West End landlord: Weekly footfall 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels August 23, 2021 West End landlord Shaftesbury has said weekly footfall has recovered to 50-60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as hospitality businesses enjoy a “strong recovery” of trading levels. The landlord reported increased occupancy across all uses with available-to-let vacancy at 4.1 per cent by 13 August 2021 compared to 8.4 per cent on 31 March 2021. [...]
JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon plans first UK visit since Covid hit August 23, 2021 JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon will visit London next month for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak. The trip could result in fresh momentum for workers to return to the City as the banker has advocated for office-working. The Wall Street banking boss will meet clients and staff after an initial scheduled trip [...]
Sainsbury’s shares rocket: Investors eye supermarket’s property portfolio August 23, 2021 Sainsbury’s shares were up 15 per cent cent after reports that a private equity giant is poised to launch a bid topping £7bn. Shares in J Sainsbury rose by 15 per cent on Monday to 338.89p, after closing on 294.70p. Apollo Global Management is reportedly considering a bid for the supermarket after previously losing out [...]
Resolution Foundation: Stamp duty holiday not main force behind house prices rise August 21, 2021 The stamp duty holiday’s role in rocketing house prices over the past year has been overstated, the Resolution Foundation has claimed. The average value of a UK home increased by 13.2 per cent between June 2020 and June 2021 but the think tank believes the boom has more to do with other factors than the [...]
Biden: Afghanistan evacuation ‘one of the most difficult air lifts in history’ August 20, 2021 President Biden has said the US has made “significant progress” with evacuation efforts in Afghanistan. More than 18,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since July and about 13,000 since the US military lift started on August 14. Some 5,700 evacuees left the airport yesterday, Biden told journalists on Friday. There are presently 5,000 US [...]
Next week’s tube strike suspended as talks continue August 20, 2021 Trade union RMT has announced it has suspended strike action by tube drivers scheduled for next week. The union said there had been further progress in ACAS talks today with Transport for London. There are plans to merge Night Tube driver roles with day driver jobs and the service is not set to return until [...]
Leon managing director steps down with immediate effect August 20, 2021 Restaurant brand Leon has confirmed that Nick Ayerst has stepped down from his role as managing director by mutual agreement. The healthy fast food brand’s current director of growth and culture, Glenn Edwards, will take on the MD role with immediate effect. Edwards was managing director of Leon (USA) until March 2021. “Glenn is the [...]
Hundreds of ex-Debenhams staff launch legal action over lack of redundancy consultation August 20, 2021 Hundreds of Debenhams workers are launching legal action after they claim they were not given adequate notice for redundancy. Up to 800 former employees of the department store are participating in two group actions to employment tribunals, led by Simpson Millar and SDM Legal. Former staff said Debenhams should have collectively consulted with employees for [...]
Opticians Specsavers launches hiring spree with up to 500 new jobs August 20, 2021 Opticians Specsavers has said it currently has 1,500 vacancies, with 400-500 new jobs that will “get the high street back up and running.” The business is going on a hiring spree with vacancies including 400 retail roles in stores throughout the UK, 61 home visits roles and 730 management and laboratory roles. The company said [...]
London landlords outliers as UK rental demand hits five-year high August 20, 2021 Demand for private rented housing has reached a five-year high but demand in London has been lower than elsewhere, a survey of landlords has revealed. More than one third of landlords surveyed (39 per cent) agreed that demand for homes to rent had increased in 2021’s second quarter. This was an eight per cent increase [...]
