City Moves for 1 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 1, 2016 Independent Oil and Gas Independent Oil and Gas has appointed David Peattie as chairman. David has 35 years’ industry experience and was most recently the CEO of Fairfield Energy, an oil & gas company owned by a syndicate of North American and European private equity investors, led by Riverstone and Warburg Pincus. David began his [...]
Hot tub sales are bubbling in the luxury home leisure market July 29, 2016 It seems like a bit of a stretch to call it a "must have" item, but hot tubs are apparently all the rage after sales boomed in 2015. In a bubbling segment of the home leisure market, hot tub sales grew 20 per cent on 2014 figures, according to the British and Irish Spas and [...]
Petition to block M&S’ pay cut plans draws over 20,000 signatures in three days July 29, 2016 Pressure is mounting on M&S' chief executive Steve Rowe to cancel a pay cut for his staff as an online petition to block the plan has received nearly 20,000 signatures in three days. The company is consulting its staff over cutting premium pay on Sundays, and cuts to pay for bank holidays and employees working at anti-social hours, which could [...]
This Soho property boss is “on a mission” to make China town less Chinese July 28, 2016 China town is getting a revamp – and it's going to become less Chinese. Speaking to City A.M., the chief executive of Shaftesbury – which owns 3.2 acres of land in Chinatown – said there are too many Cantonese restaurants in China town, and he hopes to attract more varied set of restaurateurs to the heart of London. Read [...]
Westfield to create 8,000 new jobs at Stratford centre as part of expansion plans July 28, 2016 Shopping centre group Westfield is planning to create 8,000 new jobs at its Stratford centre in east London within the next 10 years. The jobs, mainly retail roles, will be created as part of expansion plans that also include up to 800,000 square feet of office space and 120,000 square feet of retail space, in addition to 1,225 new [...]
A sign of things to come? Countrywide shares leap despite pre-Brexit housing market slowdown July 28, 2016 The UK's largest estate agent said it had been hit by a slowdown in housing transactions in the run-up to the EU referendum. Is this a sign of things to come? The figures Countrywide said adjusted pre-tax profits fell 25 per cent to £21.8m in the six months to the end of June, although total income rose nine per cent to [...]
Now Amazon is bringing one-hour Prime delivery to Scotland July 27, 2016 Amazon's mission to deliver its goods to impatient customers faster than anyone else took another step forward as it extended its Prime one and two-hour deliveries to Scotland for the first time. Residents of Glasgow rejoice, particularly those in the areas of Parkhead, Shawlands and Paisley, where anyone ordering can get thousands of items to their [...]
Commercial rent edged up in the second quarter, with London outperforming the rest of the nation July 27, 2016 Central London shops have been helping to boost rental growth in the second quarter of 2016, according to CBRE. Rents in UK prime commercial property were up one per cent in the second quarter of 2016; high street shop rents were up 2.8 per cent. Industrial rents grew by 1.4 per cent. Read more: Demand for commercial [...]
“He’s the man who put BS into BHS”: Here are the best reactions to the select committee report on the demise of BHS July 25, 2016 Sir Philip Green has taken a bashing this morning, after MPs described him as the "unacceptable face of capitalism" in a report on the demise of BHS. Here are the reactions to their damning verdict of Green and the company he ran "like a medieval fiefdom" – not all of them have been negative. Read more: Sir Philip Green leadership [...]
The surprise winners and losers from Pokemon Go July 25, 2016 Who's the biggest winner from the Pokemon Go craze? Who wouldn't be saying Nintendo at this point in time? But, it's more like Pokemon No… The Japanese games firm today revealed that the hottest game in town will only have a limited impact on its profits after all. Say what? Yep, read on to find out why [...]