Oxford Street to build 25m hill to lure shoppers back
Temporary attraction is part of a £150m revamp of the West End shopping destination to make it more appealing to visitors
The attraction will be known as Marble Arch Hill
Marble Arch will gain a climbable hill after lockdown ends in a bid to lure shoppers back to Oxford Street.
The temporary 25-metre high attraction will overlook the landmark at the western end of the famous shopping street and Hyde Park if it wins planning permission.
The move is part of a £150m push by Westminster City Council to overhaul the retail mecca after it started losing its allure to foreign visitors even before the pandemic struck.
Pension trustees learn to strut as history repeats for Philip Green
Lessons have been gleaned from BHS limbo amid demise of Arcadia’s retail empire
14 February 2021 • 5:00am
Thousands of Arcadia pensioners received news after Sir Philip Green’s bust retail empire was sold off for parts.
Scheme trustees told them last week that £173m has been secured to help fund their retirements, thanks to a deal agreed in 2019 with the help of the pensions watchdog.
It means hopes are rising that the funding deficit present when Arcadia collapsed will be closed.
More money is expected from the sale of the Topshop and Dorothy Perkins brands to Asos and Boohoo for more than £300m.
Port sales soar as drinkers fortify themselves in lockdown
Symington Family Estates sold more than 11 bottles of Cockburn’s every minute during the final three months of 2020
11 February 2021 • 12:31pm
One of the world’s biggest producers of port has notched up soaring sales as British drinkers stock their drinks cabinets with fortified wine during the pandemic.
Symington Family Estates, which owns brands including Cockburn’s and Graham’s, said demand for its ranges were fuelled by sales at supermarkets and other shops while pubs and restaurants were closed for much of the year.
Retail sales of Cockburn’s shot up by just over a fifth, Symington said, with 11.6 bottles sold every minute during the Christmas quarter year as households stocked up for the festive season.
Sales are soaring, but Ocado is still yet to deliver
The food delivery retailer is a lockdown winner, but for all its share price success it s failing to hit a key business metric
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Ocado’s Tim Steiner loves change. Six months ago he was telling everyone: “The world as we know it has changed”, as if anyone could have failed to notice. Now? “The landscape for food retailing is changing, for good,” he says.