Ocado Zoom workers call to be made dependent contractors October 26, 2021 Ocado drivers have demanded the grocer bring in couriers in house on restructured contracts. Drivers in Acton, West London said they wanted to be employed as Limb B workers – dependent contractors – as it was a “flexible employment model that works perfectly for the ad hoc, on demand business.” In a letter to board [...]
A dram good reason to care: The impact of climate change on Scotch whisky October 26, 2021 As one of Scotland’s main export products, Scotch whisky is enjoyed the world over. But perhaps we should not take a good dram for granted, as projected temperature increases and changes in rainfall patterns threaten distillery production over the next fifty years. Climate researchers from University College London found impending heat and drought stress caused [...]
Ready to check in: Hotel room demand jumps by 184 per cent as travel restrictions ease October 26, 2021 Global hotel prices are on the rise as demand surges after most travel restrictions are eased. The global travel industry was severely wounded by the Covid-19 pandemic with airlines, hotels, and travel agents seeing their customer base evaporate overnight due to strict travel restrictions coming into force across much of the world. But through increased [...]
Calls for at least £15bn funding for remediation works to tackle cladding crisis October 26, 2021 The government has been called on to announce more funding to tackle the cladding crisis at tomorrow’s Budget. Law firm Irwin Mitchell also called for measures including giving leaseholders up-front government funding for remediation works, with no repayment obligation. While the government has announced £5bn to address the issue so far, the sum required is [...]
Ikea snaps up former Topshop Oxford St flagship for £378m October 26, 2021 IKEA has bought the former Topshop flagship store for £378m on Oxford St. The 214 Oxford St store was formerly owned by Arcadia, before the demise of fashion brands Topshop and Topman. Now, the Swedish-origin furniture giant is set to open up in autumn 2023, after the site was bought by Ingka Investments, the investment [...]
Drift to office slows as workers put off by Covid concerns October 26, 2021 A return to the office has appeared to have stalled as London’s office hubs marked a drop in footfall last week. Retail experts Springboard found that footfall declined by 4.2 per cent in areas in central London dominated by offices in the week beginning October 17. The ‘Back to the Office’ benchmark metric suggests that [...]
Covid passports could cost venues up to £2bn in lost turnover October 26, 2021 Vaccine passports could drive Covid infections if people are more inclined to visit poorly ventilated pubs instead of larger venues, according to a leaked government impact assessment. Concerns about the policy – recently adopted in Scotland- are set out in a report written by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport [DCMS] and seen [...]
Ocado turns to robots for delivery of groceries to Londoners amid shortage of workers October 26, 2021 Built by UK online supermarket pioneer Ocado, the washing-machine sized bots have caught the eye of international retailers battling a shortage of workers and rising wage demands. Watch the full report.
BrewDog announces plans for flagship site at former Eurostar terminal October 25, 2021 BrewDog has outlined plans to open a 26,500 sq ft flagship site on the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo, in what it called one of biggest projects yet. The Scottish craft brewer said on Monday it will launch a two-floor venue next summer. The site will be kitted out with a pub, pop-up food truck, [...]
Just Eat Takeaway urged to sell Grubhub by activist investor October 25, 2021 Just Eat Takeaway (JET) has been urged to sell or spin-off its US arm Grubhub by an activist investor by the end of the year. Investor Cat Rock Capital has said the food delivery firm’s management “failed to fix the deep and damaging undervaluation of its equity by taking tangible action to unlock the value [...]
