Depop to move London HQ as pandemic sales boost Gen-Z app August 9, 2021 Online fashion marketplace Depop has signed the lease on a new headquarters in Farringdon, East London. The second hand clothing app saw over 100 per cent growth in gross merchandise sales (GMS) and revenues during 2020. Now, the brand will move from its current Shoreditch base to a site of some 30,000 sq ft of [...]
Hotels face ‘nightmare’ cancellation rates as holidaymakers rush abroad August 6, 2021 Hotels are being hit hard by cancellations across the country with London especially hard-hit after a lack of overseas tourists this summer. Some hotels are experiencing cancellation rates of 50 per cent or more as international travel rules relax, according to booking engine provider Avvio. “Guests are cancelling their bookings at the last minute and [...]
Festival insurance scheme ‘too little, too late’ for organisers of summer events August 6, 2021 Festival organisers have lamented after the government’s announcement of an insurance scheme comes “too little, too late” against a summer of cancelled events. The Treasury said costs associated with the cancellation of festivals, conferences and other live events due to Covid restrictions will be covered almost entirely by the government under a new £750m scheme. [...]
Airbnb vows to tackle unscrupulous landlords amid staycation boom August 6, 2021 Airbnb has pledged to crack down on instances where landlords unfairly evict their tenants and go on to list the property on the platform. The holiday rental business said it would investigate cases of unscrupulous landlords brought to its attention by relevant authorities. Landlords caught to be listing their properties as holiday rentals after unfairly [...]
More than 17,000 outdoor seats added to English streets in al-fresco boom August 6, 2021 Pubs and restaurants have made space for more than 17,000 extra customer seats outside with Westminster processing one third of total pavement licence applications. More than 3,300 fast track applications for pavement licences were lodged by cafes and restaurants as ministers pledged to slash red tape and make the process cheaper and quicker. PwC analysed [...]
Summer shoppers hesitant to return to high streets as footfall down 34% on pre-pandemic levels August 6, 2021 High street footfall in July was down by one third on the same month in 2019, before the pandemic, showing businesses still have a long way to go in rebuilding lost trade. High street footfall declined by 34.6 per cent in July compared to 2019, 1.2 percentage points below last month’s rate, according to data [...]
London restaurants warned of meat and seafood shortages this autumn August 5, 2021 Rrestaurants and gastropubs in London and the rest of the UK have been warned of potential shortages of key menu items alongside a spike in inflation this autumn. Buying specialist Lynx Purchasing said hospitality businesses would face “significant and widespread” challenges with higher prices and food shortages for the rest of the year, including supply [...]
Mike Ashley: Will the headline-grabbing Sports Direct boss go quietly? August 5, 2021 Frasers Group boss Mike Ashley is to relinquish his position as chief executive of the retail group after decades in the spotlight but there are suggestions the billionaire will continue to call the shots. The Sports Direct founder will hand over the reins next year to his daughter’s fiancé, Michael Murray, the group confirmed in [...]
Brexit and Covid impact: More than 90,000 EU workers to have left UK hospitality jobs August 5, 2021 More than 90,000 EU workers left the UK’s hospitality sector in the last year, new figures have revealed. Fresh research from jobs site Caterer.com found that three out of five hospitality employers are now receiving record numbers of applications from UK workers. London was identified as acutely affected by the exodus with the research estimating [...]
West End boss reiterates calls for extended Sunday trading hours August 4, 2021 New West Company End Company has called on the Government for continued support to help the area as post-pandemic trade rebuilds. The company wrote to business minister Kwasi Kwarteng earlier this spring to ask for the West End and Knightsbridge international centres to be added to the list of exemptions in the 1994 Sunday Trading [...]