Derwent London buys back 1 Oxford Street as part of Crossrail agreement July 14, 2015 Derwent London has signed a new 150-year lease agreement with Crossrail on a £400m office and shopping development above Tottenham Court Road station. The developer is effectively buying back the site at 1 Oxford Street after having to surrender it in 2009 to Crossrail. Derwent will receive £55m on completion of scheme in around 2020. [...]
Here’s why the UK government was planning a £6m deal to modernise Saudi Arabian prisons in the first place October 13, 2015 Why the UK is pulling out of the deal Prime Minister David Cameron has backtracked on a deal worth £6m with the Saudi Arabian Prison Service due to the country's human rights record and criminal justice system. The cancellation is a victory for justice minister Michael Gove, who had lobbied the Prime Minister to cancel the [...]
BBC charter review: Why Auntie needs local media September 7, 2015 The upcoming charter review provides the ideal opportunity to extend the BBC’s long-established and highly successful outsourcing model to local news gathering. At a time when more power is being devolved to the regions, it is essential that there is a long-term commitment to media coverage of institutions – courts, health trusts, education authorities, [...]
Night Tube series: Top six areas in London to buy a house along the Northern Line September 23, 2015 Stretching out from the very north of London to the very south, the Northern Line is one of the Tube's most comprehensive – and oldest – on the Underground. The track between Stockwell and Borough opened in 1890, making it the longest-surviving deep-level Tube line on the network. In addition to the Night Tube, it [...]
Aetna to buy rival Humana for $37bn in a cash and shares deal July 3, 2015 The US health insurer Aetna has struck a deal to buy its rival Humana for $37bn (£23.7bn) in cash and shares, which Aetna says will create the second-largest managed care company in the US. Aetna will acquire outstanding shares of Humana at around $230 per share, according to a joint statement by the two companies. [...]
The Strand could receive a radical makeover from Trafalgar Square and VIctoria Embankment to Royal Courts of Justice and Aldwych June 17, 2015 The Strand could be about to get a radical makeover thanks to a series of proposals put forward by the Northbank Business Improvement District (BID) and urban design consultancy Publica. These include the redesign of the gyratory around Aldwych, as well as a new riverside promenade along Victoria Embankment. The changes to the Northbank area, which stretches [...]
Sainsbury’s share price drops after chief executive Mike Coupe is sentenced to two years in an Egyptian jail April 29, 2015 Sainsbury's has strongly denied any wrongdoing after its chief executive Mike Coupe was sentenced to two years in prison for alleged embezzlement. Coupe was compelled to attend a court hearing in Giza, Egypt in September after he was accused of attempting to seize cheques linked to a business the supermarket invested in 16 years ago. [...]
War of the wearables: Jawbone sues Fitbit ahead of IPO May 28, 2015 The war of the wearables has just been taken up a notch after two of the leading companies pioneering the technology have become involved in a legal dispute. Jawbone, the maker of the UP fitness tracker band, has filed a lawsuit in a California court alleging rival Fitbit, which also makes health tracking devices, stole [...]
Focus on St James’s: The home of the English gentleman July 9, 2015 In many ways, St James’s resembles the City. Sure, there aren’t any skyscrapers and it’s not half as old, but it’s SW1’s commercial hub and barely anyone lives there. As proud purveyors of men’s garments since the Victorian age, it boasts such prestigious names along Jermyn Street as Turnbull & Asser, Alfred Dunhill, while St [...]
The best warehouse living: Why these factories are the place to be March 26, 2015 As residential values in London have sky-rocketed, more disused commercial buildings are being converted into homes. A few years ago, it would have been unheard of for apartments to be more profitable than office space but there are a few boroughs in London where this is increasingly the case. And there are no spaces more [...]