Boxing Day footfall bounce for retail as West End chief calls for recovery help December 27, 2022 Retail destinations across the country reaped the rewards of a Christmas without Covid restrictions as Boxing Day sales enticed shoppers out of their houses. However, business leaders noted footfall was still below 2019 levels and called on the government to help accelerate retail’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as it grapples with an economic downturn. [...]
Brits must prepare for ‘significant rail disruption’ into January due to strikes December 27, 2022 Rail passengers have been warned to prepare for “significantly disrupted” travel into the New Year amid a wave of industrial unrest sweeping across the country. The Network Rail warning came as members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) at CrossCountry staged a 24-hour strike from 9pm on Boxing Day as part of a long-running campaign for [...]
Bus and train strikes continue to frustrate retailers looking to cash in on Bank Holiday December 27, 2022 Holiday shopping may have to be put on hold once more as bus and train strikes continue to stall the London transport network. The national Network Rail strike ended this morning at 6am with services set to be disrupted throughout the day, in part due to the ban on overtime working. British businesses have urged [...]
Best of 2022: How George the Poet is changing the national conversation December 26, 2022 It seems almost unbelievable that Harry and Megan’s wedding – global audience: 1.9 billion – was opened by… a podcaster. But George Mpanga, better known as George the Poet, is no ordinary podcaster; he’s a musician and a thinker, pushing the boundaries of the medium so far he’s created a genre all of his own. [...]
Red-faced Putin: Russia now ready to ‘negotiate’ over Ukraine war December 25, 2022 President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but that Kyiv and its Western backers had refused to engage in talks. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most deadly conflict in Europe since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since [...]
Best of 2022: Sir Geoff Hurst: ‘My own memory could fade. You expect it to happen’ December 25, 2022 In this exclusive interview first published in July 2022, Sir Geoff Hurst says seeing most of his 1966 World Cup winning team-mates suffer with dementia convinced him to preserve his memories in the form of a digital artwork and raise money for Alzheimer’s charities. Every morning Sir Geoff Hurst goes for an hour-long walk through [...]
Square Foot Mile: Corporate office space deals surged by 25 per cent in 2022 December 23, 2022 Big corporate deals for London HQs has caused office leasing volumes to surge by almost 25 per cent. The post-pandemic return to the office is in full swing, with central London take-up rising by 24 per cent this year. Of the increase, demand for high-quality space in the capital has skyrocketed with 60 per cent [...]
London flexible office occupancy rates recover to pre-pandemic levels December 22, 2022 Flexible office spaces in central London have seen their occupancy rates recover to pre-pandemic levels, new data shows. A majority (86 per cent) of the world’s top 30 flexible workspace providers have seen now seen occupancy rates in their central London offices surpass levels of 60 per cent, a survey by Knight Frank shows. A [...]
Londoners warned about busier buses as drivers go on month strike December 21, 2022 Londoners have been warned that buses will be “busier than usual” in the next few weeks, as drivers working in south and west London are set to go on strike. Members of the union Unite working for operator Abellio will down tools for 11 days between 24 December and 26 January as part of a [...]
Britain’s workaholics: Meet the Hackney fishmonger who is up earlier than the milkman December 21, 2022 Britain’s small business owners are among the hardest working people in the country with many up before the milkman and still going long after the DJ has played their final song. Nearly half of bosses work more than 50 hours per week while a third start work before 5am – a time better known to [...]