We need more housing and braver, bigger ideas to revive our Square Mile July 4, 2023 The Square Mile, like other financial centres, needs to attract more footfall, or it will become a ghost town. The power is in local politicians' hands, they just have to be brave, writes Adam Hawksbee
Tube journeys regularly hitting over 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as commuting rebounds July 3, 2023 Weekday tube and bus journeys are regularly hitting over 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and often exceed 2019 footfall figures on the weekend, according to Transport for London’s chief operating officer Glynn Barton. The most recent week of TfL tube data shared with City A.M. shows tube trips reached over 80 per cent of [...]
John Lewis submits £500m London planning bid for 800 homes – but questions remain about affordability June 30, 2023 John Lewis is pressing on with its shift away from the high street and into residential property by submitting initial planning applications for new ‘build to rent’ homes in the capital The hard-hit retailer submitted proposals for nearly 800 rental homes on London sites in West Ealing and Bromley, with plans for a site in [...]
Starling Bank: Five things that defined Anne Boden’s time at the top June 30, 2023 The chief and founder of digital lender Starling Bank Anne Boden will hand over the reins to her number two today as she steps back from the top job after nine years. Boden has undoubtedly blazed a trail in British banking. The Swansea native remains the only woman to have launched a bank in the [...]
British businesses most optimistic in over a year but London firms sweat over inflation June 30, 2023 British business optimism has climbed to its highest level in over a year despite consumers retreating in response to rising prices and the Bank of England’s aggressive interest rate rises, a survey out today reveals. UK business confidence climbed nine points to 37 per cent in June, taking it up to its highest level since [...]
Inside Wimbledon’s first ever official off-court fashion range June 29, 2023 “There are worse places to work,” jokes David Hewitt, Wimbledon’s head of retail. We’re on Zoom and behind Hewitt’s head there is a smart grid of green rectangles, the outside courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club that are primed and ready for play, days away from the start of the 2023 [...]
FTSE 100 close: Tumbling pound boosts London index as Ocado slides June 28, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 sprang higher today, aided by the pound clocking a dreadful day. The capital’s premier index jumped 0.52 per cent to 7,500.50 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, leapt 1.98 per cent to 18,412.81 points. Early advances in the City [...]
Brands in London “suffering”: Fresh calls to scrap ‘tourist tax’ amid Mulberry losses June 28, 2023 Fresh calls have been made to reinstate VAT-free shopping for international tourists, after the chief of Mulberry warned its profits have been hit hard by it as they ditch London for Paris and Milan. Pre-tax profit at the British handbag maker fell to £13.2m in the year to April, down from £21.3m the prior year. [...]
Mulberry profit takes a hit as luxury brand invests in global expansion June 28, 2023 Mulberry’s pretax profit slumped in the year, despite an uptick in revenue, as increasing costs weighed on performance. In the year to April, the luxury handbag maker reported an underlying profit of £2.5m, down from £14.6m last year. On a reported basis its pretax profit was £13.2m, which took into account impairment reversals on some [...]
London fintech Upp. pockets $10m as it eyes global expansion June 27, 2023 London-based fintech Upp. has secured $10m (£7.8m) in seed funding as its artificial intelligence and machine learning model wins over investors. The startup, which uses AI to automate online retail, has garnered support in a funding round spearheaded by Californian venture capital firm Bonfire Ventures. Mark Mullen, co-founder of Bonfire Ventures, said Upp. is “the [...]