Canary Wharf suitors look to one shareholder to back £2.6bn bid December 7, 2014 The two bidders for Canary Wharf, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners, are hoping to persuade one major shareholder in the east London-based financial district to accept their takeover bid. The pair made a new hostile takeover offer for Canary Wharf-owner Songbird Estates directly to shareholders on Thursday, worth 350 pence-a-share. Songbird subsequently [...]
Almacantar buys Shell Centre offices on South Bank for £550m August 3, 2015 Centre Point owner Almacantar has bought part of Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar’s controversial Shell Centre scheme on London’s South Bank, which faced opposition last year for obstructing views of the Houses of Parliament. The developer, which owns other landmark buildings including CAA House in the West End, has spent over £550m buying One [...]
EC1V is the UK’s hottest tech post code: Silicon Roundabout houses eight times more tech firms than nearest rival Silicon Canal September 14, 2015 Silicon Roundabout’s EC1V is the UK’s hottest tech post code, as a survey of where tech companies are based reveals just how much the capital’s biggest tech hub outstrips its rivals around the country. Being home to Silicon Roundabout, it’s no surprise that the East London post code is number one when it comes to [...]
Walkie Talkie awarded annual Carbuncle Cup as judges declare it the UK’s ugliest building September 2, 2015 It's divided opinion since its plans were first unveiled – but now judges of the Carbuncle Cup, the annual award for Britain's least aesthetically-pleasing constructions, have declared the Walkie Talkie to be the UK's ugliest building. It had stiff competition, mind: the Rafael Vinoly-designed building, developed by Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group, was up [...]
Fintech Week London 2015: It’s startups v banks in Fintech expo drinking session September 2, 2015 Caloo callay, it's nearly London Fintech Week, where startups from Shoreditch to Shadwell will be touting their wares to execs from some of the City’s most high profile firms in a bid to become the next big thing in business. Billed as the “world’s largest fintech-focused expo”, economists, bankers and brokers from companies old [...]
Walkie Talkie owners face fresh woes over Sky Garden July 30, 2015 First there was the little problem of the Walkie Talkie dazzling passers-by and melting cars. Then there was the bad hair day it brought to City workers. Read more: Walkie Talkie Sky Garden: How to book a visit to the stunning public park with views across London Now, in another spate of bad luck, it seems [...]
Jazz festival returns to the docklands August 14, 2015 SPEAKING of the Docklands, the three-day Canary Wharf Jazz Festival kicks off today. Bringing top acts, including Sons Of Kemet (today), Eska (tomorrow) and Yazz Ahmed and Neil Cowley Trio (Sunday) to Canada Square Park. The bill also includes salsa and Afro-beat, bringing a bit of life to all those shiny towers full of money. [...]
Yee-haw! Canary Wharf Group has a ride ‘em cowboy Christmas at the East Wintergarden December 7, 2014 Canary Wharf Group may have escaped the lasso of the Qatar Investment Authority and its American side-kick Brookfield Property Partners last week, but that won’t stop its staff wielding their own lassos this December – The Capitalist hears the group’s Christmas party has a cowboy theme. The festive do, some time in the next few [...]
TSB boss Paul Pester beaten in AJ Bell London Triathlon race August 9, 2015 TSB chief Paul Pester took to the Thames in Canary Wharf over the weekend for the AJ Bell London Triathlon, but was beaten in the race by regional managers from his own bank. Throughout the year, Pester has pestered TSB colleague from across the country to join him in completing the corporate leg of [...]
Conservative party conference 2015: George Osborne’s business rates announcement will mean commuter towns face serious funding issues October 6, 2015 By George he's done it! Yesterday's business rates announcement by the chancellor has made local government finance sexy again for the first time in 25 years. Back in 1990, the poll tax perished in a bonfire of political vanity after a furore over the botched scheme to reform domestic rates, a bugbear of the Tory shires. The [...]