DEBATE: Should individuals be held accountable for the failure of the Garden Bridge project? April 12, 2019 Should individuals be held accountable for the failure of the Garden Bridge project? Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, says YES. When £53.5m is spent on a project, including £43m from the public’s pocket, and there is literally nothing to show for it, some very fundamental questions have to be answered. I fundamentally [...]
Check out Knightsbridge’s Mandarin Oriental’s refurbishment as it reopens after summer fire April 11, 2019 A luxury London hotel is set to open its doors next week after months of renovation following a major fire last summer. Read more: Property events moved away from Brunei-owned hotels amid boycott The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, which has been closed since June in the wake of a huge blaze that damaged the [...]
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange arrested on US extradition request after seven years at Ecuadorian embassy April 11, 2019 Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange was arrested this morning and taken into police custody for breaching UK bail conditions, with his lawyer adding that it was also in relation to a US extradition request. Read more: Assange's legal team say expulsion from Ecuador embassy would be 'illegal' Assange was taken into custody in central London this [...]
Reforming audit will not be easy, but the latest report might be a place to start April 9, 2019 Sir Winston Churchill’s 1942 speech about the second battle of El Alamein contained one of his most famous quotes. It was not, he said, the end – nor even the beginning of the end – but it was perhaps the end of the beginning. One could be forgiven for harbouring similar feelings about the long [...]
Yacht the hell? Lack of interest sinks new London summer boat show April 9, 2019 A new luxury yacht show set to be held at St Katharine Docks this summer has been cancelled amid waning appetite within the industry. This year’s London Yacht Show, which has promised to be "the most spectacular centrepiece of the British social calendar", has been postponed until next spring following a lack of interest in [...]
Debate: Could financial services firms be better off basing themselves outside of London? April 9, 2019 Could financial services firms be better off basing themselves outside of the capital? Yes – Andy Mielczarek is chief executive at Chetwood Financial. Being based outside of London has such a raft of incentives that it seems like a no-brainer to set up outside of the capital. The overwhelming difference is operating costs. As we’re [...]
Debate: Is Sadiq Khan’s new ultra-low emission zone an effective solution for tackling air pollution? April 9, 2019 Debate: Is Sadiq Khan’s new ultra-low emission zone an effective solution for tackling air pollution? Yes – Fiona Howarth is chief executive of Octopus Electric Vehicles. If London’s water supplies were poisoning 9,000 people a year, there would be national outrage. So why are we not outraged about the air that we breathe? Research published [...]
Brexit hoped to heal the UK, but instead it leaves wounds that will not easily be closed April 9, 2019 The other day, my three-year-old son gave me a geography lesson. Him: “This is Battersea Park.” Me: “That’s right.” Him: “And Battersea Park is in London?” Me: “Yes, and we’re also in England and in Britain.” At which point he shook his head. “No,” he insisted. “Just London.” Political analysis obviously runs in the family. [...]
What a scoop: Ben and Jerry’s will offer free ice cream to Londoners tomorrow April 8, 2019 Ice cream lovers will get themselves a free scoop, or two or three, tomorrow as Ben and Jerry’s annual free cone day celebrations return to the capital. City of London office workers and dwellers, will need to head to Soho – the closest Ben and Jerry’s store to the square mile. Read more: Olive Oil ice [...]
Battle of the brands: Addison Lee tops list of most London-centric brands April 8, 2019 Taxi firms, shopping centres and local radio stations are among the brands which are most well known only to those living in the capital, a new study has found. Addison Lee topped Yougov's index of the most London-centric brands, with 83 per cent of Londoners knowing about the taxi hire firm compared with 29 per [...]