Blithe Spirit review: Judi Dench leads spooky nostalgia fest January 14, 2021 Welcome to cinema’s New Normal. While big blockbusters are optimistically waiting for us in the spring, the first quarter of the year is strategically filled with independent releases that have adopted a dual release format – in cinemas if we have them, on VOD if not. Produced by Sky, Blithe Spirit (starring Dame Judi Dench) [...]
Westfield Stratford and Westfield London boost Christmas shopping footfall January 4, 2019 Westfield London and Stratford City saw record festive footfall this year, helping to dispel fears of retail gloom over the Christmas period. Christmas footfall was up 11 per cent year-on-year with 15.6m visitors visiting the centres from the start of November, the owner of the two shopping centres, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, announced today, while Boxing Day shoppers hit 350,000 [...]
High-flying business figures exempted from travel quarantine rules December 4, 2020 Business travellers who arrive back into England will no longer have to self-isolate if they come in from a country not on the government's travel corridor list.
Brexit, people and the pandemic: Critical actions for business December 23, 2020 The latest travel bans from the UK into Europe, induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, present real challenges for businesses in the final days leading up to the end of the Brexit transition period. How do these travel restrictions relate to Brexit? In two ways: Firstly, these restrictions particularly impact those in financial services who have [...]
Business bodies warn that three-quarters of pubs, bars and casinos could go bust under new tier system December 1, 2020 The UK’s leading business bodies have slammed MPs’ decision to vote the new tier system in place from midnight tonight as the “nail in the coffin” for many businesses, warning that it will cause three-quarters of night-time venues to shut forever. The Prime Minister this evening fought off the largest Tory backbench rebellion in his [...]
Bookshop.org: How a ‘scrappy’ online bookseller is trying to take on Amazon November 15, 2020 While the tech revolution has worked its way into all parts of daily life, few industries have experienced as extreme an overhaul as publishing. US bookstore sales have dropped from highs of more than $17bn (£12.9bn) to less than $10bn, while Amazon’s market share has grown to over 50 per cent. But now there’s a [...]
Sign Brexit deal to ‘give us our future’, pleads car industry November 24, 2020 The car industry has pleaded with the government to sign a post-Brexit free trade agreement by Christmas, saying that the failure to do so could cost the sector £55bn by 2025. Speaking at a Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) summit, chief executive Mike Hawes said that a new partnership with the EU “could [...]
Goldman Sachs and Citi slash UK GDP forecasts on news of second lockdown November 2, 2020 Goldman Sachs and Citi have sharply cut its economic forecasts for the UK in the fourth quarter following news of a fresh national lockdown in England to curb the second wave of coronavirus infections. In a client note, Goldman analysts said the US investment bank now expects UK GDP to shrink 2.4 per cent in [...]
Back to Business: How East London baker Lily Vanilli changed direction to cope with covid October 16, 2020 Who are you and what do you do? I’m Lily Jones from Lily Vanilli, a baker and cake decorator based in East London. I have a weekend cafe on Columbia Road and make creative cakes and pastries to order for home delivery, weddings and events, as well as consulting for other brands and businesses. How [...]
The Works swings to a loss but hails strong post-lockdown trading August 27, 2020 The Works swung to a loss in the last financial year due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis, but the retailer said trading had been well ahead of expectations after stores reopened. The figures The Works posted a loss of £18m for the year ended 26 April, down from a profit of 2.3m the [...]