Brands in London “suffering”: Fresh calls to scrap ‘tourist tax’ amid Mulberry losses June 28, 2023 Fresh calls have been made to reinstate VAT-free shopping for international tourists, after the chief of Mulberry warned its profits have been hit hard by it as they ditch London for Paris and Milan. Pre-tax profit at the British handbag maker fell to £13.2m in the year to April, down from £21.3m the prior year. [...]
Industry must avoid return to ‘Wild West’ with ultra-cheap deals, warns energy boss June 27, 2023 Telecom Plus - which trades as Utility Warehouse - has announced record revenues and profits for its bundled household services arm.
Even if Putin is ousted, it is unlikely to bring about the end of the war in Ukraine June 27, 2023 The Prigozhin mutiny over the weekend showed a weakened Vladimir Putin, yet it's unlikely to change the course of the war in Ukraine - which has long turned into a stalemate, writes John Hulsman
London Heathrow workers call off 31 days of strike this summer as pay deal reached June 23, 2023 31 days of strike action at Heathrow have been averted following a last-ditch deal with Unite members, meaning Brits can once again go on their summer holidays without disruption. A new pay deal was reached between Britain’s biggest airport, and the UK’s biggest union, with 2,000 security officers at terminals 3 and 5, scheduled to [...]
Oliver Stone on Putin, nuclear power and feeling like an outsider June 22, 2023 As we sit down to start our interview, Oliver Stone makes a point of putting his own dictaphone on the table to record our conversation. “To protect ourselves,” he says, before going on to speak non-stop for 45 minutes with absolutely no filter, on virtually any topic I raise, and quite a few I don’t. [...]
Ed Warner: Rugby, boxing, netball, Para sport – what should Saudi Arabia buy next? June 22, 2023 Challenge accepted! A reader last week asked what the most investable sports worldwide are from the perspective of a sovereign wealth fund such as Saudi Arabia’s PIF. He had rugby union in mind, but wanted a long train journey to dredge up others. A return trip on Avanti West Coast to the first Ashes Test [...]
The National Portrait Gallery has been re-imagined to fit into a very modern London June 22, 2023 The refurbished National Portrait Gallery will be modern while maintaining its history. After three years of restructuring, it will be a wonderful addition to the quirky cultural London scene, writes David Ross
Hybrid hinders London commercial space as John Lewis slashes head office value by £15.6m June 20, 2023 The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has slashed the value of its London head office by £15.6m in the latest signal that hybrid working trends continue to hinder the capital’s commercial work space. It comes as last month the retail group revealed that it was ending the lease on its head office in Victoria, London as [...]
Shaftsbury integration ‘progressing well’ in vote of confidence for booming London west end June 14, 2023 Shaftesbury delivered a confident update to the markets, as a return to international tourism and its £4.9bn merger with Capco helped boost activity London’s West-end. In March last year, the two West-end landlords merged, meaning that Shaftesbury who owns land around Soho and Capco who owns land around Covent Garden now operate under one ownership. [...]
Our approach to energy prices shows we want climate policies only if they’re free June 14, 2023 High energy prices could have been an incentive for companies to move to less energy intensive processes and for consumers to use less energy. The opposite happened, writes Paul Ormerod