Shaftesbury bolstered by West End property investment boom November 27, 2014 SHAFTESBURY has seen the value of its West End estate soar over the past year, thanks to booming investor interest in London’s prime property market. The FTSE 250 landlord, which owns hundreds of properties around Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, Chinatown, and Soho, posted a 25.7 per cent jump in net asset value per share to [...]
How does GSK’s new Ebola vaccine work? US safety trials show immunity with no side effects November 27, 2014 GSK's Ebola vaccine could soon be used to protect people against the disease in west Africa, after trials in the US gave volunteers immunity to the deadly virus without causing any negative side effects. Some 20 healthy people were administered the vaccine in an early-stage clinical trial, and all developed antibodies within four weeks, [...]
Iran nuclear crisis: The sharks are circling and war is not impossible November 25, 2014 IF THE conventional wisdom of the mainstream press could sum up the current state of the Iranian nuclear talks in one headline, it would absurdly read “Optimism as talks fail to end”. Even by their standards, this fails to pass the laugh test analytically. Instead, an alarmed pessimism must be the correct response. For after [...]
TfL does something ahead of schedule for once: Bond Street tube station re-opens for Jubilee line London Underground travellers November 24, 2014 Christmas shoppers can enjoy the relief of easy access to the heart of London’s shopping district, as Bond Street station partially re-opens for business today. However beleaguered secret santas weighed down with stocking-fillers will have to wait until mid-December to use the tube station as an escape route from the busy retail hub. [...]
Something for the weekend November 20, 2014 For a festive treat: winter wonderland Ice rink? Check. Fun fair? Check. 200 fairy-lit Bavarian wooden chalets? Check. Winter Wonderland, London’s most extravagantly christmassy spectacle, returns to Hyde Park today. Open every day from 10am-10pm. For a Christmas ride: Tally ho! cycle tour Tally Ho! have organised a cycle ride around all London’s best Christmas [...]
When is the best time to go Christmas shopping? Here are London’s busiest days so you can avoid them November 20, 2014 Next week is expected to see the start of the Christmas rush with Black Friday on November 28 – a US import that was brought about to stimulate spend after Thanksgiving. Fast becoming a crucial part in the retail calendar, high street names such as John Lewis are predicting big things, with many [...]
The four horsemen of the chocolate apocalypse: Here’s why there’s a chocolate shortage November 18, 2014 Say it ain't so. Leading confectioners have warned the world could be about to run out of chocolate. In its annual results published earlier this month, Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate manufacturer, said it had sold 1.72m tonnes of the brown stuff in the year to the end of August, an 11.8 per cent [...]
Green light for Battersea Tube extension November 13, 2014 Ministers have given the green light to a new London Underground station at Battersea, following plans to extend the Northern Line from Kennington, via Nine Elms. Both areas will get new stations, which will be open by 2020, at a cost of almost £1bn. The station will connect the regeneration area around the power station [...]
London housing market slower than rest of UK November 13, 2014 HOUSING market activity in London is now lagging behind the rest of the country, new figures reveal today. In the three months to September, the number of transactions in England and Wales was 15.4 per cent higher than the same period last year, according to LSL property services. However, the number of transactions in London [...]
Great Portland to start £500m building spree November 13, 2014 WEST End developer Great Portland Estates (GPE) said yesterday it would splurge £500m on its development pipeline as it looked to take advantage of London’s booming office market. The FTSE 250 property firm beat analyst expectations as it posted an 11.8 per cent rise in net asset value per share to 636p in the six [...]