August 2015 TfL Tube strike update: Action could cost London retailers and restaurants millions as footfall tipped to fall 10 per cent August 5, 2015 Shops, restaurants and bars in London are bracing themselves for a sharp drop in footfall and bookings as a result of the Tube strike, which starts at 6:30pm tonight and will run throughout Thursday. The British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) said that on the day of the last strike on 9 July, London shopping [...]
Crowdcube raises £6m from Numis, Tim Draper’s Draper Esprit and Balderton, with plans to open access to IPO investments August 5, 2015 Crowdfunding investment platform Crowdcube has raised its own round of funding, which will allow it to offer a new way for investors to access companies which are about to go public. The £6m comes from stockbroker Numis, among others. The pair will work together to bring IPO investment opportunities to the platform. Renowned Silicon Valley [...]
Tesco and Sainsbury’s vs Asda and Morrisons: Britain’s biggest retailers row over Sunday trading laws August 5, 2015 British businesses are readying for a fight over government plans to shake up Sunday trading rules. The government will today open a formal consultation on proposals to give local areas the power to allow large shops to open for longer on Sundays. Current laws allow smaller shops to stay open all day, but limit larger [...]
School holiday season boosts retail figures at Birmingham Bullring operator Hammerson August 4, 2015 The start of the school holiday season helped drive a sharp rise in retail sales in July, according to one of Britain’s biggest shopping centre owners. Hammerson, which owns the Bullring in Birmingham as well as north London’s Brent Cross shopping centre, launched the Hammerson Retail Tracker — or HART — earlier this year to [...]
Robo-advisers backed to fill financial gap August 2, 2015 GOVERNMENT officials and regulators are today launching a new review aimed at improving consumers’ access to financial advice. However, experts say that the answer to the so-called “advice gap” is likely to be found in new financial technologies such as automated online portfolio managers known as “robo-advisers”. Robo-advisers are most common in the US, where [...]
Canary Wharf Group launches registration for 800 riverside homes at former Shell Centre July 30, 2015 Fresh from its takeover by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, Canary Wharf Group has launched registration for homes at its first-ever non-Canary Wharf development – Southbank Place, formerly known as the Shell Centre. The company is planning a £1bn renovation of the 27-storey site, which will include 868 homes, 530,000 sq ft of office space [...]
A quiet tech revolution is happening – not in Shoreditch or Birmingham – but in Croydon July 30, 2015 I read Nick Holzherr’s recent article championing Birmingham’s Silicon Canal with a mixture of interest and a large degree of scepticism. As the founder of Croydon Tech City, I agree that the UK’s technological future doesn’t lie solely with the denizens of Old Street. But I argue vehemently with his alternative. If you want [...]
City Moves for 30 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 29, 2015 Principal Global Investors The asset management firm has announced several appointments to its fixed income team in Europe. Mark Cernicky and Randy Woodbury (pictured) transfer to its London office. Cernicky has 15 years’ investment experience and is a managing director. Woodbury is a senior portfolio manager and trader. In addition, Nicolas Woodcock joins as senior [...]
Buy-to-let enthusiasm can drive new supply if we demolish housing barriers July 28, 2015 It was at the time of another landmark Budget – Nigel Lawson’s in 1988 – that the UK’s rental market as we know it first began to emerge. The Housing Act’s deregulation measures of the same year, notably liberalising rents, set the scene for rapid growth in the private rented sector. This was fuelled by [...]
Secret Escapes gets $60m Google Ventures backing for global expansion July 26, 2015 Deals website Secret Escapes has landed $60m (£39m) investment from Google's venture arm to fuel ambitious global expansion plans. The flash deals website set up in London in 2010 which offers luxury holidays at a discount has completed a series C round of funding led by Google Ventures and existing investor Octopus Investments. Index and [...]