amid challenging conditions in recent months.

Hold Reed Elsevier: Relx has managed to secure a strong position in the digital age that leaves revenue and profits looking far more secure, and the shares a better long-term bet for investors. The Anglo-Dutch group, formerly known as FTSE 100-listed media group Reed Elsevier, collects information used by professionals such as lawyers and accountants. RELX has a small army of specialists collecting data and then building a database that can easily be searched. The other opportunity for growth at RELX is in the field of science, where getting your findings published first can be the difference between success and failure. The business model has good dynamics. RELX is forecast to generate £1.7 billion in pretax profits, from £6.1 billion of revenue in the year to the end of December. The profit margin of about 30% should be defendable as it is difficult for competitors to copy the army of researchers who have the technical knowledge required. The accounting and law industries are exposed to economic downturns, when layoffs will reduce subscription revenue. However, the shares, trading on 18 times forecast earnings, falling to 17 times next year, don’t look overly expensive. Questor says “Hold.”

Sell Pearson on U.S. education weakness: Pearson, the media group that owns The Financial Times newspaper, has taken a big gamble on the education sector, while a slowdown in the U.S. has left the shares looking overvalued. The FTSE 100-listed company is grappling with falling profits from its historic print media business. Pearson undertook a major reorganisation two years ago when John Fallon, the former head of the education division, replaced Dame Marjorie Scardino as Chief Executive. There are worrying signs that the U.S. education market is slowing down. A rival U.S. company, Apollo Education, cut its guidance for full year revenues this week after fewer students enrolled on its courses. The media giant is still a well-diversified group. It holds a 50% stake in the Economist newspaper and 47% of the world’s largest publishing company, Penguin Random House, with German partner Bertelsmann. The shares are now almost exactly where they were at the start of 2013, after they have steadily recovered from a shock profit warning at the start of last year. The profit recovery that is expected this year could also falter in the second half. The shares don’t pass our test. Questor says “Sell

U.K. auto industry turnover hits a record high of £69.5 billion: Britain’s auto industry turned over a record £69.5 billion last year, an increase of 6.6% on 2013, according to new data from the sector’s trade association.

Shell’s Arctic oil drilling plans hit by polar bears and walruses: The Obama administration has dealt a setback to Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic oil exploration plans, saying established walrus and polar bear protections prevent the company from drilling with two rigs simultaneously at a close range, as it had planned

Rio and X2: coal-hearted: X2 Resources, the new mining venture run by former Xstrata Chief Mick Davis, is one of them — and has $5.6 billion in cash to invest. Happily, Rio Tinto has a sub-scale Australian coal business on its books at $3.1 billion. Bidders have been sniffing around, and X2 is one of them. While it looks like a deal waiting to happen, it is not that simple. X2 is not the only possible buyer. Lurking in the background is Glencore, the world’s largest coal producer. In many ways it offers a better fit. Glencore’s Australian assets sit very close to Rio’s mines in the Hunter Valley and it should save money just by consolidating all Rio’s assets, producing about 50 million tonnes annually. To buy them, though, Glencore would probably need to raise its leverage or sell some equity, thinks S&P. Its net debt is already twice earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (or over four times ebitda if the value of inventories is excluded from the calculation). There are other issues. Any bid from the foreign-backed X2 (TPG Capital and Noble Group are the key investors) would probably require approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, given Rio’s importance to the country’s coal output. And one of its backers may not have the staying power; Singapore-listed Noble Group is fending off questions about its own funding and its shares have dropped by a third this year.

Imagination Technologies losses grow as it pursues R&D drive: U.K. chip designer Imagination Technologies suffered widening losses as a drive to invest in developing products and tap into the growing “internet of things” overwhelmed its revenue growth in 2015.

St Modwen builds on deals with profit up 306%: The developer behind the regeneration of the former MG Rover site in Birmingham and the £2 billion New Covent Garden Market in south London has enjoyed a 306% bounce in pretax profit in the first half of the year

Stamp duty changes put brake on soaring sales of £1 million homes: Sales of homes worth more than £1 million rose by more than 25% last year, but the Chancellor’s changes to the stamp duty system mean that the level is unlikely to be achieved in 2015.

Hargreaves Lansdown buys JP Morgan client assets: Hargreaves Lansdown has acquired up to 7,000 clients from JP Morgan Asset Management whose holdings are too small for the fund Manager to cater for

Willis and Towers Watson merge in $18 billion deal: Willis Group is to merge with Towers Watson in an $18 billion deal that will create the third largest insurance and reinsurance broker in the world.

UK current account deficit dropped in 1Q 2015 The UK reported a current account deficit of £26.50 billion in 1Q 2015, compared to a revised current account deficit of £28.90 billion in the previous quarter. Market expectation was for a current account deficit of £24.00 billion.

UK GDP rose as expected in 1Q 2015 In 1Q 2015, on a QoQ basis, the final gross domestic product (GDP) registered a rise of 0.40% in the UK, compared to an advance of 0.60% in the previous quarter. The preliminary figures had indicated a rise of 0.30%. Market expectation was for GDP to rise 0.40%.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.82% or $0.52 lower at $63.07 per barrel, ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil inventory data, scheduled to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract climbed 2.55% or $1.58, to settle at $63.59 per barrel, after nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers, which could potentially contribute to the oil supply glut, were extended until July 7. Separately, OPEC’s oil production hit a three-year high in June, rising to 31.60 million barrels per day, while the American Petroleum Institute announced that US crude oil stockpiles jumped 1.9 million barrels last week.

Leasing activity in London office market heats up to 17-year high: Leasing activity in the London office market hit 6.3 million square feet in the first half of 2015 – the highest level in 17 years – fuelled by pent up demand on the back of the General Election and firms moving east.

Shale setback as Cuadrilla’s plans rejected: The U.K.’S nascent shale gas industry suffered a shock setback, when Lancashire council rejected Cuadrilla’s application to frack at a site in the county, despite planning officers giving it the green light.

North Sea drilling activity increases: Drilling on potential new oil and gas fields doubled in the U.K. North Sea in the first quarter in spite of the plunge in the crude price but exploration activity was muted.