City AM crowns the capital’s best at Toast the City Awards 2025 October 23, 2025 London’s Square Mile played host to a celebration of culinary and cultural excellence last night at City AM’s inaugural Toast the City Awards 2025. Supported by five Business Improvement Districts, the Eastern City, Culture Mile BID, Aldgate Connect, Cheapside and Fleet Street Quarter, Toast the City awards was the first ever ceremony celebrating Square Mile [...]
In defence of sport’s blazers: Give them scrutiny, yes, but also empathy October 23, 2025 Spend a minute on social media during a major sporting event and you’ll find them: the keyboard warriors, the armchair pundits, the self-appointed arbiters of “what the fans really want”. Their target? The blazers in the boardroom perceived to be truffling for perks and who wouldn’t know how to find the nearest grassroots facility. While [...]
UK investment: Optimism from Expo Real 2025 October 22, 2025 I recently returned from Expo Real in Munich, where I joined colleagues from the City of London Corporation and a UK cities delegation committed to one clear goal: To drive global investment into the UK and deliver the growth this country needs. But the competition is fierce. Cities like New York and Singapore are not [...]
Rachel Reeves is in a hole, but she just keeps digging October 22, 2025 Only the Conservatives have a plan to turn the economy around by abolishing stamp duty, cut welfare spending and get Britain back to work, says Andrew Griffith Rachel Reeves’ much-dreaded Autumn Budget is now just over a month away. And with each passing week there is a crescendo building. It’s made up of voices from [...]
Liverpool Street Chop House: Should you go over Hawksmoor, Boisdale? October 20, 2025 The closure of Threadneedle Street’s M Restaurant earlier this year, after a decade slinging the capital’s finest steak, was a genuine blow. One of the restaurants that helped the Square Mile shake off its stuffy reputation, it combined a meticulous, scholarly appreciation of meat with a sense of fun, even whimsy. Robot waiters, wine vending [...]
Inside amazing new London restaurant in an old bank near Oxford Street October 16, 2025 New London restaurant Aki has opened in a quiet enclave a few minutes’ walk from Oxford Street A handsome, high-ceilinged former bank with all its beautiful ceiling cornicing and latticework from its 1825 opening has been refashioned as a Japanese restaurant. New London restaurant Aki is behind an unassuming door opposite The Phoenix pub a [...]
Premier Inn owner warns of ‘mounting pressure’ of tax rises before Budget October 16, 2025 Whitbred, the owner of Premier Inn, has warned that tax rises are becoming more likely and could pose a serious risk to the UK’s hospitality industry. Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a £40bn gap in the nation’s finances, which is ever-more likely to be filled by a tax-raising Autumn Budget. The target of those tax rises [...]
Social Pantry CEO: If we can employ prison leavers, so can others October 16, 2025 In this week's Square Mile and Me, Social Pantry CEO Alex Head tells us about working with prison leavers, and why more businesses should.
Scotch Whisky Association calls for spirits duty freeze as industry headwinds grow October 15, 2025 The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has urged the UK Government to impose a multi-year freeze on spirits duty, warning that continued inaction threatens jobs, investment and Treasury revenues. In a submission ahead of the autumn Budget, the trade body stated that recent duty increases had cost the Treasury £700m while placing a £12 tax burden [...]
Gordon Ramsay to launch 24-hour restaurant in City’s tallest tower October 14, 2025 Gordon Ramsay is set to launch a new Bread Street Kitchen restaurant at 22 Bishopsgate, currently the City of London’s tallest skyscraper. The restaurant, which follows the opening of Lucky Cat in the same location earlier this year, is expected in 2026 and will come equipped with a 24-hour liquor license to cater to international [...]