Christie’s: Contemporary art helps auction house sales surge July 25, 2025 Sales at the London showroom of auction house Christie’s have started to make a recovery after suffering a slump in 2023, it has been revealed. The group’s UK arm has posted sales of £919.4m for 2024, a rise of almost 12 per cent compared to 2023’s total. Christie’s UK sales were slashed from £1.1bn in [...]
Could a tourist tax ever work in London? July 24, 2025 Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner, but I reckon there are few better tourist destinations. Our city is bursting with history and culture, boasts dozens of plush green spaces and has more Michelin Stars than New York. Should people pay to get in? Ours is one of the top cities on earth to visit, but [...]
Tourists help boost luxury London hotels despite widening losses July 23, 2025 Losses have widened at a luxury London hotels group despite international tourism helping to boost its sales to a new record. Firmdale Hotels, which was founded by Tim and Kit Kemp, has fallen to a pre-tax loss of £30.4m for its year to 31 January, 2025, new accounts filed with Companies House show. The total [...]
UK’s secret Cold War tunnels at the centre of a multi-million pound lawsuit July 23, 2025 Secret tunnels that run under important landmarks across the City, are at the heart of a legal claim filed to the High Court against BT
The River Thames is London’s largest public space. So why don’t we use it? July 23, 2025 The River Thames is London's largest public space, so why aren't we using it, asks Chris Romer-Lee as he calls to make the river swimmable.
London hotel rates quintuple amid supersonic Oasis demand July 22, 2025 London hotel rates have soared as Oasis fans pour into the capital for a string of shows at Wembley. The average cost of room rates in Wembley jumped to £560 for Friday, 25 July, compared to £114.83 for the following week, according to consulting firm RSM UK. “The impact of this iconic band reforming brings [...]
Ministers urged to reinstate tax-free shopping to deliver Brexit boost July 22, 2025 Ministers have been urged to reinstate tax-free purchases for international visitors to make the UK a ‘global shopping capital’ and help the country benefit from its position outside the EU. “With Britain no longer in the EU, we have the opportunity to become the best place in the world for shopping,” Derrick Hardman, chair of [...]
Sadiq Khan to host first-ever mayoral London-Africa business summit July 17, 2025 Sadiq Khan has unveiled plans to host the first-ever mayoral London-Africa business summit next year in a bid to deepen trading ties with the continent. According to the mayor, the summit will bring together entrepreneurs and investors, state officials, trade groups and stock exchanges from across the continent, with the aim of promoting London as [...]
FTSE 100 passes 9,000 points for first time July 15, 2025 The FTSE 100 hit another all-time high on Tuesday, sailing past the 9,000-point barrier for the first time ever despite continued uncertainty around tariffs acting as anchor on other major stock markets. London’s blue-chip equities index hit 9,016.98 points in early trades, taking its overall gains for the year up 10.3 per cent. Its constituents [...]
Is it high time to buy in super-prime London? July 15, 2025 London’s super-prime market has been suffering from a glut of supply in the wake of damaging decision-making from successive governments. Ali Lyon asks, is the tide beginning to turn? To take a walk down Mayfair’s historic Upper Grosvenor Street is to be confronted by a quiet, but dramatic, changing-of-the-guard afoot in one of London’s most [...]