Deutsche Bank buys new FCA headquarters at Stratford’s International Quarter for £370m January 12, 2016 Deutsche Bank has snapped up an office development in Stratford that will house the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) headquarters, in a £370m deal. The German bank's asset management arm has agreed to forward fund the 515,000 sq ft building, which forms part of a major £2.3bn development next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park known as the International Quarter. The [...]
Tube strikes: The unions are harming London and the low paid by striking over Night Tube January 12, 2016 When Mike Brown was confirmed as London’s new transport commissioner last September, he might have expected to find a note from his predecessor stating bluntly: “Dear commissioner, I’m afraid there is no money”. While most of the UK economy has adapted to the realities of modern-day austerity, however, the transport unions are apparently yet to [...]
Bottoms Up: Coq d’Argent owner D&D London toasts jump in Christmas sales January 11, 2016 D&D London, the restaurant and hotel empire behind the City’s Coq D’argent and South Place Hotel, has posted a jump in sales over Christmas as diners popped open the champagne. The company, which is mulling a stock market float, said UK like-for-like sales jumped by 4.2 per cent in December. Underlying sales for the nine months [...]
Eat and London Luton airport owner Ardian Private Equity closes the largest ever European infrastructure fund worth €2.65bn January 11, 2016 Ardian, the French private equity house whose investments include restaurant chain Eat and London Luton airport, has closed its infrastructure fund with €2.65bn (£1.98bn) of investment. It is Ardian's fourth infrastructure fund, and is the largest such fund raised by a European firm, surpassing Ardian's third fund by 50 per cent. Some €900m came from new [...]
Facebook Messenger app passes 800m users and David Marcus predicts decline of SMS and text messaging January 7, 2016 Facebook is predicting the decline of SMS in 2016 as it revealed its Messenger app has passed the 800m user milestone. David Marcus, the vice president of Facebook messaging products said there is still "much more opportunity ahead" and the app, which launched in March 2014, was still in its early days. The figures mean Messenger [...]
Sainsbury’s should focus on its core offer January 6, 2016 Sainsbury's and Home Retail Group do not at first glance appear obvious bedfellows. If perceptions count for anything, and they do in retail, then Sainsbury’s is very much a supermarket that attempts to cater for the British middle class. Home Retail Group’s Argos doesn’t. But for both the high street and supermarkets, these are desperate [...]
2015 in review: The best crowdfunded projects, gadgets, investments and companies of the year include beer, burritos, gifs and Greece December 31, 2015 2015 was the year that crowdfunding really took off. Whether it was serious equity funding for a slice of the business or a kickstarter for the latest gadget giving people a reward in return, there were plenty of options. Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favourites this year, including beer, burritos, gifs and more. 1. The [...]
M&G Real Estate buys Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in the City for £93m December 17, 2015 M&G Real Estate has bought Bloomberg’s new European headquarters near Mansion House in the City, in a £92.5m deal. The fund manager said it has bought the freehold ground lease of Bloomberg Place from Legal & General Property, which put the site up for sale two months ago after more than 60 years of ownership. The vast 750,000 square feet [...]
Crowdcube and Deliveroo join Tech City UK’s rising stars in the Future Fifty programme December 16, 2015 London-based restaurant delivery app Deliveroo is among the 15 new entrants to the Tech City UK Future Fifty programme. The Future Fifty, part of UK Trade and Investment, celebrates, and supports, 50 of the UK's rising tech stars, and this year's entrants are a testament to the growing force of e-commerce. Also joining Deliveroo on [...]
Piquet restaurant in Fitzrovia is a former car-park that now serves snails to die for December 15, 2015 92-94 Newman Street, W1, piquet-restaurant.co.uk FOOD ★★★★☆ | VALUE ★★★★ | ATMOSPHERE ★★★☆☆ Cost for two with booze: £140 The part of Fitzrovia surrounding Piquet isn’t what you’d call atmospheric. At least not in a good way. To the north block after block of faceless office buildings recede into the distance; to the south lies the grubbier [...]