London’s first skyscraper 55 Broadway to be converted into luxury hotel May 27, 2020 The former London Underground headquarters in St James’ Park will be converted into a luxury hotel after the development was given the green light by planning authorities. Westminster City Council has granted planning permission for Blue Orchid Hotels, part of the Integrity International Group, to transform the 55 Broadway complex into a new hotel. Transport [...]
British Land falls to £1.1bn loss as coronavirus pandemic hits rent payments May 27, 2020 British Land today said its full year results were hit by a slowdown in rent payments in March due to coronavirus and a subsequent fall in the value of its office and retail portfolio. The retail giant posted a loss of £1.1bn in the year to 31 March, with underlying profit for the year falling [...]
Office Politics: How will independent consulting change post-Covid? May 27, 2020 The coronavirus crisis has permanently changed the way we work, showing that remote working is now an increasingly viable solution. As the world learns to adapt to a post-covid working world independent consultants are well placed to support this. When the gig economy is mentioned, Uber and Deliveroo are often the first names that come [...]
Coronavirus: Minister resigns over Dominic Cummings lockdown row May 26, 2020 A government minister has resigned over senior adviser Dominic Cumming’s lockdown trips. Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, said that while he accepted Cummings’ justification for his trips, this was “not shared by the vast majority of people who have done as the government asked”. Ross, who also served as under-secretary of state for Scotland, said [...]
Stock Exchanges in Nigeria and Ghana aim to deepen West African capital markets May 26, 2020 CFA Institute has examined Africa’s 10 largest capital markets in a major report compiled by Heidi Raubenheimer, CFA, our senior director for journal publications. Here we highlight key developments in the West African states of Nigeria and Ghana. Download the full report here. LSEG partnership boosts confidence in Nigerian exchange The economy of Nigeria – the [...]
Alibaba profit tumbles despite Covid-19 lockdown sales boost May 22, 2020 Alibaba today reported a plunge in profit during the fourth quarter as investment losses offset a surge in ecommerce sales during the coronavirus lockdown. The Chinese tech behemoth reported an 88 per cent decline in net income to 3.2bn yuan (£368m) in the three months to the end of March. The group said the decrease [...]
Covid-19: the inescapable truths faced by investors May 22, 2020 Investors will need to be more agile than ever as Covid-19 reinforces many of the trends driving the world economy prior to the outbreak. “At the beginning of the plague, when there was now no more hope but that the whole city would be visited; when all that had friends or estates in the country [...]
There remains plenty for London to be optimistic about May 22, 2020 Back in January, I wrote that the City of London has much to be optimistic about. As a Hong Kong-based investor with close ties to the UK, I could see that the British people’s decision to leave the EU would have little material impact on its future success. I believed that the foundations were strong [...]
Tiktok poaches Disney streaming boss as new chief executive May 19, 2020 The veteran Disney executive behind the launch of its new streaming service is leaving the media empire to become the new chief executive of Tiktok. Kevin Mayer masterminded the rollout of Disney Plus last year but was overlooked for the role of Disney’s new chief executive. Mayer will take over at Tiktok from 1 June, [...]
UK jobless claims soar by a record 856,000 to 2.1m in April May 19, 2020 UK jobless claims soared 69.1 per cent – or by 856,000 – to 2.1m in April, unemployment data showed today to illustrate the staggering impact of coronavirus on the economy. And the UK unemployment number increased by 50,000 to 1.35m as lockdown started in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS [...]