Gravity bags £30m as punters pick experiences over goods February 27, 2023 Gravity, which runs trampoline parks and other active entertainment experiences, across the UK, has secured £30m in funding from investor Sculptor to help grow the business. Gravity, which has 17 sites nationwide, said the funding will help to expend the business, with the group expected to announce a pipeline of new venues in UK cities [...]
Boxing Day footfall bounce for retail as West End chief calls for recovery help December 27, 2022 Retail destinations across the country reaped the rewards of a Christmas without Covid restrictions as Boxing Day sales enticed shoppers out of their houses. However, business leaders noted footfall was still below 2019 levels and called on the government to help accelerate retail’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as it grapples with an economic downturn. [...]
Best of 2022: Sir Craig Reedie lifts the lid on how London 2012 Olympics was delivered December 23, 2022 In this interview from July 2022, Sir Craig Reedie, one of the architects of the London 2012 Olympics and one of Britain’s most influential sports administrators, looks back on the Games 10 years on. If you lived through the London 2012 Olympics then you will probably remember where you were for its most spectacular or [...]
Activists protest at British Museum and Scottish Power over rising energy bills December 3, 2022 Campaigners have staged protests in buildings including the British Museum and Scottish Power HQ against rising energy bills and “sky-rocketing” levels of fuel poverty, according to organisers. Members of the grass-roots movements Don’t Pay UK and Fuel Poverty Action said campaigners had bedded down with blankets, sleeping bags and hot water bottles in the foyer [...]
Online sales tax gets canned for its ‘complexity’ November 17, 2022 Jeremy Hunt has scrapped the online sales tax, moving away from plans to better support the high street. Following a consultation, the Chancellor decided to dump the tax, reflecting the concerns about the complexity of the move, as well as “creating unintended distortion or unfair outcomes between different business models”. The levy was designed to [...]
Inside £9bn Battersea Power Station renovation October 20, 2022 It could have become a theme park in the 1990s if developers got their way. But last week the Battersea Power Station building reopened for the first time since the iconic development stopped lighting up London back in 1983. It powered Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament, supplying one fifth of London’s electricity, but [...]
Commuter numbers into City of London nearly double with Wednesdays and Thursdays busiest August 12, 2022 Commuter numbers into the City of London have nearly doubled since last year and the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in England, according to new data from mobile operator O2. The network said the data – which it gathered based on connections to O2 mobile masts in major commuter, hospitality and retail hubs – had found [...]
Sir Craig Reedie interview: Inside London 2012 and why Olympics was value for money July 25, 2022 If you lived through the London 2012 Olympics then you will probably remember where you were for its most spectacular or poignant moments – Super Saturday, Danny Boyle’s vivid opening ceremony, Andy Murray winning tennis gold – and Sir Craig Reedie is no different. But while the former chairman of the British Olympic Association, one [...]
Ministry of Sound to convert House of Fraser store to lure Londoners to ‘fitness raves’ in Shepherd’s Bush June 23, 2022 Nightclub group Ministry of Sound said this morning it plans to convert a former House of Fraser store in west London to hold ‘fitness raves’ for Londoners. The building will also be turned into flexible offices, a gym as well as a rooftop bar. The group said it plans to start converting the 115,000 sq ft department [...]
TGI Friday’s owner shares plunge after revenue sinks amid diners’ tightening purse strings May 26, 2022 TGI Friday’s owner Hostmore’s share price has plummeted almost 15 per cent after the restaurant operator posted subdued revenue versus pre pandemic levels. Hostmore, which also operates the cocktail bar brand 63rd+1st, said like-for-like revenue was six per cent lower than 2019 levels. In a trading update for the 20 weeks ended 22 May, the [...]