Restaurant review: The Barge House May 19, 2015 The Barge House is adorable. To get to it, you have to walk down the Regent’s Canal tow-path between Hoxton and Haggerston, where old Victorian warehouses rise indomitably out of the water, all of them now home to design studios and craft breweries. It’s been open since November but nobody noticed because the only reason [...]
Autumn Statement 2015 UK: Here’s how much each London borough makes from business rates November 25, 2015 The much-maligned business rates system could be in for a shakeup during today's Autumn Statement, after retailers held talks with the Treasury to demand urgent reforms to the regime. While some have suggested a major shakeup, including a revaluation of properties to ease pressure on retailers paying rates on properties last valued at the height [...]
Focus on Soho: West End hotspot proves that central London never stops moving April 23, 2015 Moments away from Oxford Street and its swinging sister Carnaby Street, Soho has been frequented by artists, writers and more than a few ladies of the night over the centuries. But the recent influx of boutiques, gourmet burger chains and private members’ clubs means the area has caught the eye of London’s prime property developers. [...]
West End braced for £150m pre-Xmas spree December 18, 2014 SHOPPERS are set to splurge £150m across London’s West End stores this weekend, as they make a last minute dash for Christmas presents. The New West End Company predicts £300m will be spent on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street over the coming five-day period.
Sir Philip Green sold BHS for £1 – but can the high street stalwart be salvaged? March 16, 2015 It’s a rare day when retail mogul and the official patron saint of lost causes Sir Philip Green decides to throw in the towel. The tycoon’s decision last week to back out of BHS after 15 years of ownership and offload it to a previously unknown group of investors for £1 set the City’s retail [...]
BHS sale spells break-up of Philip Green’s empire January 26, 2015 SIR PHILIP Green is looking to sell a chunk of the vast retail empire he has built up over the last 15 years after receiving several takeover approaches for the struggling department store group BHS. Green bought the chain – then known as British Home Stores – for £200m in 2000 from retail conglomerate Storehouse, [...]
Centre Point revamps with luxury apartments and new retail space January 26, 2015 Work is beginning on London's iconic Centre Point Tower today in the hope of creating a swanky new retail and restaurant destination in the heart of the capital. The 1960s skyscraper, owned by investment company Almacantar, will be home to 82 luxury apartments as well as new retail and restaurant space. A new public piazza [...]
HMV beats Amazon and reclaims top spot as Britain’s biggest retailer of physical music January 16, 2015 HMV is making a comeback on the high street, reclaiming the top spot as the UK's biggest seller of physical music, with vinyl sales soaring to their highest in over 20 years. Total sales climbed to £365.7m in the year to December, up from £311.2m from the same period the previous year. Like-for-like CD sales [...]
Christmas shopping in London: Where to go if you’re buying everything last-minute December 24, 2014 Have you still not got round to doing most of your Christmas shopping? Join thousands of other Londoners who will be rushing around the shops today and tomorrow in search of last-minute inspiration. But for everyone that's fallen behind this festive season, there's no room for getting it wrong – it's a race to [...]
TfL Tube strike 2015: Fitness First offers commuters free showers and gym classes July 8, 2015 Fitness First has come to the rescue of exasperated commuters ahead of the tube strike by offering free showers and training sessions across all of its London gyms tomorrow. Commuters who want to take advantage of the offer should bring their oyster card to one of Fitness First's 45 gyms listed below. "Fitness First is encouraging commuters across [...]