Latest news with #GregHegarty
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Hotel empire boss warns London's phone theft epidemic is 'scaring away tourists'
London 's phone theft 'epidemic' is scaring away tourists, a hotel empire boss has warned. Greg Hegarty has become the latest leading business figure to raise the alert about rampant crime in the UK capital - with pressure on mayor Sadiq Khan to crack down. Mr Hegarty, co-chief executive of PPHE Hotels which has 51 venues across Europe, told of having to hike spending on security in a bid to reassure potential visitors. His concerns come as figures have shown a surge in phone snatching across London, with victims as young as four being targeted. The £50million-a-year crimewave spreading across the country involves thugs speeding on scooters and bikes taking expensive phones from innocent citizens. And now Mr Hegarty says visitors are being put off coming to London, a city that accounted for nearly a quarter of the UK's travel and tourism spending in 2023. The hotel chief said: 'If I'm looking at the South Bank of London, and Oxford Street, you can't carry a mobile phone in the street any more. 'You have got tourists now who are becoming less and less confident in coming or going to certain areas of London.' He described how his firm had doubled investment on security since before the Covid-19 pandemic, with crime risks identified as a 'major concern' both for recreational visitors and corporate customers staging conferences at PPHE hotels. Mr Hegarty told the Telegraph: 'I want our customers to feel safe and valued, because it makes a significant difference. 'They want to know that they can sit in a bar and put their bag down, or sit in the bar and put a mobile phone down instead of being targeted by a gang. 'It's for sure increasing - people are reading [Tripadvisor posts] that are saying, "I'm walking along Westminster Bridge, and I've had my phone stolen".' And he suggested thefts received less attention in London than in other countries, saying: 'There's a lot more active policing elsewhere. When you go to Amsterdam they have got a very tough stance on certain behaviours now.' PPHE, founded in 1989 by Israeli property developer Eli Papouchado, has a property portfolio valued at £2.2billion - with London setttings such as those named art'otel in Hoxton, east London, and at the recently-revamped Battersea Power Station. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'By intensifying our efforts, we're catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phones stolen in the capital. 'The Met is also working with other agencies and Government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.' Promises have been made in recent days that e-scooters and e-bikes driven by brazen phone snatchers would be destroyed by police within hours of being seized. Previously officers had to warn offenders before taking away and crushing a bike, scooter or any other vehicle driven in an anti-social manner or if it was used to facilitate a theft. But now new powers would mean police no longer have to wait two weeks before throwing them away - and will be able to do so in a two-day time frame. Ministers argued that the current two-week deadline made it less challenging for offenders to re-obtain their vehicles, meaning little discouragement against repeat offending. And while e-bikes and scooters have increasingly annoyed pedestrians, they too are being more frequently used to snatch mobile phones out of the hands of unassuming walkers. According to Metropolitan Police figures, 66,528 phones were stolen in the capital in the year leading up to September 2024. Over the same period in Westminster, 22,253 thefts were reported equating to 85.4 incidents per every 1,000 people. Among recent victims has been a Bridgerton actress who was left 'concussed and traumatised' when her phone was seized at a cafe in west London. Zacariah Boulares, 18, carried out the theft from rising star Genevieve Chenneour as she sat in the Joe & The Juice cafe in Kensington. The Algerian national last week pleaded guilty to stealing the phone when he appeared before Westminster magistrates in central London. He also pleaded guilty to common assault against Carlo Kurcishi, another customer in the same cafe, as well as a separate charge of theft after taking a black leather handbag at a pizza restaurant. Magistrates were told he had 12 previous convictions for 28 offences, all relating to theft. The defendant has now been remanded into custody with sentencing scheduled for June 17 at Isleworth Crown Court in west London. Chenneour has previously spoken of the terrifying moment she fought off the teenage thug who set upon her while she was walking her dog. The actress, who appeared in season three of the Netflix hit show as rumour-monger Clara Livingston, told the Mail on Sunday this month: 'They didn't expect me to stand up for myself – but I did.' The robbery happened when Yorkshire-born Genevieve had stopped at a branch of Joe & The Juice in west London. She said: 'I was left with a concussion just before the Screen Actors Guild Awards and since then, I've felt constantly on edge. 'Even my dog was traumatised - now, if anyone touches me, he panics and tries to protect me. 'Getting a coffee shouldn't be something you need your wits about you for. Discussing the new vows to destroy bikes used in such thefts, policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: 'Anti-social and reckless driving brings misery to communities across the country, from dangerous street racing to off-road bikes tearing through local parks. 'By enabling police to seize and dispose of these vehicles within just 48 hours, we're giving our officers the tools they need to deliver immediate results and providing communities the swift justice they deserve. 'As part of our Plan for Change, these new powers send a clear message that anti-social behaviour, whatever form it takes, will not be tolerated in our local communities.' The Government is also looking to increase fines for seizing, towing and crushing vehicles, after a previous consultation found fees last went up almost two decades ago in 2008. It comes as Scotland Yard has decided to fight back against London's mobile theft epidemic by using invisible DNA. Officers hope that marking e-bikes, an increasingly popular mode of getaway for marauding robbers, will allow them to track, catch and prosecute suspects. They are also spraying riders' clothes and skin with the invisible dye, which contains a unique DNA code only seen under UV light. The substance, known as SelectaDNA, sticks on a target for several months allowing police to link them to a specific theft via the special code. The method is being introduced in various hotspots around the country including London, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Scotland. How to protect your mobile from e-bike i-jackers Criminals often use bikes and mopeds to snatch mobile phones from people, particularly at busy locations such as outside stations, shopping centres or concert venues. Often victims are approached from behind while talking or texting on phones. Criminals on mopeds or bicycles may mount the pavement to grab the phone or snatch it from the road. Sometimes when it's a moped, a pillion passenger will snatch it. While most thefts happen between six and ten at night, criminals operate during the day too, so always look out for what's going on around you. The Metropolitan Police has urged people to follow these steps to protect your phone: Be aware of your surroundings If you need to call or use your phone on the street, look out for anyone on a bike or a moped near you. Look up, look out Make it quick so you don't become distracted Don't text while you're walking – you won't notice what's going on around you If that's not possible, stand away from the roadside, close to a building or wall, so no one can come up behind you Going hands-free can prevent a thief from snatching your phone out of your hand Use security features on your phone You must switch on your phone's security features to protect your phone Use the keypad lock so that thieves cannot immediately access your phone, or use the biometric authentication if your phone has it (fingerprint or facial recognition) Your phone may have other security features you can use – these could allow you to wipe data, lock your handset, or prevent a thief from restoring a phone to its factory settings from another internet device Consider installing an anti-theft app. These can be an effective way of helping police trace your phone and identify the thief Know how to identify your phone if it's stolen Every phone has an IMEI number which helps police and insurance companies to identify it if it's stolen. UK network operators can also stop a stolen phone from working across their networks with its IMEI Register your valuables on an accredited property database.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
London's crime epidemic ‘is scaring away tourists'
Credit: Met Police Tourists are becoming too scared to visit London because of surging levels of phone thefts, the boss of a £2.2bn hotel empire has warned. Greg Hegarty, the chief executive of PPHE Hotels, which runs 51 locations across Europe, said the company had ramped up its spending on security because travellers were increasingly worried about high crime rates in the capital. He said: 'If I'm looking at the South Bank of London, and Oxford Street, you can't carry a mobile phone in the street any more. You have got tourists now who are becoming less and less confident in coming or going to certain areas of London.' The issue is becoming a 'major concern' for recreational travellers and corporate clients who frequently host events such as conferences at PPHE's London hotels, he said. As a result, spending on security by the hotel group has roughly doubled compared with pre-pandemic levels. Mr Hegarty said: 'I want our customers to feel safe and valued, because it makes a significant difference. They want to know that they can sit in a bar and put their bag down, or sit in the bar and put a mobile phone down instead of being targeted by a gang.' However, he warned that the crime epidemic was damaging the capital's reputation as a good place to visit or do business. Robbery and theft rates have soared in London in recent years, with mobile phone thefts of particular concern. More than 70,000 phones were stolen in the city in 2024, up from over 52,400 thefts in 2023. In the City of Westminster, reported thefts from a person – a crime that covers phone snatching – rose from around six per 1,000 people in September 2021 to more than 20 per 1,000 by September 2024, according to police figures. Beyond phones, people have also had luxury watches stolen from their wrists by gangs in the street or on public transport, or had other valuable items taken, such as jewellery. Mr Hegarty said: 'It's for sure increasing. People are reading [Tripadvisor posts] that are saying 'I'm walking along Westminster Bridge, and I've had my phone stolen'.' Phone theft has become a booming black market industry worth around £50m per year, with many devices thought to be shipped abroad once they are stolen. The crime wave has sparked a clampdown by the Metropolitan Police, which said it 'stepped up' operations to catch phone thieves and bring them to justice. However, Mr Hegarty questioned how effective these efforts were. He said: 'I have had the police force come into one of our hotels, the general manager told me, saying 'Could you give this leaflet to customers?' which says to be careful of your mobile phones and your watches. 'What are you going to do if you're a family of five checking in from the US, being given a leaflet like that when you check into a hotel? It's not what you want.' Mr Hegarty said he believed petty crimes were being 'investigated a lot more' in other regions where PPHE does business. 'There's a lot more active policing elsewhere. When you go to Amsterdam they have got a very tough stance on certain behaviours now,' he said. Founded in 1989 by Eli Papouchado, an Israeli property developer, PPHE is one of Europe's largest hotel companies. It oversees a £2.2bn property portfolio of hotels, and is best known for the art'otel and Park Plaza brands. The company turned over revenues of more than £440m in 2024. Last year it opened the doors of its latest investment, a £310m new art'otel in Hoxton, east London. The hotel sits in a purpose-built 27-floor tower complete with a 25th floor restaurant, a luxury spa and its own art gallery – with a collection that includes two works by Banksy. Mr Hegarty called it a 'mammoth' undertaking that he hoped would boost tourism to the area and contribute to the local economy. However, he cautioned that recent political events had dampened his enthusiasm for doing business in the UK. Mr Hegarty said the company was having to scale back its investment plans and cut jobs as a result of Rachel Reeves's decision to hit employers with a £25bn tax raid in her October budget last year. Mr Hegarty said: 'We have had to react. We have had to make cutbacks, we are consolidating our corporate office, we are reducing headcount in hotels – which is unfortunate.' PPHE employs almost 3,000 people across the UK. The Treasury has insisted higher taxes on businesses are necessary to help plug an alleged 'black hole' in the nations finances left by the former Conservative government. However, hospitality chiefs have been angered by the way in which the Chancellor went about raising revenue. Ms Reeves's decision to not only increase the rate of employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions but also lower the threshold at which it is paid has hit pubs, restaurants and hotels particularly heavily because of the high numbers of lower-paid and part-time staff these businesses employ. Mr Hegarty said: 'The Government overlooks hospitality. We're overlooked and overtaxed. If you go on your high street, you've got cafes which can't open, you've got restaurant brands which have been around for years going bankrupt, and you've got hotels closing. 'I think we've been in the worst place we've been in decades as an industry.' PPHE still plans to keep opening hotels in the UK regardless of the tax raid. However, Mr Hegarty said the burden of increased labour costs meant it would prioritise 'select service' hotels – which rely more on technology and offer fewer amenities compared to traditional 'full service' locations. Mr Hegarty said: 'I am not bringing a full service hotel back on to this market until I see things improving. [Select service] is a nice level of accommodation and services, but for example there'll be no room service, there'll be no kitchens, it'll be heavily automated. So for me, that's impacted jobs in the community.' He was equally dispirited by the prospect of more tax rises in the autumn. Another raid looks increasingly likely after the recent about-turn by Sir Keir Starmer on winter fuel payments and a likely policy change on the two-child benefit cap. The Telegraph recently revealed that Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, wrote to Ms Reeves in the spring demanding a spate of further rises – such as removing inheritance tax relief for AIM shares and changing the tax on company dividends. Mr Hegarty said: 'It just makes London less attractive. London once was one of the global financial powerhouses, and we are having people leave us to go to Amsterdam. I can tell you now that customers I've lost in London, I've actually gained in Amsterdam.' A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'By intensifying our efforts, we're catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phones stolen in the capital. The Met is also working with other agencies and Government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.' A Treasury spokesman said: 'We are a pro-business Government, and we know the vital importance of the hospitality sector to local communities and the wider economy, which is why we are supporting them with business rates relief, cutting duty on draught pints, capping corporation tax, and are protecting the smallest businesses from the employer National Insurance rise – which is helping to fund the NHS.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
London's crime epidemic ‘is scaring away tourists'
Tourists are becoming too scared to visit London because of surging levels of phone thefts, the boss of a £2.2bn hotel empire has warned. Greg Hegarty, the chief executive of PPHE Hotels, which runs 51 locations across Europe, said the company had ramped up its spending on security because travellers were increasingly worried about high crime rates in the capital. He said: 'If I'm looking at the South Bank of London, and Oxford Street, you can't carry a mobile phone in the street any more. You have got tourists now who are becoming less and less confident in coming or going to certain areas of London.' The issue is becoming a 'major concern' for recreational travellers and corporate clients who frequently host events such as conferences at PPHE's London hotels, he said. As a result, spending on security by the hotel group has roughly doubled compared with pre-pandemic levels. Mr Hegarty said: 'I want our customers to feel safe and valued, because it makes a significant difference. They want to know that they can sit in a bar and put their bag down, or sit in the bar and put a mobile phone down instead of being targeted by a gang.' However, he warned that the crime epidemic was damaging the capital's reputation as a good place to visit or do business. Robbery and theft rates have soared in London in recent years, with mobile phone thefts of particular concern. More than 70,000 phones were stolen in the city in 2024, up from over 52,400 thefts in 2023. In the City of Westminster, reported thefts from a person – a crime that covers phone snatching – rose from around six per 1,000 people in September 2021 to more than 20 per 1,000 by September 2024, according to police figures. Beyond phones, people have also had luxury watches stolen from their wrists by gangs in the street or on public transport, or had other valuable items taken, such as jewellery. Mr Hegarty said: 'It's for sure increasing. People are reading [Tripadvisor posts] that are saying 'I'm walking along Westminster Bridge, and I've had my phone stolen'.' Phone theft has become a booming black market industry worth around £50m per year, with many devices thought to be shipped abroad once they are stolen. The crime wave has sparked a clampdown by the Metropolitan Police, which said it 'stepped up' operations to catch phone thieves and bring them to justice. However, Mr Hegarty questioned how effective these efforts were. He said: 'I have had the police force come into one of our hotels, the general manager told me, saying 'Could you give this leaflet to customers?' which says to be careful of your mobile phones and your watches. 'What are you going to do if you're a family of five checking in from the US, being given a leaflet like that when you check into a hotel? It's not what you want.' Mr Hegarty said he believed petty crimes were being 'investigated a lot more' in other regions where PPHE does business. 'There's a lot more active policing elsewhere. When you go to Amsterdam they have got a very tough stance on certain behaviours now,' he said. Founded in 1989 by Eli Papouchado, an Israeli property developer, PPHE is one of Europe's largest hotel companies. It oversees a £2.2bn property portfolio of hotels, and is best known for the art'otel and Park Plaza brands. The company turned over revenues of more than £440m in 2024. Last year it opened the doors of its latest investment, a £310m new art'otel in Hoxton, east London. The hotel sits in a purpose-built 27-floor tower complete with a 25th floor restaurant, a luxury spa and its own art gallery – with a collection that includes two works by Banksy. Mr Hegarty called it a 'mammoth' undertaking that he hoped would boost tourism to the area and contribute to the local economy. However, he cautioned that recent political events had dampened his enthusiasm for doing business in the UK. Mr Hegarty said the company was having to scale back its investment plans and cut jobs as a result of Rachel Reeves's decision to hit employers with a £25bn tax raid in her October budget last year. Mr Hegarty said: 'We have had to react. We have had to make cutbacks, we are consolidating our corporate office, we are reducing headcount in hotels – which is unfortunate.' PPHE employs almost 3,000 people across the UK. 'We're overlooked and overtaxed' The Treasury has insisted higher taxes on businesses are necessary to help plug an alleged 'black hole' in the nations finances left by the former Conservative government. However, hospitality chiefs have been angered by the way in which the Chancellor went about raising revenue. Ms Reeves's decision to not only increase the rate of employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions but also lower the threshold at which it is paid has hit pubs, restaurants and hotels particularly heavily because of the high numbers of lower-paid and part-time staff these businesses employ. Mr Hegarty said: 'The Government overlooks hospitality. We're overlooked and overtaxed. If you go on your high street, you've got cafes which can't open, you've got restaurant brands which have been around for years going bankrupt, and you've got hotels closing. 'I think we've been in the worst place we've been in decades as an industry.' PPHE still plans to keep opening hotels in the UK regardless of the tax raid. However, Mr Hegarty said the burden of increased labour costs meant it would prioritise 'select service' hotels – which rely more on technology and offer fewer amenities compared to traditional 'full service' locations. Mr Hegarty said: 'I am not bringing a full service hotel back on to this market until I see things improving. [Select service] is a nice level of accommodation and services, but for example there'll be no room service, there'll be no kitchens, it'll be heavily automated. So for me, that's impacted jobs in the community.' He was equally dispirited by the prospect of more tax rises in the autumn. Another raid looks increasingly likely after the recent about-turn by Sir Keir Starmer on winter fuel payments and a likely policy change on the two-child benefit cap. The Telegraph recently revealed that Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, wrote to Ms Reeves in the spring demanding a spate of further rises – such as removing inheritance tax relief for AIM shares and changing the tax on company dividends. Mr Hegarty said: 'It just makes London less attractive. London once was one of the global financial powerhouses, and we are having people leave us to go to Amsterdam. I can tell you now that customers I've lost in London, I've actually gained in Amsterdam.' A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'By intensifying our efforts, we're catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phones stolen in the capital. The Met is also working with other agencies and Government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.' A Treasury spokesman said: 'We are a pro-business Government, and we know the vital importance of the hospitality sector to local communities and the wider economy, which is why we are supporting them with business rates relief, cutting duty on draught pints, capping corporation tax, and are protecting the smallest businesses from the employer National Insurance rise – which is helping to fund the NHS.'
Telegraph
27-02-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Multibillion-pound hotel empire blames Labour as it ditches UK investment plans
The boss of a multibillion-pound hotel group has blamed Labour for his decision to slow investment in Britain and focus overseas instead. Greg Hegarty, the co-chief executive of PPHE Hotel Group, which runs the Park Plaza and art'otel brands, said he was prioritising countries such as Spain and Italy over the UK because of the Government's economic policies. He said: 'I'm sorry to say that the UK is not the primary focus of growth for our company any more. I would deploy capital in other European cities at the moment, where it is more favourable to the hospitality sector and easier for a business to grow.' London-listed PPHE runs a £2.2bn property portfolio of hotels across the UK and Europe. It has ploughed huge sums of money into the UK in recent years, including the opening of a £200m art'otel site in Hoxton, east London, last year. Mr Hegarty said the company would still consider opportunities in the UK but would not seek them out. He said: 'We're used to taking risks. However, the risk factor in the UK at the moment for us is a hard one to deal with currently. 'We are looking for further properties in Rome. We're looking at other Italian cities such as Florence, Milan. We've always been interested in Spain – in Madrid and Barcelona, for example – and growing our Croatian portfolio further. We've got a lot of land sites in Croatia, which we can develop and get higher levels of return than we can in the UK.' His comments come as hospitality chiefs brace for an increase in employer National Insurance contributions from April. The tax raid will cost companies across Britain £25bn. Business owners have complained that the National Insurance increase, combined with an accompanying 6.7pc rise in the minimum wage from April, will disproportionately hurt the hospitality sector and discourage investment at a time when companies are already grappling with sky-high costs. Mr Hegarty said: 'It's not just National Insurance, it's the thresholds of business rates, the ongoing flip flopping of policy ... It just creates a total lack of consumer confidence. And this does impact demand, because you've got lots of people who are concerned about disposable income. 'I just don't feel that the Government has actually got a grasp of how to deal with the service sector in general.' He added: 'We can adapt to these levels of wage increases. However, ultimately, it means that we need to re-evaluate the business. I am constantly looking at how we can minimise the cost to consumers and protect as many team members as I possibly can, but inevitably we will be recruiting less.'
