On this day, in December 1897, London became the first city to introduce licenced taxi cabs. The ‘Bersey’ was - wait for it - all electric. Like today, they had to be driven by professional drivers, be able to stop on demand, turn in a tight circle and be able to climb Savoy Hill, the steepest hill in the city. The taxis had a top speed of 12 mph. This all sounds remarkably familiar, except, of course, the average speed nowadays is just 7 mph! Unfortunately, the weight of the cabs damaged the tyres and the London Electrical Cab Company went bust only two years later. Since then, taxis have emitted all sorts of unpleasant fumes and odours. Still, let’s not be too harsh on ourselves; patience is a virtue and, after all, and it has only taken us one hundred and twenty three years to catch up with our past with the news that almost all London black cabs will be electric-powered by 2025. It's just as well that our friendly cabbies are patient, as the average wait time for a passenger fare at Heathrow is currently nine hours!
This past week was momentous on several counts - not least the MHRA’s approval for the roll-out of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. But, from a property standpoint, Sir Philip Green took the biscuit, as he was seen waving goodbye to 13,000 Arcadia staff… from his yacht in Monaco. According to The Centre for Retail Research, that brought the number of failing (significant) companies this year to fifty-two. And, predictions for retail job losses for the calendar year are now over 235,000. The A-Z of retail company administrations this year is frightening. Here are just some of them:
Ann Summers, Antler, Beales, Bensons, Bonmarché (twice!), Burton, Dawson’s Music, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, DW Sports, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Evans, Feather & Black, Go Outdoors, Harveys, Hawkin’s Bazaar, Homebase, Jaeger, J.Crew, Johnson’s Shoes, Kath Kidson, Laura Ashley, LK Bennett, M&Co, Miss Selfridge, Monsoon Accessorize, Muji, Oak Furnitureland, Oasis, Oddbins, Oliver Sweeney, Peacocks, Ponden Mill, Soletrader, TM Lewin, Topshop, Victoria’s Secret, Warehouse and Wallis,
According to the BRC/Local Data Company this has translated into rapidly rising retail vacancies throughout the UK. In Q3, vacancy rates rose yet again across the board: Shopping Centres vacancies are up from 14.3% to 16.3%; High Street vacancies are up from 12.4% to 13.3% whilst Retail Parks are up from 8.3% to 9.2%. And there is still the best part of another month of the year to go...!
Much has been made of this year’s strangled arrangements for Christmas in the UK. But, adding insult to injury is knowing that, for many parts of Continental Europe, they will have woken up this weekend to have discovered a little gift or two in their shoes. Because today is St Nicholas Day. Frankly, for us Brits, it seems rather unfair. After all, it is not just our friends on the Continent who get a double dose of winter merriment, the US gets Thanksgiving Day as well as Christmas. What do we get? Santa Sunak’s Sack of Spending! Which makes it all-the-more ironic that today is also National Pawnbrokers Day. We are all left wondering, of course, which of our national treasures Rishi has put in hock to cover the £394 billion of debt that the country will have ratcheted up by the end of this tax year. Apparently, he has already tried to snatch Sir David Attenborough and Dame Judi Dench - but they were having none of it!
Away from domestic matters, the greatest surprise of the week was the entirely unexpected and gracious speech by Donald Trump who finally conceded defeat to President-elect, Joe Biden. If you do nothing else today, you really should watch this. Donald Trump concession speech.