London retail footfall plunges as shops close amid coronavirus pandemic March 23, 2020 Retail footfall in central London plummeted last week as employees started working from home and shops start to close amid the coronavirus pandemic. Footfall in the capital plunged 63.3 per cent last week, as office workers were advised to stay home. In shopping areas on the outskirts of London footfall was down 21.9 per cent. [...]
Coronavirus: All non-essential stores reportedly set to close March 23, 2020 The government is reportedly set to order the closure of all non-essential shops in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus. The decision to close all stores except for supermarkets and pharmacies is being discussed at an emergency Cobra meeting today and is expected to be announced at this evening’s government press conference, the [...]
Asda donates money to help food banks during coronavirus crisis as supermarkets offer new jobs March 23, 2020 Supermarket chain Asda will donate £5m to partner charities. The donation to the Trussell Trust and FareShare is part of an effort to help four million vulnerable families. “This funding will help us recruit and train new food bank volunteers across the UK, and support the coordination of packing and delivering pre-made food parcels to [...]
Blackstone buys Clearbell Capital’s £120m logistics portfolio March 23, 2020 Private equity firm Blackstone has bought 22 logistics sites from Clearbell Capital as consumers turn to online shopping in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Clearbell Property Partners III, a fund managed by private real estate fund manager Clearbell Capital, has sold its industrials and logistics portfolio for £120m. The portfolio comprises of 22 small to [...]
Stagecoach and Go-Ahead scrap dividends over coronavirus March 23, 2020 Stagecoach has issued a coronavirus profit warning today as both it and Go-Ahead scrapped their dividends as travel restrictions bite. The operator warned it will now miss its target for adjusted earnings per share for the 12 months to the start of May. “The quickly developing Covid-19 situation means we no longer expect to achieve [...]
Ted Baker completes London HQ sale to British Airways pension fund March 23, 2020 Ted Baker has agreed terms for the sale of its London headquarters, the Ugly Brown Building, with a British Airways Pension Trustees unit. Following the announcement of a strategic asset review in December, Ted Baker has today exchanged contracts with British Airways’ pension fund and the deal, worth £78.8m, is expected to be completed in [...]
The fundamental strengths of London will help us to recover, as we have done before March 23, 2020 In times of crisis such as these, we often see the very best in one another. This is being vividly demonstrated across the City by the spirit of community, resilience and support which is so evident as we respond together to the threat of Covid-19. We have seen difficult times before and have come through [...]
McDonalds, Topshop and New Look close stores due to coronavirus March 23, 2020 High street retailers have begun to shut stores in response to the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. Topshop, New Look and H&M are among the major UK retail chains to temporarily shut all branches over the weekend. The government ordered all pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants to close on Friday as the public were encouraged [...]
Estate agents urge government to extend coronavirus support March 22, 2020 Estate agents have urged the government to protect the industry as house viewings drop and sales activity slows due to coronavirus. The sector has called for the government to extend the business rates holiday, which applies to retail and hospitality firms, to estate agent companies. The UK’s housing market looked set to bounce back this [...]
Coronavirus to spark “severe” global recession March 20, 2020 The coronavirus is having a severe effect on global economic activity and amidst considerable uncertainty we have attempted to gauge the impact and updated our forecasts. We now expect to see the world economy contract this year by 3.1%, before rebounding by 7.2% in 2021. The forecast incorporates a severe recession in the first half [...]