Exclusive: WPP ad agencies Ogilvy and Grey have not yet introduced four-day office policy April 4, 2025 Two of WPP’s flagship advertising agencies have not been able to introduce their holding company’s contested return-to-office mandate because they do not have enough desks to accommodate the influx of staff. City AM has learned that Ogilvy and Grey’s London offices have not yet implemented WPP’s demand for staff to work four days a week [...]
Construction output drops again despite Rayner’s planning reforms April 4, 2025 Construction activity has suffered a further decline and confidence is low despite minister Angela Rayner’s planning reforms getting a thumbs up from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Rayner’s Ministry of Housing is introducing broad changes to planning rules as it hopes to deliver the UK’s construction sector an extra boost. Its planning reforms have [...]
Is real-life Severance here? Inside the offices microchipping employees April 4, 2025 Is real life Severance already here? Anna Moloney talks to the companies using human microchips in the pursuit of productivity.
Theo Paphitis: Losses slashed in half at Ryman despite falling sales April 2, 2025 The group behind Ryman, the stationery retailer owned by former Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis, has slashed its loss almost in half despite falling sales. The Cheshire-headquartered group has reported a pre-tax loss of £1.49m for the year to 30 March, 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House. The figure comes after Ryman Group posted [...]
Are we all just winging it, all the time? April 2, 2025 There aren’t many decade-old Guardian articles that still resonate with me, but I can recall (and often revisit) a 2014 column by Oliver Burkeman. He was writing in response to the latest example of institutional failure that week (something to do with the bungled sacking of the New York Times editor) and he was able [...]
Boutique Leicester Square hotel handed £42m price tag April 1, 2025 A recently-converted boutique hotel in London’s Leicester Square has been put on the market for £42m. The former office building on 2-5 Charing Cross Road has undergone a significant conversion project and is set to be fully operational by June. The announcement comes as former Natwest bank on London’s Piccadilly is also set to become [...]
Harvey Nichols: Losses near £100m at luxury department store chain as sales fall April 1, 2025 Harvey Nichols has now lost almost £100m since it last made a pre-tax profit, it has been revealed, after being hit by the cost-of-living crisis and high inflation during its latest financial year. Delayed accounts for the iconic retailer, which was founded in 1831, have revealed its pre-tax loss went from £21.2m to £35.3m in [...]
Council pay: Westminster tops ‘town hall rich list’ with 73 staff on over £100k March 31, 2025 Westminster City Council has topped a national ‘town hall rich list’ with 73 staff rewarded with over £100,000 last year. The central London borough council also had the most employees nationwide – at eight – receiving more than £200,000 in total remuneration, in 2023-24, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA). While 13 more Westminster staff [...]
Boss of Mirror publisher quits to join Jockey Club March 31, 2025 The boss of news publisher Reach has left with immediate effect for a new role at the Jockey Club, the UK’s largest commercial horseracing organisation. Jim Mullen, who has been chief executive at the owner of the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Daily Star since 2019, is leaving by “mutual agreement”, the firm’s board said [...]
Monzo, Starling, Zilch: The fintech IPOs that could boost London March 30, 2025 London markets have suffered a torrid couple of years, but could fintech help turn the tide? Swedish fintech Klarna marked the latest snub to the City after it announced it was pursuing a US-listing despite hopes the firm would float in London. This followed 88 companies leaving the London Stock Exchange (LSE) last year, including [...]