Oxford Street rebounds to pre-pandemic occupancy as firms bet on shops May 27, 2025 Shop vacancies on Oxford Street have fallen below one per cent for the first time since the pandemic as brands compete for best-in-class retail space. Overall shop vacancies on Oxford Street fell to 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year, the first time the figure has fallen below one per cent since [...]
Lanza-grotty? Hardly! Why Lanzarote is actually rather fabulous May 24, 2025 “David Cameron tucks into five-star hotel buffet in Lanzarote,” read a headline in The Mirror in 2016. Lingering over details like the then Prime Minister’s “all inclusive wrist band” and the resort’s “£230 a night price tag”, the newspaper’s clear implication was that Cameron was luxuriating in a paradise no ordinary Brit could aspire to. [...]
How to fly to New York in style (and why The Devonshire is overrated) May 7, 2025 Flying to New York to visit the Evolv Collection Restaurants last week, I was reminded that the British Airways loyalty scheme conditions had changed. For reference, here are my own (slightly tongue in cheek) rules for any self-respecting ‘City Guy’ visiting Terminal Five: 1. Arrive at the airport in a cab and ask for the [...]
M&S and Co-op: UK retailers brace for cyber attacks May 1, 2025 Two of the UK’s most recognisable retail brands – Marks and Spencer and Co-op – found themselves at the centre of a growing cyber security storm this past week. From suspended online orders at M&S to locked-down systems at Co-op, the message from the frontline is clear: cyber threats are no longer just an IT [...]
Lindt: £75m sought for UK home of Swiss chocolatier April 30, 2025 The UK headquarters of Swiss chocolatier Lindt has been put up for sale with an asking price of £75m. The building in Richmond upon Thames is a redevelopment of the former Gosling Department Store. The five-storey, mixed-use development is fully let, with luxury gym operator Third Space and two high-end restaurants occupying the lower floors. DTRE [...]
East London industrial site snapped up for £100m April 9, 2025 Global real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson has bought an east London industrial park for £100m. It’s a positive sign for London’s industrial market, which slumped to a decade-low last year as demand for warehouse and logistics sites faded after the pandemic boom. Kennedy Wilson plans to create a set of 10 sustainable industrial units [...]
Get on a plane and engage with emerging economies April 7, 2025 At a time of global uncertainty, it’s time to look beyond our traditional trading partners and Britain is uniquely placed to engage with the Commonwealth, says Alastair King Spanning 56 nations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the Commonwealth is a unique and unrivalled patchwork of skills, innovation and knowledge. The City of [...]
Business needs a real voice in the Civil Service, not a mid-rank mandarin April 3, 2025 The civil service needs an actual industry bigwig, not a mid-rank mandarin, if it wants to properly engage with business, writes Matthew Elliott.
Unlocking growth, delivering sustainability: London Stansted’s vision for the future March 27, 2025 The last few months have seen the new government make clear what it thinks about aviation’s role in achieving its growth mission. Through successive announcements about airport expansion, the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Transport Secretary have been among the senior Cabinet voices making clear a strong aviation sector is good for growth, and compatible with [...]
PTO: Niche fund Cordillera pours £8m into triathlon March 18, 2025 The Warner Bros Discovery-backed Professional Triathletes’ Organisation (PTO), which runs the elite T100 Triathlon World Tour, has attracted a $10m (£7.7m) injection from niche US fund Cordillera Investment Partners. San Francisco-based Cordillera has $1.6bn (£1.2bn) under management and specialises in “non-correlated assets” such as whiskey, boat marinas and carbon credits. It joins broadcaster Warner Bros [...]