London flooding risk: Riverside locations including Bankside, ExCel London, Putney, Chiswick and Teddington warned of risk Thames could breach its banks February 12, 2016 Parts of London both east and west along the River Thames have been warned there is a risk of flooding in the next few days because of high tides. Water levels are higher than usual for this time of year, prompting the Environment Agency to issue a flood alert along the riverside from the Thames Barrier in [...]
Ryan Bertrand’s secret second career as a fintech entrepreneur – and John Terry is backing his latest venture May 11, 2016 The history of football’s relationship with technology is a chequered one, from the game’s long resistance to implementing goal-line gadgetry to the tale of former Aston Villa striker Darius Vassell taking a power drill to his toenail in the misguided belief that it would relieve pain. Ryan Bertrand hopes to change that perception. When he is [...]
Proptech: Accelerator Pi Labs moves out of Tech City to partner with housing start-up The Collective April 6, 2016 So much for the benefits of being based in Tech City. Pi Labs, property-focused tech accelerator aimed at helping start-ups become the next big thing, has decided to ditch east London altogether after announcing a deal with property firm The Collective that will take it to Bloomsbury instead. Pi Labs, set up two years ago by Cushman & Wakefield [...]
Retail sales run out of steam in February despite half-term and Valentine’s Day boost March 8, 2016 RETAIL sales slowed in February after a strong start to the year that was boosted by the January sales. Like-for-like sales rose by 0.1 per cent last month compared with February in 2015, when they had increased 0.2 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG’s monthly data released today. The February [...]
EU referendum: Wetherspoon boss warns European Union is “doomed” because it lacks democracy April 26, 2016 The European Union is "doomed" because it doesn’t have the level of democracy required to make it a great economic region, the boss of one of the UK's biggest pub chains has warned. Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon and a staunch supporter of the Leave campaign, said that just as the euro could [...]
The Licensing Act didn’t usher in the nightmare scenario of 24-hour drinking, crime and disorder – but it did make Britain freer, and a bit happier too November 24, 2015 A decade ago today, the Licensing Act came into force. It was supposed to create 24-hour drinking. It didn’t. It was supposed to create more crime, more disorder and more drunkenness. It didn’t. A decade on, the facts are clear. Starting in 2005, alcohol consumption began declining at a faster rate than at any time since the [...]
Greene King’s chairman Tim Bridge set to retire in May 2016 after over 45 years with the hospitality company, Philip Yea lined up as successor February 2, 2016 Greene King has today announced that chairman Tim Bridge will be retiring on 1 May 2016, and Philip Yea has been lined up as his successor. Bridge has been with the hospitality giant for over 45 years, 11 of which he spent as chairman. Yea will join the board today as a non-executive director and will take [...]
Londoners opt to stay home following Paris attacks December 10, 2015 Concerns about potential attacks on London have supposedly kept Londoners from dining out in November, according to industry sales barometer, the Coffer Peach Business Tracker. Pubs and restaurants recorded a 1.5 per cent decline in like-for-like sales in the capital, with chain restaurants feeling the biggest impact. In October sales were up 3.5 per cent [...]
Ima-gin that: British gin sales broke all sales records in 2015 while 49 new distilleries opened March 9, 2016 Sales of mother's ruin broke all records last year as 49 new gin distilleries opened across the UK, while shop and restaurant sales topped over £900m. Shop sales of the juniper-based spirit reached over £400m in 2015, up 10 per cent on the previous year, while restaurant sales hit £500m, up 20 per cent year on year, [...]
Music ban on the Tube, child-free restaurants and four-day working week: The 10 laws we most want to see introduced in 2016 December 29, 2015 Ban on being drunk in a pub, carrying a plank along a pavement or flying kites in the street. There are plenty of weird British laws that we suspect may not always be strictly enforced (not that we’ve ever seen anyone inebriated in a pub, of course). But what about laws that ought to exist, [...]