More than 84 downtown Vancouver businesses closed their doors forever in 2020
According to the State of the Downtown 2020 report released on Thursday by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, 45 per cent of businesses closed were independently owned.
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Man jailed for stealing from taxi firm
The money was part of a total of £140,000 James Lloyd stole from the firm to fund a gambling habit which had spiralled out of control.
Lloyd, 39, successfully applied for the loan on behalf of the firm and within days of the money arriving in the company bank account he transferred it into a personal account.
Lloyd turned to online gambling at the start of lockdown to boost his family income as at the time he was off work after contracting a lung disease and his wife’s hairdressing salon was closed because of the Covid restrictions, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is investigating two incidents during which the exterior of the Chinese consulate was vandalized.
The first incident occurred on March 22. A man parked his dark-coloured Ford Escape in front of the consulate building, which is located near Granville Street and West 16th Avenue.
“He approached the front gate and spat on the plague dedicated to the Chinese Consular General,” Constable Tania Visintin says in a statement.
“He then threw an unknown white substance from a take-out cup on the same plaque. The suspect then used a hammer to hit and attempt to pry the plaque off the wall.”
But the pandemic’s prolonged economic and workplace effects led to some businesses resorting to releasing their office spaces. Downtown’s office vacancy rate fell from 2.6% in late 2019 to 6.6% in late 2020, which is still considered low. The vacancy rate is forecast to push further upwards to 8.6% in 2021. Most of the new vacancies during this period were from smaller and older spaces.
New office projects were still pushed forward during the pandemic, with 3.8 million sq ft of office space under construction and an additional 2.6 million sq ft proposed. The first major projects from the office construction boom that began before the pandemic are scheduled for completion in 2022 and 2023, including Oxford’s The Stack at 1133 Melville Street and The Post (Amazon) at 349 West Georgia Street.
Lincolnshire taxi firm manager jailed for fraud
He stole money to fund his gambling addiction
James Lloyd, 39, has been jailed for 32 months. | Photo: Stephen Daniels
A Boston taxi firm manager who stole his company’s COVID bounce back loan has been jailed for two years and eight months (32 months).
James Lloyd, 39, successfully applied for the loan on behalf of the firm and within days of the money arriving in the company bank account he transferred it into one of his personal accounts.
Lloyd turned to online gambling at the start of lockdown to boost his family income, as at the time he was off work after contracting a lung disease and his wife’s hairdressing salon was closed because of the COVID restrictions.