London Tech Week: Let’s call time on the capital’s tech ‘not spots’ September 10, 2020 Walking through east London this summer, the beating heart of the UK’s tech ecosystem had become a ghost city, with empty streets, co-working spaces and cafes. Like most industries, the Covid-19 pandemic has driven the sector behind closed doors. Yet, bubbling below the surface is a defiant community of tech entrepreneurs that will prove absolutely [...]
Hammersmith Bridge: Government thinks TfL inflated £140m repair estimate September 9, 2020 The government is refusing to fund repairs for the closed Hammersmith Bridge because it believes the £140m price tag has been inflated by the local council and Transport for London (TfL), Morning Wire can reveal. A source close to transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government wants to fund the restoration of the 133-year-old West [...]
Back to work: Half of Londoners miss socialising with colleagues, survey finds September 9, 2020 Half of Londoners have missed socialising with their colleagues while they have been working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, a survey has found as more staff return to offices. Many employers are seeking to permanently embrace home working after lockdown forced offices to close. However 49 per cent of London-based office staff have missed [...]
Hammersmith Bridge: Sadiq Khan in fierce row with government over closure September 9, 2020 City Hall and the government have today locked horns over who is responsible for the closed Hammersmith Bridge in what is becoming a heated row. The government announced today it was creating a Hammersmith Bridge taskforce that will be responsible for getting the West London river crossing open again. The group, which will be led [...]
The creative sector is vital to London – we must save it before it is too late September 8, 2020 Save our arts. That is the rallying call. It is a worthy one. The UK’s creative sector is a dynamic part of the economy, but it has been among the areas hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis and looks likely to recover last. While areas like retail and housing are rebounding solidly, the arts are prevented [...]
Exclusive: Merton leads London house prices higher as buyers seek space September 8, 2020 House prices in the south-western boroughs of Merton and Sutton rose at the fastest pace in London in the year to July as buyers looked for more space during the coronavirus pandemic, according to exclusive analysis by property website Zoopla for Morning Wire Prices barely budged in the borough of Hillingdon on the western edge [...]
TfL commissioner Andy Byford: Getting the capital moving again September 8, 2020 Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, outlines what he has been doing to make TfL services ready for people to use them again. I started my career at London Underground in 1989, and through the last few decades I’ve worked for transport organisations all over the world – America, Australia, Canada. All different, but in each [...]
Shaun Bailey: London deserves better than the mayor’s message of doom September 8, 2020 Tube use is down 70 per cent. High streets are empty. Only 17 per cent of people are back in offices. These are unprecedented times for London. So you’d think the mayor of London would have a plan to get people back to their offices safely and securely. You’d think he would be innovative, like [...]
‘No time for a show of virility’: Sadiq Khan on getting London moving again September 7, 2020 One of the largest criticisms of Sadiq Khan over his first mayoral term has been that he is more concerned about his personal PR and with making political gestures than with his job of running the nation’s capital. The mayor of London has been beset by attacks that he has increased spending on City Hall [...]
Soho jazz club Ronnie Scott’s to reopen this month September 7, 2020 London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s will reopen for live music performances this month after an initial attempt in August was put on ice following changes to coronavirus restrictions. The Soho venue will open on 19 September for live concerts, and has also reopened its upstairs area as a cocktail bar at weekends. Ronnie Scott’s had [...]