Court orders ex-chairman of Kazakh paper company to return £120m worth of cash and luxury London properties December 22, 2021 A Kazakh paper and cardboard manufacturer has won a London court order against its former chairman to return £122m, including four luxury London properties worth £50m, in damages following fraud. Yesterday a judgement was reached in the long standing case, between Kazakhstan Kagazy Group and its former chairman Maksat Arip. The Group has been trying [...]
Shoppers shy away from West End on ‘critical’ weekend before Christmas as bosses call for urgent support December 20, 2021 Shoppers were deterred from visiting central London’s shopping district last weekend as Omicron infections continue to rise across the capital. Retailers have called on the government for more financial support as businesses have been hit by falling footfall in the crucial trading period before Christmas. It comes after health experts have advised Brits to prioritise [...]
Believe it or not, there are still reasons to be cheerful for 2022 December 16, 2021 There are, it is fair to say, many reasons to feel a tad disheartened at the minute. Yesterday’s record number of Omicron cases was hardly cheering. Neither is the sight of empty streets and shuttered businesses on a quick stroll around the City. But, believe it or not, there are reasons to be cheerful. Plenty, [...]
London offices at 10 per cent occupancy after work from home directive December 15, 2021 London offices plummeted to 10 per cent occupancy in the wake of fresh work from home guidance this week. Occupancy on Tuesday 14 December was down on the previous week’s figure of an average of 28 per cent occupancy, according to workspace technology company Freespace. The capital has been hit harder than other parts of [...]
One in three Londoners not vaccinated as Omicron sweeps capital December 15, 2021 One third of Londoners are completely unvaccinated despite warnings that the Omicron Covid variant could hammer the capital particularly hard. The proportion of the population without a single jab is three times as high in London as in the country as a whole, according to an analysis of government figures by The Times newspaper. The [...]
Derwent London to buy the Moorfields Eye Hospital December 14, 2021 Derwent London has been selected as the preferred bidder to buy the freehold of the Moorfields Eye Hospital. The Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL selected the property investment firm for the acquisition of the freehold of City Road Island and 11-43 Bath Street. Derwent will purchase 2.5 acres and 400,000 sq ft, [...]
London Square inks £400m deal to buy final phases of Nine Elms development December 13, 2021 Residential developer London Square has inked a £400m deal to buy the final three phases of the Nine Elms Park development site in Battersea, south London. London Square has also agreed a partnership deal with build-to-rent developer Moda Living on land for two buildings on the site. London Square has exchanged contracts on a total [...]
Two-fifths of London SMEs plan to shed workers as furlough ends and pandemic restrictions return December 13, 2021 Two-fifths of owner-managed businesses in London are reportedly planning to make redundancies this winter.
London tops European fintech occupier index with £15bn funding December 10, 2021 London has beaten European capitals for the top spot in a new ranking table of the most attractive cities for fintech occupiers in Europe, according to reports. The capital, which has brought in over €18bn (£15.4bn) of fintech venture capital funding over the last five years, has kept its place at the top of the rankings compiled [...]
London First lobby group to change its name to catch up with govt ‘levelling up’ agenda December 8, 2021 London First, a lobby business group, plans to change its name in a bid to avoid an embarrassing clash with Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda, widely seen as putting the capital far from first. The group, whose mission is “to make London the best city in the world in which to do business”, according to [...]