Shaftesbury sounds the alarm as rail strikes take toll on businesses

Rishi Sunak must get all the strikes settled, the boss of one of Londons biggest landlords has warned.

Brian Bickell, who runs West End property giant Shaftesbury, said rail strikes in the run up to Christmas were devastating for the popular tourist areas shops and bars.

The 68-year-old insisted the strikes cannot go on and called on the unions, train operators and the Prime Minister to find a solution.

He said Shaftesbury, which owns swathes of Soho, Covent Garden, Carnaby Street and Chinatown, was finally seeing a return to normal following the pandemic.

But industrial action by the RMT and Aslef has left many travellers too nervous to plan trips into London in advance.

Bickell said: People are thinking, Should we book something for the half-term holidays? and have a lack of confidence.