City Corporation extends support for Square Mile SMEs May 26, 2021 The City of London Corporation has today (26 May) announced it is extending the deadline for submissions to its Covid Business Recovery Fund to 30 June 2021. Eligibility has also been expanded to businesses with a trading premise, or a signed lease for a premise, in the City of London on or before 5 November [...]
M&S sinks to a loss as store closures hammer clothing business May 26, 2021 M&S has reported an annual loss as sales in its clothing division collapsed during the pandemic. The high street stalwart reported a £201.2m pre-tax loss in the 52 weeks to 27 March 2021, down from a pre-tax profit of £67.2m in the previous year. M&S Food sales dipped 0.6 per cent across the year with [...]
Full reopening key for West End landlord Shaftesbury after its £338m loss over winter lockdown May 25, 2021 West End landlord Shaftesbury banking on a summer revival after its £338m loss over winter lockdown
Made.com: Online furniture seller plots London IPO May 25, 2021 Made.com has unveiled plans for an initial public offering in London after cashing in on rapid growth during the pandemic. The online furniture retailer today said it will seek to raise roughly £100m through the issue of new shares, while the float will include an offer of shares to be sold by existing shareholders. The [...]
Retirement villages may offer high streets their needed post-pandemic revival May 24, 2021 Retirement village provider Audley Group and BlackRock Real Assets have embarked on a £500m joint venture into the retirement living sector in the UK, which could bring high streets the much-needed footfall for post-pandemic revival. The joint venture, confirmed yesterday, will fund the development of at least three retirement communities, which will be ready for [...]
Luxury Mayfair hotel project at former US embassy lands £450m green loan May 24, 2021 The developer behind plans to build a new luxury hotel on the site of the former US embassy in Mayfair has secured a £450m green loan to finance its construction. Building work began this year on Chancery Rosewood, a 139-room luxury hotel and retail site in Grosvenor Square. Qatari Diar, the real estate division of [...]
London shopper numbers surge as return of indoor dining drives up trips to city centre May 24, 2021 shopper numbers surge as return of indoor dining drives up trips
Can companies really balance the needs of all stakeholders? May 24, 2021 The question of whether companies can combine profits with purpose continues to be a thorny one. In March, management change at French food producer Danone underlined the difficulties some companies face in trying to become more sustainable businesses. The CEO-chairman, who had made a powerful statement of intent by formally turning Danone into a “purpose-driven [...]
Flood the streets with art: traffic-free weekends and an all-night celebration in the City for a cultural comeback May 24, 2021 The City’s reopening is building up to a crescendo with the return of visitors and audiences to some of the Square Mile’s iconic cultural institutions. One of the things that I – like many others – have missed the most during lockdown has been the opportunity to enjoy world-class art and culture in person rather [...]
Beyond Pret sandwich sales, how do we measure the recovery of London? May 23, 2021 After more than a year of lockdown restrictions, words like “recovery” are thick in the air. Indeed, the Bank of England is forecasting annual growth of 7.25 per cent, the fastest rate since 1941; positive news, but it is not the most digestible statistic for much of Britain’s population. The most important benchmarks are ones [...]