Multi-million fund looks to boost life chances for homeless women March 21, 2021 A multi-million pound investment fund has launched in London aiming to build a host of properties for at-risk women. The fund, led by property investor Patron Capital and social impact firm Resonance, will purchase properties across the UK and lease them to women’s sector organisations and charities. The fund has already raised £15.5m and unlike [...]
Valuation of Fortnite creator Epic Games soars to $28bn after lockdown demand March 20, 2021 The owner of two big pandemic winners, Fortnite and Houseparty, has reportedly closed a new fundraising round which brings its valuation to around $28bn. Epic Games is finalising the terms of a $1bn fundraising just seven months after its last round, according to Sky News. Last summer the Houseparty-owner secured a $17.3bn valuation after a [...]
London needs a transport shake-up, with cheaper rail prices, e-scooters and new funding systems for TfL March 20, 2021 One year into the pandemic and London is on the brink of a transport revolution. For many the only obvious step change has been a retrograde one. Londoners continue to avoid public transport with almost the same zeal with which we once crammed ourselves onto tube carriages. Driving cars, while not quite back in vogue [...]
Half of all UK adults have received their first vaccine dose, says Matt Hancock March 20, 2021 More than half of the UK’s adult population has received the first dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the health secretary. “I’m delighted to be able to say that we’ve now vaccinated HALF of all adults in the UK,” Matt Hancock said on Twitter. “The vaccine is a national success story and our way [...]
International spectators banned from entering Japan for Olympics March 20, 2021 International spectators will be barred from entering Japan during this summer’s Olympic Games amid concerns over the pandemic, the organisers said today. Officials met earlier today to discuss whether foreign visitors would be allowed to travel into Japan after about 1m tickets were sold abroad. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organising Committee said tickets purchased by [...]
Don’t believe naysayers predicting the death of London and a exodus to rural idyll, the capital will be rich with post-pandemic opportunities March 20, 2021 London, as I know and love it, is a place of streets swelling with people, of shimmering, seductive shops, enticing bars and restaurants from every corner of the earth, and of constant sound – the hum of the UK economy. The capital attracts more than 20 million overseas visitors a year, drawn in by theatres, [...]
Exclusive: Texas law firm Vinson & Elkins on half a century in London March 20, 2021 Texan law firm Vinson & Elkins just celebrated 50 years in London, having set up shop in the capital in 1971 to take advantage of the booming oil and gas industry, after oil was discovered in the North Sea. The firm began its London life with two English lawyers working in temporary space near Piccadilly [...]
Government draws up plans to run Liberty Steel as concerns of GFG collapse grow March 20, 2021 The government is bracing for the collapse of GFG Alliance by drawing up plans to run Liberty Steel using public money. Liberty Steel is currently run by GFG Alliance, owned by tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, which is embroiled in the Greensill Capital scandal. The boutique bank, advised by former PM David Cameron, was among GFG’s biggest [...]
Treasury mulls slashing higher-rate tax relief on pensions contributions March 20, 2021 The Treasury is reportedly considering huge cuts to tax relief on pensions contributions amid the spiralling cost of measures brought in during the pandemic. On 23 March, which has been dubbed “tax day”, the Treasury will announce new consultations on proposed taxation reforms, which could include reforms to pension tax. When people pay into their [...]
Sadiq Khan launches £6m campaign to get people back to central London March 20, 2021 Sadiq Khan has begun a £6m campaign to get workers and tourists back into central London, after a new report found the capital’s economy could be £36bn smaller in 2031 than pre-Covid projections. The new initiative will see City Hall encourage domestic and international tourists come back to the capital by putting on events that [...]
