The £300m luxury hotel with a secret tunnel to Harrods January 21, 2020 A £300m luxury hotel development with a secret tunnel to Harrods has been given the green light by the local planning committee. The Knightsbridge hotel will be a one minute walk from the iconic London department store, but also includes a disused underground pedestrian and goods tunnel linking the two sites. Kensington and Chelsea’s planning [...]
Samuel Tak Lee announces plan to vote against Shaftesbury’s board at AGM January 21, 2020 Billionaire property magnate Samuel Tak Lee announced today he will vote against West End landlord Shaftesbury’s board at a meeting this month, as a long running dispute between the pair rumbles on. Lee, the owner of rival London landlord Langham Estate, is the largest shareholder in Shaftesbury, and launched legal action against the firm [...]
Aldi announces pay rise and recruitment drive January 21, 2020 Aldi has announced it will increase the hourly rate paid to in-store staff members and hire more than 3,800 employees this year as it pushes ahead with its UK expansion plans. The budget supermarket said all employees will earn a minimum hourly rate of £9.40, a 30p per hour increase from the previous minimum wage [...]
Upper Crust owner SSP sales rise on strong UK passenger growth January 21, 2020 Upper Crust owner SSP Group reported a slight rise in sales at the end of last year as the travel hub food operator benefitted from growing passenger numbers in the UK and North America. Like-for-like sales in the three months ended 31 December grew 1.2 per cent, in line with expectations, the company said this [...]
UK property transactions soar after General Election January 21, 2020 UK property transactions soared at the end of last year, according to government data, as both sellers and buyers made the most of renewed confidence following the General Election result. Residential property transactions in December jumped 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 104,670, a 6.2 per cent rise on November’s number. The total number of non-residential [...]
Central London office take up jumps in fourth quarter January 20, 2020 Office take up in central London jumped in the final quarter of last year, as the diversity of businesses operating in the capital provided resilience for the city’s commercial property market. Take up increased four per cent to 3.6m sq ft in the three months to the end of December, above the 10-year quarterly average [...]
Matalan suffers sales and profit drop in challenging retail environment January 20, 2020 Budget retailer Matalan suffered a drop in sales and profit at the end of last year as it fell victim to the challenges facing the UK high street. The clothing and homeware brand said total revenue dropped to £311.7m in the 13 weeks ended 30 November, from £315.6m the previous year, as consumer confidence and [...]
Online fashion retailer Sosandar beats expectations as sales soar January 20, 2020 Online fashion brand Sosandar said it expects full-year sales to beat market expectations following soaring growth at the end of last year, avoiding the gloom affecting many high street retailers. The Aim-listed retailer said investment in customer acquisition drove revenue up 136 per cent to £3.8m in the three months to 31 December, exceeding the [...]
Reiss owner mulls selling high street retailer January 20, 2020 The private equity owner of high street retailer Reiss is mulling putting the fashion chain up for sale following a period of strong performance. Warburg Pincus has appointed investment bank Rothschild to launch a review of strategic options for the business, which could involve a sales process, Sky News reported. If the US firm decides to [...]
Wetherspoon to slash prices of drinks on Brexit Day January 20, 2020 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon is planning to celebrate Brexit by slashing the prices of a selection of drinks on 31 January as the UK leaves the EU. The offer will reduce prices of drinks from across Europe, including Estrella Galicia, Beck’s and Peroni, by around 60p. The promotion – which will run until 29 February [...]
