Rallying travel stocks lift London markets September 16, 2021 London’s FTSE 100 edged up today on a rally among travel stocks, helping to partly reverse yesterday’s poor performance. The capital’s premier index gained 0.16 per cent to hit 7,027.48 points, partly evening out losses registered on a choppy day on London markets yesterday. The likes of aerospace engineer Rolls Royce and British Airways parent [...]
Number of shoppers in central London booms as Covid restrictions are eased April 12, 2021 Footfall rocketed this morning as England eased coronavirus restrictions and non-essential retail was allowed to open for business for the first time in months. In the first few hours of trading this morning footfall in shopping centres jumped nearly 340 per cent when compared with last week, according to the latest data from Springboard. Footfall [...]
Poundland owner Pepco shuns London to float in Warsaw April 26, 2021 Poundland owner Pepco this morning announced its intention to go public in Poland, in a blow for London’s financial market. Pepco said it intends to apply for listing and admission to the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and said it had chosen Poland as it is the firm’s largest operating area. The discount retailer, which has more [...]
Exclusive: London businesses call on Williamson to tackle capital’s skills crisis July 26, 2021 A group of London businesses have called on Gavin Williamson to tackle London’s growing skills shortage, warning that the capital’s recovery from the pandemic was on the line. In a letter to the education secretary, coordinated by London First and seen by City A.M., the businesses call for a swathe of new policies to be [...]
Londoners ‘disgusted’ by fashion industry abuses but lack money to shop ethically August 19, 2021 London consumers feel strong negative emotions about fashion industry exploitation, and that they want the industry cleaned up so they can enjoy shopping without guilt. More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of Brits taking part in a new survey that was shared with City A.M. felt either ‘disgusted’ ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ about the fact that [...]
Shoppers will be encouraged to wear masks inside Westfield shopping centres July 6, 2021 Shoppers at Westfield shopping centres will be encouraged to wear masks even after the legal requirement to do so is dropped. Jactina Rowsell, manager of Westfield shopping centre in White City, said in order to make shoppers and staff feel safe, masks would be encouraged in both London shopping centres. “We’re very aware and [...]
Rishi Sunak renews call for City workers to get back to the office August 2, 2021 Rishi Sunak has renewed calls for young City workers to get back to the office now the government’s work from home order has been dropped. The chancellor recalled how his career as a young investment banker was helped by making relationships in the office with older colleagues. Speaking about a recent visit to Scotland where [...]
FTSE pushes higher as City awaits Monday’s reopening July 16, 2021 London’s markets rose this morning as the City geared up for Monday’s loosening of coronavirus restrictions and the unlocking of the rest of the economy. Both the FTSE 100 and mid-cap sibling the FTSE 250 are up 0.4 per cent so far today, pushed higher by a raft of heavyweight stocks. Although energy group DCC [...]
A post-pandemic high street must be experience-led, says Geek Retreat CEO June 2, 2021 In a post-pandemic world, the high street needs to offer customers something more experiential – something online giants like Amazon can’t offer – the CEO of ‘geek culture’ store Geek Retreat has said. Geek Retreat, the retailer that sells everything from comics and graphic novels to action figures, and also offers customers access to gaming [...]
Two-tiered recovery? High Streets struggle as one-in-seven shops sit vacant July 30, 2021 A wave of administrations, closures and downsizing has decimated the UK high street, with new figures out this morning showing one in seven shops are sitting empty – and the problem is getting worse. In the second quarter of 2021, the overall vacancy rate increased to 14.5 per cent across the UK, from 14.1 per [...]