TfL commissioner Andy Byford: Getting the capital moving again September 8, 2020 Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, outlines what he has been doing to make TfL services ready for people to use them again. I started my career at London Underground in 1989, and through the last few decades I’ve worked for transport organisations all over the world – America, Australia, Canada. All different, but in each [...]
Shaun Bailey: London deserves better than the mayor’s message of doom September 8, 2020 Tube use is down 70 per cent. High streets are empty. Only 17 per cent of people are back in offices. These are unprecedented times for London. So you’d think the mayor of London would have a plan to get people back to their offices safely and securely. You’d think he would be innovative, like [...]
‘No time for a show of virility’: Sadiq Khan on getting London moving again September 7, 2020 One of the largest criticisms of Sadiq Khan over his first mayoral term has been that he is more concerned about his personal PR and with making political gestures than with his job of running the nation’s capital. The mayor of London has been beset by attacks that he has increased spending on City Hall [...]
Homeless shelter investment firm plans £250m London float September 7, 2020 Homeless accommodation provider Home Reit has this morning announced that it will float on the London Stock Exchange market next month. The trust, which seeks to invest in accommodation for homeless people across the UK, is looking to raise £250m from the initial public offering. The first real estate trust to float in London since [...]
Exclusive: Central London will not be busy any time soon, says Sadiq Khan September 6, 2020 Sadiq Khan has admitted central London will not be “anywhere near” pre-Covid levels for months to come as he prepares to survey businesses about their back to office plans. The London mayor told City A.M. in an exclusive interview – released tomorrow in full – that office and public transport social distancing rules meant central [...]
Home working could cost UK economy £15bn a year, PwC warns September 6, 2020 Home working could cost the UK economy up to £15.3bn a year due to the knock-on effect on office cleaners and security guards as well as nearby cafes and coffee shops. The latest research by accountancy firm PwC showed that the one per cent drop in GDP would be caused by a cut in spending [...]
Government needs clearer ‘back to work’ message, says senior Tory MP September 3, 2020 The government has to give clearer and more consistent advice on people going back to their workplaces, according to a prominent Tory backbencher. Sir Graham Brady, who is chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, said the message coming from ministers was unclear and that people needed “common sense advice”. The government was due [...]
London Tories call for Waterloo and City Tube line to reopen September 3, 2020 A group of Conservative London MPs and London Assembly members have called for the Waterloo and City Tube line to reopen in a bid to boost the number of people returning to central London. The line – which travels directly between Bank and Waterloo stations – was closed when the country was put into the [...]
Sadiq Khan hits out at 51 landlords for not removing dangerous cladding September 2, 2020 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has slammed 51 London landlords for not removing dangerous cladding from their buildings in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell disaster. Khan wrote to 47 private landlords and four social landlords who had been given government funding to remove cladding in their buildings that acted as a fire retardant in [...]
Can office workers save the day for local businesses ravaged by Covid-19? September 2, 2020 The sudden shift to remote working put in place by the majority of UK businesses may herald the end of the office, at least as we know it. Five months and multiple government campaigns later, and the shift to the kitchen table continues, seemingly unabated. According to a survey from US bank Morgan Stanley, just [...]