12 London Realities
- Where a standard weekday overnight stay in an upscale hotel (Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental) will set you back over a £1,000 this month
- Where a reasonably-priced ticket in January to a West End musical such as Cabaret will set you back over £300
- Where securing a lunch or dinner reservation in a desirable West End or City restaurant on a weekday night requires a minimum 14 days without insider knowledge or assistance
- Where bars in popular neighbourhoods such as Soho, Marylebone, Mayfair or Chelsea are humming both inside and outside with the chatter of locals and tourists
- Where a steady 75% of people have sufficient care for others well-being to wear masks on buses and the Tube. The memo to tourists, particularly from the Gulf countries appears to have gone missing.
- Where businesses and employees have largely established a rhythm of working from home and the office. Whether that is agreeable to management is a matter of conjecture, the reality from now onwards is it is going to be harder to shift behaviours without bigger disincentives.
- Where more expats and returning UK nationals are arriving and finding a common sense balance to quality of life and Covid restrictions than more draconian cities such as Singapore. Not forgetting “irritations” such as congested streets a predictable result of planners, who don’t have real skin-in-the-game, a hapless Mayor and bureaucratic planning application processes.
- Where state and private schools have largely found a resilient way to operate with most Covid-19 disruptions but the same pre-Covid 19 issues about the paucity of public education in many inner London schools has not been properly prioritised.
- Where the desire for small, private business and social dinners and gatherings has never been higher but “marrying” that to everyone’s schedules is excessively tricky after an Autumn of hyper-activity.
- Where large events and conferences are finding the competition for impressive figures time and attendance very challenging. It is all about the immediacy and relevance to their lives, right now.
- Where finding a bank that will willingly allow you to pay in a cheque, yes they do exist, is a more time-consuming exercise than running around the edge of Hyde Park.
- Where the city’s principle print newspaper, The Evening Standard, resembles one of those 80s pop icons faced with a populus largely ambivalent to their future existence. Forced to gift their content away for free. “Read All About It”, a hit from another century. A sign of today’s digital priorities some pass it off as but the uncomfortable reality is owners and journalists beset by a lack of love, relevance and excitement.
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