End of the road: Soho’s al fresco festival to end in September August 26, 2021 It has been one of the few positives to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, but as the virus recedes it appears so will Soho’s al fresco revival. Westminster City Council has informed businesses that traffic will be re-introduced to Soho’s streets at the end of September, bringing to an end the weekend and evening [...]
GTO Engineering 250 GT SWB Revival review: tribute to a classic Ferrari : CityAM August 25, 2021 I used to pass a Ferrari 250 GT SWB on the way to work. Or so it seemed. The car looked kosher from a distance, but closer inspection revealed thumb-sized panel gaps, a plasticky interior and a telling lack of tailpipes (one instead of the usual four). In hindsight, the fact that it was street-parked [...]
West End landlord: Weekly footfall 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels August 23, 2021 West End landlord Shaftesbury has said weekly footfall has recovered to 50-60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as hospitality businesses enjoy a “strong recovery” of trading levels. The landlord reported increased occupancy across all uses with available-to-let vacancy at 4.1 per cent by 13 August 2021 compared to 8.4 per cent on 31 March 2021. [...]
West End landlord: Weekly footfall 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels – CityAM : CityAM August 23, 2021 West End landlord Shaftesbury has said weekly footfall has recovered to 50-60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as hospitality businesses enjoy a “strong recovery” of trading levels. The landlord reported increased occupancy across all uses with available-to-let vacancy at 4.1 per cent by 13 August 2021 compared to 8.4 per cent on 31 March 2021. [...]
Britain 2030: Writing off the high street is unambitious; its future is bespoke, local and community-driven August 20, 2021 After years of decline, the Covid-19 pandemic further hammered the high street, leading to boarded up shops and mass job losses, and some to declare the high street “dead”. But writing off the high street could prove to be unambitious, as, with the help of local government and private stakeholders, the post-pandemic high street could [...]
Boris Johnson: UK deployment of troops to stop Taliban ‘not an option’ August 18, 2021 Boris Johnson has today declared that deploying tens of thousands of UK troops to stop the Taliban in Afghanistan is “not an option” and that there was “no appetite” among Nato partners to intervene further in the country. Johnson told MPs today that “the west could not continue this US-led mission – a mission conceived [...]
Wall Street ends hot streak and opens lower amid China growth slowdown August 16, 2021 Wall Street fell from last week’s record highs at Monday’s open amid concerns about the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan and after China missed expectations on a range of data, signalling that its economy was slowing down. The S&P 500 slid down 0.4 per cent from Friday’s all-time high of the year, while the [...]
The fall of Afghanistan: Western governments got bored and Taliban rule has been resurrected August 16, 2021 We are watching a strategic and humanitarian calamity unfold. We are watching it live on TV and social media and yet, despite its immediacy, despite information from the scene of unparalleled detail and accuracy, we are doing nothing. Nothing except, perhaps, trying to evacuate the last few thousand of our troops who are still in [...]
The interview: Sir Richard Branson on the past, present and future August 14, 2021 Christopher Jackson talks to the CEO about the pandemic, work and his friendships with Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela. Thanks to our friends at Finito for allowing us to republish their article. Fame will sometimes have a blurring effect. Public presence sustained over a long period of time can create a confusing image. During a [...]
Nicola Sturgeon calls for review of controversial North Sea oil field August 13, 2021 Nicola Sturgeon has today written to Boris Johnson calling for a review of a controversial plan to drill a new oil field off the west coast of Shetland. She said that drilling licenses for fields such as Cambo should “be reassessed in light of the severity of the climate emergency we now face”. Although the [...]