London restaurants urge Sadiq Khan to drop congestion charge August 10, 2020 London’s restaurants and bars have called on Sadiq Khan to drop the congestion charge and encourage public transport use to boost visitor numbers following months of coronavirus lockdown. In a letter signed by top chefs and restaurateurs, including St John’s co-founder Trevor Gulliver, Angela Hartnett and D&D London’s David Loewi, the industry has urged Khan [...]
Government urged to pay £5bn of retailers’ rents after lockdown August 10, 2020 Retail, hospitality and leisure firms have urged the government to pay up to £5bn to cover a proportion of rents for struggling businesses to avoid further high street job losses. Trade bodies, including the British Property Federation (BPF), British Retail Consortium (BRC) and UK Hospitality, have called on the government to launch a Property Bounceback [...]
Sadiq Khan: Saving London’s shops and cafes is ‘urgent priority’ August 10, 2020 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said keeping London’s hospitality businesses and venues open should be an “urgent priority” during the pandemic, or the city risks a downturn it may not recover from. Speaking to City A.M., Khan responded to calls from hospitality businesses to lobby for more support as London gets back on its [...]
London calling: Why it’s time to bring life back to our city’s streets August 10, 2020 Despite a tentative easing of the national lockdown, the lingering economic and social consequences of this policy are frighteningly obvious to anyone venturing into central London. While social life and economic activity has, to a large extent, returned to the outer zones and suburbs, the offices and shops of London’s professional districts remain eerily and [...]
The City View: Nigel Wilson on why it’s essential to get people back into offices August 10, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal and General, a City institution with more than £1 trillion of assets under management. Nigel talks about L&G’s long-term view and how its investments could shape our recovery and future economic growth, but he also reflects [...]
Pret A Manger to cut staff hours in coronavirus restructuring August 9, 2020 Pret A Manger has asked thousands of its staff to work fewer hours, as the lunch chain restructures its business after the coronavirus pandemic. Staff will work 20 per cent fewer hours on average, as footfall remains low. It follows an announcement by Pret last month that it would be closing 30 outlets and cutting [...]
What the data tells us about the shape of the US economic recovery August 7, 2020 Looking at high-frequency data in the US, the key question is whether momentum in consumer spending can be sustained. Some signs of the much hoped-for V-shaped recovery have started to emerge for the US economy. While consumption collapsed in March and April due to lockdown measures and a jump in unemployment, stimulus cheques provided an [...]
The City View: Rachel Cunliffe on why working from home isn’t great for everyone August 7, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by City A.M.’s comment and features editor, Rachel Cunliffe, who talks about her recent column on why working from home doesn’t suit everyone. Rachel talks about young people in houseshares in particular, as well as those who don’t have the luxury of a separate work [...]
The City View: The Publishers Association CEO on culture wars, discovering talent and industry challenges August 6, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association, representing the UK’s fiction, non-fiction and academic publishing sector. After the biggest year ever for the industry in 2019, how has it coped with the lockdown and what are the chances of the great Coronavirus novel [...]
Games industry shows COVID resilience August 5, 2020 Launched today, Ukie’s ‘Playing On’ report shows the UK games sector has risen to the challenges raised by the current pandemic, rapidly adapting to new ways of working and maintaining very high levels of productivity throughout difficult circumstances, without over-reliance on governmental and public funds for support. However, constraints in access to finance, business networking [...]