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Rachel Rees

@rachel-rees.bsky.social

1.3K followers 86 following 57 posts

Journalist at the Financial Times. Email me on [email protected]

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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 3d

These chocolate bars have had an unfortunate character arc

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 24d

The UK's lossmaking money-maker, "collector fatigue", and real life monopoly money

on.ft.com/4nwi8j3

Royal Mint losses widen as collectors cool on commemorative coins

[FREE TO READ] The UK government-owned company made a pre-tax loss of £36.3mn in the year to March

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 27d

HMRC lost hundreds of millions of pounds more than previously estimated to phoenixing, an insolvency practice open to abuse by tax evaders

Sound familiar? @jim.londoncentric.media on Piccadilly Circus' phoenixing gift shops (and Asif Aziz) www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

on.ft.com/4nzqlmU

HMRC raises small business ‘phoenixing’ tax loss to £836mn

[FREE TO READ] Higher than previously estimated figure underlines challenge faced by UK agency in curbing losses

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 6

It's been really exciting to see where London Centric is going from the inside. I've had a lot of fun and I'm hugely grateful to Jim for all his guidance and ideas.

If you're not already a subscriber and you care about London, do check it out!

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Sep 5

Today’s the final day at London Centric for @rachel-rees.bsky.social. For some reason she’s decided to leave one of the nation’s leading news outlets to go work for a niche business publication called the “Financial Times”. She’s broken loads of stories and is a star who’s worth following.

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 6

Read more here: www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 6

A final little bit from me in today's edition: the south London flagger who told the BBC he was one of many “hardworking business people” hanging British flags -- and his £98,000 false injury claim

When I called him, he gave this gem of a quote

Reposted by Rachel Rees

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Sep 6

Here's something a bit different. We've been reporting from Edinburgh to try to get to the bottom of a mystery in London. Princes Street is the Scottish capital's most famous shopping street — and it's gaining the *exact same* tatty gift shops as London. www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...

The Edinburgh connection to London's tax-evading gift shops

Plus: A chat with the Transport for London boss running the tube strike negotiations — and how the "hardworking businessman" putting up flags in south London tried to scam an insurer.

www.londoncentric.media

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 2

He’s back on the ground, just been handcuffed by British Transport Police. He agreed to come down in the LFB cherrypicker. Raining pretty hard - not sure if that contributed.

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 2

Moments before the dog was handed over, captured in grainy iPhone SE glory.

The pet does seem to be a crucial part of the protest. The man’s banner says “Dictators Fear Freedom, Even For Animals” with an icon of a dog.

Earlier this year, Iran banned dog-walking in cities including Tehran.

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 2

She needs to do the London Centric Jim Waterson finishing school of journalism! as endorsed by @direthoughts.com

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 2

THE DOG IS DOWN

Latest update from an anti-Iran protest at King’s Cross, where a man with a Pomeranian scaled the 34m clocktower at 8.

He just handed over the dog to firefighters on a cherry-picker, to scattered cheers from onlookers.

The man remains at the top and seems to be arguing with LFB.

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Sep 2

One of the capital's worst high-rise fires since Grenfell was just over a year ago; residents still have almost no answers.

London Centric's investigation into the devastating fire, from May: londoncentric.media/p/spectrum-h...

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · May 13

80 residents lost their homes in the Spectrum Building fire last August.

This story sums up London's precarious housing market: cladding removal works that helped the fire's spread, extortionate rent for a block with known safety issues, uncontactable freeholders and an ongoing search for answers.

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · May 10

In August there was a giant fire at a London block of flats that briefly led the news. Luckily everyone survived so interest subsided. But what actually went wrong at Spectrum House? London Centric has investigated and got the internal reports and pictures. www.londoncentric.media/p/spectrum-h...

Reposted by Rachel Rees

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Aug 30

Nitrous oxide driving, with drivers using balloons behind the wheel, feels like it’s on the rise in London - backed up by what medical experts told us about referrals. But the scale of the issue is obscured because of how crashes are recorded in police stats. www.londoncentric.media/p/nitrous-ox...

Nitrous oxide drivers are causing chaos on London's roads

Plus: Did Reform nominate a dead woman for mayor, which big TV series is pretending to be called "Dark Train", and will the Central Line ever get the upgrades it deserves?

www.londoncentric.media

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Aug 26

For more on the chaotic, unregulated pedicab industry: www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-pe...

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Aug 26

Wildfire expert Dr Thomas Smith on the risks in parks like Hyde Park, Brockwell Park, and Hampstead Heath:

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Aug 26

Today: wildfire risk in central London's parks/palaces

also
- 1 in 8 Notting Hill carnival arrests based on facial recognition tech
- Soho pedicab crash
- airport security vs wet-wipes
- headphones on the tube
- the cricket team and the zoo

www.londoncentric.media/p/will-wildf...

Why wildfires could come to inner London

Plus: Facial recognition arrests at Notting Hill Carnival, TfL tries to convince people to use headphones, and the London cricket team bought by a family with 900 crocodiles.

www.londoncentric.media

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Aug 20

Another fun part of this edition is the Qatari-royal-owned, mould-infested, ceiling-falling-down, £7.95m Mayfair townhouse that reminded me (already resigned to not owning in London for about 11 decades) just how outrageous London’s property market is.

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Aug 20

Spoiler: like all good things it’s tax related

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Aug 20

The real reason for the introduction of 4% service charges on pints bought at the bar in London pubs. www.londoncentric.media/p/why-london...

The real reason London pubs are putting service charges on pints

Plus: Preposterous London property of the week, Lime insists its e-bikes don't pose a threat to your legs, and Transport for London pays for 24/7 security to keep the homeless away from Park Lane.

www.londoncentric.media

Reposted by Rachel Rees

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Aug 15

Asif Aziz almost forced out London’s Prince Charles Cinema earlier this year. Is he trying the same again with Picturehouse Central - and is another major central London cinema under threat from the same landlord? www.londoncentric.media/p/picturehou...

Asif Aziz almost forced out one West End cinema. Is he doing it again?

To undermine one central London cinema may be regarded as a misfortune; to do it twice two looks like carelessness.

www.londoncentric.media

Reposted by Rachel Rees

Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · Aug 8

Ever wondered what the deal is with the InsideSuccess kids outside London stations who tell you they are raising money to stop knife crime? I have. Well @jim.londoncentric.media of London Centric has done the leg work, as ever.
substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Why can't anyone stop the fundraisers outside London stations?

Inside Success and WeRBlighty have broken the law with their fundraising activities. So why are they are allowed to continue operating outside the capital's busiest railway stations?

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Jul 24

Today's story: how a Wimbledon LTN led a man down a online rabbit hole, via a 6 hour lamppost sit-in.

also featuring anti-ULEZ bladerunners, a hardline vicar, flat-earthers, and conspiracy theorists quoting the Magna Carta

www.londoncentric.media/p/anti-ltn-p...

The anti-LTN protestor who sat on top of a lamppost for six hours

Plus: A £700,000 home in a converted garage in Hackney, how to quickly stop illegal fundraisers in London, steak price increases, and more shenanigans in London Labour.

www.londoncentric.media

Reposted by Rachel Rees

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Jul 22

He's one of Britain's richest men. So why does Asif Aziz's property company keep leasing London gift shops to overseas students based in abandoned offices or flytipped car parks — before vanishing without paying millions of pounds in taxes? www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

The billionaire and the tax evading gift shops

Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital manages a row of high-profile shops at Piccadilly Circus. So why does his team keeping renting them to students who vanish without paying millions of pounds in taxes?

www.londoncentric.media

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Jul 17

reported with help from @livsescape.bsky.social!

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Jul 17

Key findings, from council powers and Inside Success' finances to allegations from charity heads that they are making "zero contribution to the fight against knife crime":

Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · Jul 17

Today on London Centric: those blue jacket knife-crime fundraisers (Inside Success) and why no one seems to be able to get rid of them

www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-suc...

Why can't anyone stop the fundraisers outside London stations?

Inside Success and WeRBlighty have broken the law with their fundraising activities. So why are they are allowed to continue operating outside the capital's busiest railway stations?

www.londoncentric.media