The Week Ahead: Look out for GDP data, Ocado, AstraZ, Twitter and Ted Baker February 8, 2021 Start your week informed: here are the announcements and results to look out for this week. UK GDP: A double dip recession is looming After a fairly decent third quarter, and an expansion of 16 per cent, the UK economy has had a much more troubled fourth quarter, with the likelihood that we may well [...]
Central London retail investment doubles as fresh brands swoop on empty high street stores February 5, 2021 Less established brands swooped on discounted central London property in the final quarter of last year, as the collapse of former high street stalwarts has prime space up for grabs. Total central London retail investment in the fourth quarter of 2020 reached £475m, more than double the volume reported in the final three months of [...]
City Spirits: Our new drinks column takes on the Super Bowl February 5, 2021 Several years ago, Joel Harrison and Andy Silvester met in a south London pub discussing lower-league football. Fast forward, and Joel is now the co-author of several books on spirits and one of the world’s leading booze writers and creative consultants, and Andy Silvester is City A.M.’s Acting Editor – with a penchant for cocktails [...]
GameStop and the ethics of short sellers February 5, 2021 The global media has recently been entranced by a battle between retail traders and hedge funds over the US computer game store, GameStop. It has also shone a light on a practice that makes many people feel uneasy: “short selling”. So much so that lots of members of the Reddit community which spearheaded the attack [...]
Year of the unicorn: 24 companies have surpassed $1bn valuation this year already February 5, 2021 There has been somewhat of a stampede of companies reaching unicorn status since the start of the year following a strong year for the tech sector. Some 24 companies have already reached $1bn valuation since the start of the year with a particularly strong showing from e-commerce and fintech companies, according to research by Tipalti. [...]
David Beckham-backed cannabis firm on course to become LSE’s first CBD listing February 4, 2021 UK-based Cellular Goods is seeking a listing on the London Stock Exchange, which would make them the LSE’s first pure-play CBD business
Offices will reinvent themselves to play host to the capital’s social capital February 4, 2021 When Mark Twain’s obituary was prematurely published by an American newspaper, he responded with the now iconic assurance that “the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Over a century later, the same could be said of the capital’s offices. For much of the past year, a growing Niagara of newspaper articles have speculated about [...]
When will the fun and GameStop? February 3, 2021 Retail and day traders dealing in shares and other assets that Wall Street funds bet against may not be new; Wallstreetbets, the Reddit group at the centre of the story, itself has been in existence since 2012. However, with retail investors buying in such numbers as recently, the group has captured worldwide attention. Perhaps the [...]
Regulator grants challenger lender Cashplus a full banking licence February 3, 2021 Digital challenger bank Cashplus has become the latest London-based fintech to secure a full UK banking licence. Following the Prudential Regulation Authority’s approval, Cashplus is the UK’s newest licensed bank despite being founded in 2005 and serving more than 1.6m small business customers. Like its digital peers, Cashplus offers current accounts for UK SMEs, currently [...]
Debate: Was Asos right to pass over Topshop’s physical stores? February 3, 2021 Digital retailer Asos has picked up Arcadia’s principal brands – but they didn’t bother with the physical premises. A good decision? Mike Colling of the Kite Factory says yes: To bring great brands back to life you often have to cut away dead wood. The news that ASOS has bought Topshop & Miss Selfridge has [...]