Good morning.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the office…
Business lobbies(£) have reacted with dismay(£) at the government’s u-turn over returning to the office, saying the “back and forth” risks “derailing an already fragile recovery”(£).
As companies scramble to reverse ‘back to the office’ plans(£)...
… Some businesses have asked how they can be expected to survive(£) without further state assistance(£).
Apollo, meanwhile, has taken the lead in the £6.5bn race(£) to take control of Asda(£) after rival Lone Star pulled out(£).
Brookfield has said it will sell scores of shopping malls(£), declaring that ‘now is the time’.
Meanwhile, shopping centre investor InfraRed Capital Partners has lodged plans for a 2,800 home redevelopment of the Eastgate shopping centre in Basildon, Essex.
House sales jumped by 15.6% in August(£) as buyers took advantage of the government’s stamp duty holiday.
Swedish private equity firm EQT(£) has poured £300m in London BTR as the first phase of a £1bn plan.
Wahaca will close 10 of its 30 Mexican restaurants after lenders and investors gave its CVA the green light(£).
Amid all that, the FTSE 100 staged a modest rally yesterday, with Town Centre Securities rising by nearly 4.7% as Premier Inn owner Whitbread slumped 2.84%.
Whitbread(£), which owns Premier Inn, has responded to the end of furlough(£) by saying it will axe 6,000 jobs(£).
The first shared bank branches(£) are to open before Christmas in empty high street shops.
The FT (£) looks into how airport towns like Slough are coping with the downturn in flights.
And asks if the spread of coronavirus will cause a fundamental rethink on developing economies’ urban planning(£).
Can the EU produce a financial hub to rival London(£)? Not for lack of trying.
Chinese property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang has been jailed(£) for 18 years, theoretically for embezzlement and taking bribes. The lesson? Don’t call President Xi ‘a clown’.
The younger twin son of a Scottish aristocrat has been left less than the price of a modest semi, while his older brother (by minutes) inherits a castle(£).
And finally, as we all wave our desks goodbye and return to the kitchen table, does that mean an end to office… erm, fraternisation? Blackrock has told it’s staff that they must declare all office affairs(£), even if they are with people outside the office. And aren’t actually affairs. The investor has told its 16,000 staff that ‘alternative work arrangements’ may have to be put in place to prevent possible conflicts of interest, or worse, legal issues. One ‘alternative arrangement’, apparently guaranteed to stop any interaction other than the strictly professional, is ‘working from home’.
