The Time Out London blog team

Brick Lane is one of London’s most beloved, and buzzing, areas. Home to the largest Bangladeshi community outside of Bangladesh, nowadays the cobbled street in the East End is known just as much for its curry houses and vintage shops as its ubiquity of fashionable young shoppers, TikTokkers and trendy coffee shops.  At the centre of Brick Lane is the great Truman Brewery. Currently, the building that was once London’s largest brewery is home to food and vintage markets, record stores, music venues and more. But that could all change in the future, as the building’s landlords are pushing ahead with plans to redevelop the beloved brewery, despite widespread opposition.  The building’s owners, the Zeloof family, have been trying to secure planning permission from Tower Hamlets council for years to redevelop the brewery. The latest attempt could see the iconic building turned into a data centre, alongside 44 flats and a new retail space. The 44 flats would include 11 social housing units. The Brick Lane server could be one of dozens of new data centres proposed for London. In October, the government declared data centres ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’, and vowed to make it easier for developers to win approval. But building new servers in a city that’s already short on space could be at odds with the government’s plans to build new homes in the capital.  Photograph: Shutterstock There’s also the issue of how new data centres could strain grid capacity in...

Last April, Lidl revealed that it had its sights on more 200 neighbourhoods across London for potential new store openings. Now, the budget supermarket chain can tick three of those locations off.  This week Lidl confirmed that it’ll be opening 19 new supermarkets across England over the next two months, and three of those will be here in the capital. Those will be at Stamford Hill, on Walworth Road in Elephant and Castle and on Sutton High Street.  Specific opening dates haven’t been announced yet but Lidl has promised that there will be free food samples and the opportunity to win special prizes when each store launches.  The German chain’s expansion in the capital comes soon after it launched its 1,000th British location, and set out on a £43 million mission to upgrade existing locations across the country. Those renovations have been going on for a year or so and have included improving tills, adding more freezer space, and broadening product ranges.  A spokesperson for Lidl said: ‘We’re starting the new year as we mean to go on, with a major investment that reinforces our commitment to delivering the best experience for customers and creating a positive impact for the communities we serve. With this push, we’re set on winning more shoppers across the nation and claiming an even bigger share of the market.’ It’s not the only grocery chain going from strength to strength in the capital. Rival budget supermarket Aldi opened three huge new stores in London right before...

It’s no secret that Londoners are ambitious and (can be) a little bit cut-throat. We’ve all speed-walked past lost tourists on the Underground, run red lights on Lime bikes and elbowed others out the way to be the first in line for the Pret baguette (just me? OK). Perhaps we’re a bit impatient, but it turns out that all that unbridled determination could actually be making a difference, because London has just been named the most powerful city in the world in the new ‘Global Power City Index’ (GPCI).  The 2026 edition of the index assessed cities around the globe across six categories to determine their ‘magnetism’, which the report defines as their ‘comprehensive power to attract people, capital and enterprises from around the world’. Seventy-two different metrics were assessed and divided into these categories: economy (GDP per capita, employment levels, wage rate); research and development (number of patents, startups and presence of top universities); cultural interaction (proximity to World Heritage Sites and number of theatres, museums, stadiums and hotel rooms); livability (life expectancy and rent prices); environment (air quality and waste recycle rate); and accessibility (the price of a cab and the number of international flights).  Photograph: Shutterstock Although the Big Smoke lost points from the previous year, it managed to top the list for the 14th consecutive year in a row with an overall score of 1,642.2 out of a possible 2,700. The city ranked first...