Shaftesbury has announced a village-wide programme of initiatives to provide support for consumers, residents and operators during coronavirus. Reflecting the unique nature of its West End portfolio, Shaftesbury is bringing-to-life virtually Chinatown, Seven Dials and Carnaby with a programme of unique digital content created by tenants to entertain, educate and inform people while they remain unable to visit the villages in person.

Grosvenor Europe has announced the signing of Maggie Fu, a Liverpool-based independent Asian street food restaurant, for a 4,700 sq ft unit on Liverpool ONE’s Hanover Street.  The new restaurant will be Maggie Fu’s second and serve as its flagship. 

CACI, the consumer and location intelligence specialist, has identified ten ways in which consumer outlook and behaviour has changed as a consequence of Covid-19 and the lockdown.  According to the findings, there have been significant step changes across every aspect of the British consumer’s life with a new ‘safety-first consumer’ mindset emerging

Today, The London Restaurant Co-operative has announced it has delivered over 9,000 meals to the NHS. The not-for-profit social kitchen was launched by Maison Bab and Le Bab co-founders, Stephen Tozer and Ed Brunet at the end of March.

Some of the most successful names in business have banded together to offer free CEO to CEO mentoring, coaching and advice for companies in the UK and Ireland affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The All Together mentoring initiative has drawn a top-level team of 100 well known, cross-sector CEOs, chair-people and investors all offering their help, expertise and an empathetic ear on a voluntary basis.

CACI, the consumer and location intelligence specialist, has identified five key trends revealing how consumer behaviour is likely to change as the government prepares to announce its recovery roadmap. According to CACI’s latest research, consumers have jumped forward five years in two weeks, creating a turning point likely to change consumer behaviour forever.

Roll back not too far, and the choices for home delivery, particularly outside cities, were pretty limited. While Deliveroo, JustEat, UberEats and others introduced much greater choice as London’s burgeoning restaurant scene leapt at the opportunity to grow brands and build incremental sales, the benefits remained largely within the confines of the M25 and major cities. Great for those with an urban postcode, but what about the rest of the population?

Shaftesbury has announced the introduction of a digital initiative to ensure the community and consumers can remain connected to Seven Dials during the lockdown. Called Seven Dials @ Home, the campaign features curated content created in partnership with Seven Dials’ restaurant and retail occupiers for their social media followers.

Liverpool ONE has launched a programme of family-orientated online initiatives to help the community stay entertained during lockdown. Responding to research showing that having a focus and interest enhances overall mood and gives an improved sense of well-being, Liverpool ONE has created a series of virtual experiences that can be enjoyed via social media.

Take a moment to look at the havoc wrought in the last few weeks: Debenhams, Carluccio’s, Laura Ashley, Cath Kidston and more have all entered administration or are about to. £7.7bn has been lost in market capitalisation from the top four UK retail REITS; 66% of March rent was unpaid; 500,000+ non-essential stores banned from trading; and footfall down 90%+. The tide has gone out and left everyone exposed. The question needs to be asked – can retail survive the coming months?

The O2 is proud to be announcing today that in order to help support the NHS with their preparation for the large number of additional staff needed in the effort to tackle COVID-19, The O2 arena has been made available as an NHS training facility, operating from 12th April – 29th June 2020. The staff trained will go on to work at the NHS Nightingale field hospital at ExCel London.

Grosvenor Europe has announced the appointment of a revised leasing team for Liverpool ONE, the multi-award-winning mixed-use destination in the heart of Liverpool.  

Global architecture, planning and design firm CallisonRTKL announces that Ashraf M. Fahmy, CPA has joined the practice as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

LabTech has announced a series of initiatives to aid the emergency services and vulnerable during the coronavirus epidemic.

CACI has published a report highlighting the impact of Covid-19 on the Retail and Property sectors. The data is based on a consumer survey of 1,000 UK shoppers undertaken March 14 - 15 by CACI and Research Bods.

RPMI Railpen (Railpen), the investment manager for the £30bn railways pension scheme, has purchased Camden Works office scheme in North West London. The acquisition bolsters Railpen’s portfolio of office investments in the capital, following the 2018 purchase of Thames Wharf Studios.

On Thursday 5 March, Liverpool ONE, managed by Grosvenor Europe, celebrated the world’s biggest celebration of books and reading for pleasure, World Book Day, by filling the streets of the destination with hundreds of free novels.

Lendlease have announced the opening of luxury dessert dining brand, Heavenly Desserts, at International Quarter London (IQL), the £2.4 billion joint venture development between Lendlease and LCR in Stratford.

Shaftesbury has officially announced that internationally acclaimed contemporary gallery, Unit London, will be debuting its new experience-led Unit X concept in a permanent curated space within Seven Dials.

Hammerson has announced the next stage of the transformation of Grand Central’s New Street Mall, with the commencement of the second phase of a £2m investment to upgrade the key link to New Street and Stephenson Place.