Thursday newspaper round-up: Offices, empty shops, Tesla

The Bank of England has cast doubt on the government drive to get workers back to offices, after a senior official warned it was impossible for large numbers of staff to return to central London and other big cities while risks from Covid-19 remained. Pouring cold water on the government campaign, Alex Brazier, the Bank’s executive director for financial stability strategy and risk, said it was “not possible” for a mass return to city centre offices across Britain this autumn due to Covid guidelines, concerns over the health risks, and transport capacity issues. – Guardian

The number of empty shops on UK high streets has risen to its highest level in six years as city centres, and especially London, suffer from a dive in visitor numbers. Nearly 11% of shops remained vacant in July compared with 9.8% in January, with the number of empty premises rising in six out of 10 UK regions, according to retail analysis firm Springboard. Greater London suffered by far the worst blow, with empty shops increasing by nearly two-thirds. – Guardian

Two of the biggest names in British motorsport are embroiled in a bitter legal row over the building of the world’s first all-electric hypercar. Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE), spun out of the Formula One team that boasted Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Ayrton Senna as drivers, is preparing to sue Lotus over a contract to build the £2m Evija - billed as an engineering masterpiece with a top speed of more than 200mph. – Telegraph

The biggest investor in Tesla after Elon Musk has banked billions of dollars in profits for its clients by selling part of its stake in the maker of electric cars. Baillie Gifford said yesterday that it had cut its stake in Tesla to 4.25 per cent to prevent its clients being over-exposed to the company, which has enjoyed a spectacular re-rating in recent months, sending its shares up fivefold since January. The Times