The Hollywood star commented: "London is one of the most exciting and cosmopolitan cities in the world. It makes perfect sense to develop a hotel that represents all of that in the heart of this city in Covent Garden." If built, the development will be constructed on the site of several existing buildings. This would involve the knocking-through of six adjacent buildings, three of which are Grade II listed. Mr. De Niro observed that in the construction of the new hotel, he would respect the history of Covent Garden, including the retention of the historical facades. He added: "The Wellington Hotel would honour the heritage of the area, while bringing the best of what we've done in New York to London." If plans for De Niro’s latest venture, The Wellington, are accepted, work is expected to commence in 2017 and the completion date would be expected to be sometime in 2019. The classy establishment would be surrounded by Wellington Street, Exeter Street, Tavistock Street, and Burleigh Street. In recent years, the actor has successfully branched out with a range of businesses ventures, including his immensely popular restaurant, Nobu; running the Tribeca film festival in New York, and launching several other hotels. Robert De Niro is just one amongst a whole host of celebrity business investors looking to invest in London property and business opportunities. Certain areas such as London’s West End are well-known for their thriving business and investment opportunities. However, for those on the bottom-rung of the ladder; London still offers plenty of opportunities to establish your brand and grow your business organically. With some financial backing, desolate areas of London can prove fruitful. This is especially the case for some businesses making use of the new London Union scheme, which sees smaller food businesses create their reputation and name through pop-up markets. As reported in the Telegraph, ‘Celebrity cooks Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi have joined forces with Jamie Oliver and 15 other top chefs, restauranteurs and food writers to back a new project to turn London’s disused spaces into pop-up food markets.’ “The aim of London Union is to find areas across the capital that are economically inactive – often waiting for planning permission or for work to start on a new development – and build pop-up markets that create local jobs and provide opportunities for new, up-and-coming street food traders to establish themselves without requiring large amounts of capital.” With a growing opportunities, a captivating ambience and with good travel links; London is a fantastic place in which to invest in business, as well as to develop your own business. Feature Image: By David Shankbone (Shankbone) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons