Retirement villages may offer high streets their needed post-pandemic revival May 24, 2021 Retirement village provider Audley Group and BlackRock Real Assets have embarked on a £500m joint venture into the retirement living sector in the UK, which could bring high streets the much-needed footfall for post-pandemic revival. The joint venture, confirmed yesterday, will fund the development of at least three retirement communities, which will be ready for [...]
Luxury Mayfair hotel project at former US embassy lands £450m green loan May 24, 2021 The developer behind plans to build a new luxury hotel on the site of the former US embassy in Mayfair has secured a £450m green loan to finance its construction. Building work began this year on Chancery Rosewood, a 139-room luxury hotel and retail site in Grosvenor Square. Qatari Diar, the real estate division of [...]
London shopper numbers surge as return of indoor dining drives up trips to city centre May 24, 2021 shopper numbers surge as return of indoor dining drives up trips
Ministers preparing to allow pubs to serve people at the bar from June May 24, 2021 Ministers are speaking with the hospitality sector about relaxing rules on ordering drinks at the bar in pubs across England from 21 June as the government looks set to stick with its roadmap timetable. Chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency Dr Jenny Harries said yesterday that the prospect of lifting most if not [...]
Marks & Spencer set to buy more food from EU amid border disruption in Northern Ireland May 23, 2021 Marks & Spencer will reportedly start buying more food from the EU as it looks to reshape some of its supply chain amidst chaos on the Northern Ireland border. The retailer is looking to source more products from companies on the Continent as well as from Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Telegraph reported. It comes [...]
Brexit impact: Heathrow loses legal bid over end of tax-free shopping for tourists May 21, 2021 Heathrow Airport has lost a High Court bid to challenge the scrapping of tax-free shopping for tourists. Two schemes providing VAT-free shopping for some international visitors were withdrawn by the Treasury at the end of the Brexit transition period on 1 January of this year. The Treasury and HMRC’s decision related to the VAT Retail [...]
TGI Fridays to float its 87 restaurants on London Stock Exchange this year May 21, 2021 The owner of TGI Fridays has revealed plans to float the restaurant chain on the London stock market. Electra Private Equity, which has owned the casual dining brand since 2014, said it plans to float it on the FTSE main market in the third quarter of this year. The owner told investors today that it [...]
Single-use plastic bag charge to double, with all shops adopting the tariff May 21, 2021 The extra charge for single-use plastic bags is set to double today, as the charge extends to all businesses in Britain. What was a 5p charge for a single-use carrier bag yesterday, will be 10p from today – and comes as pent-up demand pushes shoppers back to high streets. While it used to be only [...]
Pret A Manger trades city centres for Pret-rol stations May 21, 2021 Pret A Manger is set to open new shops in petrol stations owned by the Motor Fuel Group (MFG), the café said today, in a well-needed boost for roadside stops. Wither fewer people travelling and going to work, petrol stations have suffered a sales slump of 13.3 per cent compared with the same month two [...]
Retail sales soared in April as Brits came out of third Covid-19 lockdown May 21, 2021 Retail sales soared in April as Brits came out of third Covid-19 lockdown