Blue Orchid Hospitality granted permission to convert Atlas House to a luxury hotel March 27, 2025 Planning permission has been granted for Atlas House on King Street, Cheapside, currently vacant with prior uses as offices. The landmark Italianate-style property is to be transformed into a high-quality boutique hotel under the ownership of the award-winning Blue Orchid Hospitality group, part of the Integrity International Group, led by renowned hotelier and developer, Tony [...]
WPP bets big on AI to regain industry leadership March 22, 2025 Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just reshaping industries, it’s upending them. Nowhere is this more evident than in advertising, where AI is reshaping how brands create, deliver and optimise campaigns. While many firms are still finding their feet with AI, WPP is claiming it has hit the ground running. For the global communications giant, the AI [...]
If we want our economy to grow, our skyline must go up, up, up March 10, 2025 The City's skyline is always changing, but if we want our economy to grow bigger, it must go higher, writes Chris Hayward.
Can the ‘hotelification’ of the office beat working from home? March 8, 2025 London offices are offering monogrammed towels and rooftop gardens to tempt staff back into work, says Alex Morgan Some of the world’s largest companies are pulling the plug on hybrid working, but not without a hitch. In the US, Amazon’s return-to-office (RTO) mandate has been put on pause because of a shortage of desks in [...]
IWG: Co-working platform announces share buyback, higher dividend March 4, 2025 Hybrid workspace provider IWG has announced a share buyback programme and an increase in its dividend after a jump in earnings. The company will buy back $50m (£39.4m) worth of shares and pay out a dividend of 0.90 pence per share for a total 2024 dividend of 1.33 pence per share, up from one pence per [...]
Zopa doubles office footprint in move to Canary Wharf February 25, 2025 Fintech unicorn Zopa is set to double its office footprint with plans to relocate to a new headquarters in Canary Wharf. The new office, located at 20 Water Street in Canary Wharf, will span 44,000 square feet and host Zopa’s 900 current employees. The British digital bank, which was founded in 2020, said the move [...]
Massive civil service office complex approved for Manchester February 24, 2025 A huge new tech-focused Government office complex in Manchester has been given planning permission. The 5.5 acre project, which could support as many as 7,000 civil service jobs in the city, will bring together a range of government departments with a focus on technology. “The new digital campus plays to Manchester’s strengths. We have fostered [...]
‘The Round’: Huge Bankside wellness hub gets planning permission February 6, 2025 Southwark Council has granted full planning approval for a major mixed-use scheme on Blackfriars Road in Bankside, central London. Real estate investor Hines will develop a “largely vacant” site into a sustainable office and residential neighbourhood by 2030, with construction set to start later this year. It’s one of many developments in the city looking [...]
Dear developers, no one actually wants all these retail units February 4, 2025 Big retail units may appeal to developers' fantasies about what towns could be. But they need to focus on actual demand, writes John Andrews.
‘The Slab’ redevelopment begins construction on London’s South Bank January 30, 2025 A mixed use construction scheme on London’s South Bank has been given the green light after developers won a court battle against a campaign group last December. Mitsubishi Estate was granted planning permission by the High Court last December for the redevelopment of 72 Upper Ground, the old headquarters of ITV, after over a year [...]