Covent Garden owner Capco reports strong rental demand as West End gears up for its £3.5bn merger with Shaftesbury January 30, 2023 Trading conditions across the Covent Garden estate have been positive, in particular a successful Christmas trading period with like-for-like customer sales in aggregate exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Ian Hawksworth, chief executive of Covent Garden estate owner Capco, said: “There is continued momentum at Covent Garden with robust trading conditions, in particular a successful Christmas period,” said [...]
Derby County: Why West Ham United should fear a giant killing at the hands of resurgent Rams’ dad’s army January 30, 2023 It’s only six months since Derby County’s nightmare ended but already they are starting to dream big again. The former champions of England and founding members of the Football League spent two years with their existence in the balance – nine months of it languishing in administration, which they only exited after being relegated to [...]
Ignoring nuclear will cost us dearly as the UK scrambles to stave off blackouts January 30, 2023 The need for a proven, continuous, low carbon power source has never been more urgent, and the only viable option for that is nuclear power.
Fleet Street site amongst a host of Barclays bank branch closures January 28, 2023 Barclays has announced the closure of 15 branches across the country, meaning over 100 banks are slated to shut down so far this year. The bank is set to close 14 branches across England and one in Wales from late April to the first few days on May. Sites in London, Gosport, Bridgwater and St [...]
Hunt: ‘No conceivable circumstances’ where HS2 does NOT reach Euston – as £1bn spend on its station is breached January 27, 2023 HS2 Ltd’s work at Euston started six years ago with more than £1 billion already spent, as chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it’s not “conceivable” it won’t reach London. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he did not see “any conceivable circumstances” in which HS2 would not run to its planned central London terminus at Euston, amid reports [...]
Manchester United and Liverpool fans put rivalry aside to call for government action over club sales January 25, 2023 Rival supporters from Manchester United and Liverpool have set aside their differences to demand that the UK government toughens up rules on club ownership before an independent football regulator is established. The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) and the Liverpool-affiliated Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) want urgent action since both clubs could soon have new owners [...]
Is it Avanti? The award for Britain’s worst rail network goes to…. January 23, 2023 Avanti West Coast is the country’s worst train operator when it comes to cancellations, according to a new ranking. A Press Association analysis of recent data published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) shows that Avanti West Coast’s cancellation score for the four weeks ended 7 January was 18.9 per cent. Cancellation score [...]
Doctor Who and Sherlock writers’ new show The Unfriend is unfunny and tedious – review January 23, 2023 ★★☆☆☆ Round up the audience at press night for Steven Moffat’s first London show and you’d have a pretty good BAFTA Awards attendee list. David Tennant, Jim Broadbent, Celia Imrie, Peter Capaldi and Sheila Hancock drift past me on the way in. “I got a BAFTA nom this morning,” one guest casually tells the guy [...]
Chelsea, £400m of signings, long contracts and Financial Fair Play: Key questions answered January 21, 2023 Chelsea have raised eyebrows by spending close to £400m since Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the club last summer, including more than £100m in the January transfer window, but has it left the Premier League club in danger of breaking Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules? Why have they been signing players to unusually long contracts? And [...]
House price sentiment at its weakest in 13 years, as fears of recession blight market January 19, 2023 House prices continued to fall towards the end of 2022, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). The Rics house price balance fell to -42 in December compared to -26 in November, and meant that 42 per cent of surveyors who took part in the survey noted a fall rather than a rise [...]