Green is good: How has Blank Street taken over London? October 3, 2025 Given the ubiquity of Blank Street’s pastel green branding across the capital, it is almost surprising to think the New York-based company only opened its first London shop in the summer of 2022. In fact, it only opened its very first shop in Williamsburg in 2021, after spending nearly a year housed in a Brooklyn [...]
Tesco boss warns Reeves that ‘enough’s enough’ ahead of Budget October 2, 2025 Tesco boss Ken Murphy has warned Rachel Reeves that business will struggle to absorb more costs as fears rise of another tax raid in this Budget. UK retailers were hit by higher labour costs after an increase in the minimum wage and employer’s national insurance costs this April, after changes made at last October’s budget [...]
Hotel demand ‘holds strong’ while staff costs eat into profit October 1, 2025 Demand for UK hotels rose in August, although higher staff costs means that hoteliers saw profit drop. Occupancy increased from 81.4 per cent to 82.1 per cent in August year-on-year, and rose slightly from 84.2 per cent to 84.5 per cent in London, according to RSM and Hotstats. But room rates remained flat as consumers [...]
Marylebone High Street: Host of lettings take super-prime village to capacity October 1, 2025 Marylebone has welcomed eight new names to its high street, with continued demand for spots taking the village to full capacity. A host of fashion, perfume and food brands have leased shops on the high street, while two longstanding companies are set to unveil enhanced new store layouts. “Demand for stores is at its highest… [...]
City broker: Stocks have got the office cycle wrong September 30, 2025 City broker Panmure Liberum has said that listed commercial office firms are undervalued on London’s stock market given the rapid rise in rents in the capital. Commercial office leaser Great Portland Estates (GPE) has fallen nearly 60 per cent from its 2020 peak and significantly underperformed the FTSE 250 this year – but Panmure said [...]
Economic uncertainty pushes potential house buyers to hold off September 30, 2025 An unpredictable economic and policy landscape has caused a slowdown in housebuying activity in the UK, according to new data. There were 93,630 UK residential transactions in August, two per cent higher than August 2024 but two per cent lower than July 2025, according to HMRC. There’s been a “noticeable shift” in sentiment amongst Brits [...]
Violence against retail workers ‘unacceptable and untenable’ September 29, 2025 More than a quarter of retail workers say that they have experienced physically aggressive or violent behaviour in their current jobs as the UK continues to battle a years-long fight against high-street crime. More than one in five retail workers in London have to deal with an angry customer ‘every day’, according to research by [...]
Co-op digests £80m profit hit from cyber attack September 25, 2025 The Co-operative Group has revealed an £80m hit to half-year profit after a damaging cyber attack earlier this year. The retail and funerals specialist said that it had slumped to a loss in the first half of 2025 after being targeted by a “malicious” cyber attack. Shoppers were faced with empty shelves and issues with [...]
Top retail boss warns UK heading into recession September 24, 2025 The boss of AO World has warned that inflation, new red tape around hiring and higher taxes are quickly pushing the UK into a recession. “We’ve lived through a few recessions in the last 25 years – I think we’re heading into another one,” founder and CEO of AO World, John Roberts, told the BBC. [...]
Generation ‘locked out of home ownership’ in UK housing crisis September 24, 2025 The ‘stark’ affordability crisis facing Britain’s would-be homeowners is locking a generation out of the market, according to a new report. The research – created by Skipton Building Society in partnership with Oxford Economics – finds 98 per cent of adults living with their parents cannot afford to buy a house in their local area. [...]
