Bestway pays Co-op £620m for pharmacies October 6, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group completed the sale of its pharmacy business to Bestway for £620m yesterday, with the funds going to pay down some of the mutually owned company’s debts. The completion follows the announcement this summer that Bestway had fought off competition from other suitors for the 774-store chain, including Lloyds Pharmacy, Carlyle Group and [...]
September car sales rocket on confidence rise October 6, 2014 CAR SALES had their best September since 2004 as rising consumer confidence encouraged spending on big ticket items. There were 425,861 new cars registered last month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which is 5.6 per cent higher than last September. This follows a climb of 9.4 per cent year on [...]
Battersea Power Station to put Frank Gehry and Norman Foster flats on sale October 6, 2014 Hundreds of homes designed by renowned architects Norman Foster and Frank Gehry will go on sale at Battersea Power Station this month, the owners revealed yesterday, with prices starting at £495,000. Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners have designed two schemes for the third phase of development at Battersea Power Station, with 1,305 [...]
Property returns to record high October 6, 2014 BRITAIN’S commercial property market is on track to deliver its strongest returns in 25 years, thanks to rising confidence in the UK economy, new research from M&G Real Estate shows. In a report published yesterday, the real estate fund manager hailed 2014 as an “exceptional year”, fuelled by increased liquidity, rising investor confidence and improving [...]
Eurozone losing battle against new recession October 6, 2014 A WAVE of disappointing data released yesterday showed the Eurozone was struggling to stave off another recession, with the European Central Bank’s lacklustre statement on Thursday failing to lift confidence. Market inflation expectations (based on swaps prices) fell to 1.83 per cent, their lowest since 2010. ECB president Mario Draghi disappointed investors last week when he failed [...]
London house prices could fall next year after booming 2014 October 6, 2014 The boom in London house prices will not only end next year, but could even fall, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). Their own forecast puts the decline at 2.6 per cent for 2015, which would be the first annual fall since 2009. House prices in the capital are expected to [...]
Student housing deals to reach record £2bn by the end of 2014 October 6, 2014 THE STUDENT housing market is set for a record year after research out yesterday predicted that over £2bn of assets will go under offer in the final quarter of the year. Property experts JLL said £220m of student properties were under offer at the end of the third quarter, with a further £360m being marketed [...]
Property tech hub launched October 6, 2014 CUSHMAN & Wakefield and Spire Ventures have teamed up to create Europe’s first property-focused tech accelerator in Shoreditch. Property Innovation Labs (Pi Labs), aims to help startups become the next Zoopla or AirBnB by providing them with access to investment and mentoring, the two companies said. The pair will also team up with David Cameron’s [...]
Bank of England wants savers’ first £1m deposit to be protected October 6, 2014 Deposits of up to £1m should be guaranteed under the government-backed scheme to reassure savers their money is safe, the Bank of England proposed yesterday. Currently, the first £85,000 with any bank or building society is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. It was extended to that level during the financial crisis, as worries over the [...]
French PM Manuel Valls tells London: I’m pro-business October 6, 2014 France’s socialist prime minister Manuel Valls yesterday announced he was pro-business in a London speech and revealed several structural reforms he hoped would revive his country’s worsening economy. Number one on the list was scrapping the 75 per cent top rate of tax, which Valls said would expire at the end of this year. So [...]