Our favourite restaurants and bars re-open! July 15, 2020 As businesses make their first steps back towards ‘normal life’ we have listed some of our favourite London spots to help you keep up to date with what’s on offer across the City. 1 Lombard Street will reopen on 20th July with some exciting new changes as chef, restaurateur and food writer Mark Hix joins the [...]
UK small businesses ‘optimistic for the future’ despite coronavirus crisis July 15, 2020 Most UK small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are optimistic about the future despite the huge challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest research. In total 60 per cent of UK SME owners are hopeful about the future of their business, making the UK the most optimistic in western Europe, alongside the [...]
Morgan Sindall lands £250m Lewisham Gateway development deal July 14, 2020 Construction firm Morgan Sindall has received £252m in funding from private landlord Get Living to complete the Lewisham Gateway redevelopment project. The development, which is expected to be completed in 2023, will 649 rentable properties, as well as a combined 50,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and office spaces. It will also contain Lewisham’s first [...]
Asian shares retreat as virus and Sino-US tensions flare July 14, 2020 Asian stock markets slipped today, oil sagged and a safety bid supported the dollar as simmering Sino-US tensions and fresh coronavirus restrictions in California kept a lid on investor optimism as earnings season gets underway. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei retreated from a one-month high touched [...]
London tourism sector calls for urgent financial support to avert crisis July 13, 2020 London’s tourism sector has urged the government to provide it with a specific package of support, warning the coronavirus pandemic could create an economic crisis for the industry. In total 10,776 London attractions, restaurants, hotels, industry bodies and event organisers have written to the Prime Minister to call for investment and a plan for tourists [...]
Wetherspoon slashes prices after hospitality VAT cut July 13, 2020 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will slash the price of a range of meals and drinks following the government’s decision to cut VAT for the hospitality industry. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced last week that VAT will be reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent until next year. Wetherspoon said today that it will “fully [...]
Carlsberg expects better than forecast profit as China trade bounces back July 10, 2020 Danish brewer Carlsberg said today that it expects to suffer a smaller drop in profit than previously forecast after trade in China bounced back after the coronavirus lockdown. The firm said it expects a nine per cent drop in operating profit in the second quarter compared to analyst forecasts of a 26 per cent decline. [...]
Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group says some sites will remain closed until 2021 July 10, 2020 Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group has secured a £50m government loan it said this morning as it revealed that some sites won’t reopen until next year. The Restaurant Group said today that just 25 per cent of its 400 sites will be open by the end of July, despite the government giving a green light [...]
The Friday Interview: Chris D’Sylva and the Supermarket of Dreams July 10, 2020 Every Friday, City A.M. Deputy Editor Andy Silvester interviews somebody making waves in the finer things in life: food and drink. This week he sits down with Chris D’Sylva amidst the stacked shelves of the “Supermarket of Dreams,” which opened amidst lockdown in the first week of June Nestled amongst the somewhat staid independent shops [...]
Beauty salons, massage parlours and gyms set to reopen in England next week July 9, 2020 Beauty salons, nail bars, tattoo studios, massage parlours, spas and gyms are set to reopen next week after months of closure during the coronavirus crisis, the government announced today, though facial treatments will remain prohibited under strict social distancing measures. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden today said: “Having allowed hairdressers to reopen, beauticians, tattooists, spas, tanning [...]