Extended lockdown weighs on IWG but strong recovery predicted June 7, 2021 Office space provider IWG today said that occupancy levels are improving but the prolonged impact of Covid-19 has delayed its recovery. While the company has seen positive occupancy momentum in the US, the improvement across the group has been slower-than-expected. This is largely down to continuing lockdown restrictions and the emergence of new variants in [...]
Wall Street opens lower while FTSE plunges to snap June winning streak June 3, 2021 Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower today as investors weighed up data showing a pick up in jobs growth for cues on the trajectory of inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 per cent at the open, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.3 per cent. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8 per cent to [...]
Workspace group hits first losses in 12 years amid flexible working June 3, 2021 Office-space provider Workspace has tumbled into its first annual loss in over a decade today, as its rental income was hammered by work from home measures. The group posted losses before tax of £235.7m in the year to 31 March, after raking in a profit of £72.5m last year. Trading profit after interest were [...]
Cobots are coming to a workplace near you May 19, 2021 The word ‘robot’ is a relative newcomer to the English language. It was the brainchild of Czech playwright Karel Čapek who introduced it in his 1920 hit play Rossum’s Universal Robots. The word is drawn from the old Slavic word, robota, which means “servitude” “forced labor” or “drudgery”. By contrast the word ‘cobot’ is a very modern portmanteau [...]
London offices get facelift in lockdown despite pandemic May 17, 2021 New construction starts in London have jumped by one-fifth in the six months to March 2021, despite the pandemic and changing working practices, research by Deloitte has found. New office starts are up to 3.1 million square feet, Deloitte found, with 32 new schemes breaking ground during the six months. More than half (56%) of [...]
The future of the office – What will be the ‘new normal’? May 14, 2021 As we slowly contemplate a return to “normal” life following the disruption caused by the Government’s response to Covid-19, office-based employers are trying to figure out what that return looks like for their businesses. There is a real difference of opinion, both between sectors and in-sector, with some firms advocating that everyone should immediately return [...]
City Corporation releases new CGI images of the future City skyline May 6, 2021 The City of London Corporation has today (6 May) released updated images visualising how the Square Mile’s skyline will look by the mid 2020’s. The new images capture all major developments which have been resolved to approve by the City Corporation’s Planning and Transportation Committee over the past 12 months including 50 Fenchurch Street, 55 Gracechurch [...]
Mayor of London election: Where do the major candidates stand on the Covid recovery? May 5, 2021 With the 6 May mayor of London election just one day away, City A.M. is producing a four-piece series on where the four leading candidates stand on different issues. Today, we look at Covid recovery policies from the candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats. Sadiq Khan The incumbent mayor [...]
Corona Impact Series: How the chronicle of a storyteller from Dalston turned into a virtual tale April 30, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks at the financial and economic impact of the ongoing pandemic on a range of small and medium-sized businesses across London. This week: How a creative provider of experience in East London was pushed to go entirely digital overnight, without losing its authenticity and immersiveness. “As Covid hit and the bottom fell out [...]
City Corporation unveils action plan to be world’s most innovative, inclusive and sustainable centre April 27, 2021 The Square Mile must adapt to post-pandemic economic and social trends in order to remain a world-leading ecosystem, according to a new report published today by the City of London Corporation. The Square Mile: Future City, produced by the City Corporation’s Recovery Taskforce inpartnership with Oliver Wyman, sets out a vision for the next five [...]