LONDON — All year the streets of central London are teeming with British and international tourists — thanks partly to the weaker pound — Tube lines are bursting with commuters, and the skies are crowded with tower cranes hauling up the steel bones office complexes, apartment blocks and retail destinations.
Money continues to pour into central London in particular, with the retail-lined streets in and around Oxford and Piccadilly Circuses set to receive a 2.9 billion pound windfall from private, public and international investors by 2022.
Across the river, Battersea Power Station is set to form the centerpiece of a 9 billion-pound, mixed-use development that will span 42 acres when it’s finished. Apple plans to create a campus inside the station in 2021, and more than 250 retail spaces are planned.
Amid the buzz, difficulties continue to gnaw: U.K. consumer confidence remains low, and footfall is down across high streets, shopping centers and retail parks. There is much political and economic angst — a general election scheduled for Dec. 12, and worries over Brexit persist — while consumers are inclined to buy less due to growing environmental concerns.
Money continues to pour into central London in particular, with the retail-lined streets in and around Oxford and Piccadilly Circuses set to receive a 2.9 billion pound windfall from private, public and international investors by 2022.
Across the river, Battersea Power Station is set to form the centerpiece of a 9 billion-pound, mixed-use development that will span 42 acres when it’s finished. Apple plans to create a campus inside the station in 2021, and more than 250 retail spaces are planned.
Amid the buzz, difficulties continue to gnaw: U.K. consumer confidence remains low, and footfall is down across high streets, shopping centers and retail parks. There is much political and economic angst — a general election scheduled for Dec. 12, and worries over Brexit persist — while consumers are inclined to buy less due to growing environmental concerns.
Coal Drops Yard at King’s Cross.
John Sturrock
According to a report this week from Capgemini and YouGov,