Boss of Great Portland in Brexit alert

LONDON must avoid an “unhelpful” political stalemate after next month’s referendum, the boss of landlord Great Portland Estates warned today.

The company secured a record £31.8 million of rentals in an under-supplied West End market in the year to March, the highlight of which was signing up Facebook at its Rathbone Square scheme.

Chief executive Toby Courtauld said “an extended political stalemate as the consequences of the referendum result are worked out would be unhelpful”.

Chinatown and Carnaby Street landlord Shaftesbury reported “robust” footfall and spending as its restaurants and shops reported little sign of Paris’s post-attack malaise spreading to the West End.