Australia’s UGL acquires DTZ Holdings for £77.5m December 4, 2011 AUSTRALIAN engineering firm UGL said overnight it had acquired all the trading operations of real estate services company DTZ Holdings for £77.5m. DTZ was placed into administration in the UK immediately prior to the acquisition. In a statement, UGL said that, after the buyout, it will have combined annual revenues of A$5.1bn (£3.4bn) and 53,000 [...]
Doing the Wild West in style December 4, 2011 IT’S with a spirit of rebellion that three girlfriends and I sip G&Ts, descending over Las Vegas, the first leg of what we planned to be a mammoth 30th birthday blowout road trip to the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, and the Big Sur. The trip is as much about commemorating a key cornerstone in our [...]
TRAVEL NOTES December 4, 2011 Anantara opens luxe resort in Koh Phangan North of Koh Samui, you’ll find Koh Phangan tucked away at the base of a lush mountain. Set amid towering coconut palms and steps from idyllic Thong Nai Pan Noi beach, the resort has 44 private pool suites and villas and an open-air spa. Snorkeling, archery, elephant trekking, [...]
Turn your travel dreams into gold December 4, 2011 With the New Year just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about where 2012 will take you. If your resolution is to discover new places – be it the south coast of England or South America – the Preferred Rewards Gold Card from American Express can make your getaway even [...]
Property firm St Modwen sees big year December 1, 2011 PROPERTY regeneration company St Modwen expects its full-year results to buck the economic downturn, coming in at the upper end of forecasts. The company, which owns the Elephant and Castle and Edmonton Green shopping centres in London, said in a trading update that sales and buyer interest in its new sites have both been high, [...]
Local Shopping REIT value dips December 1, 2011 THE LOCAL Shopping REIT saw its net asset value decline by 6.2 per cent in the year to 30 September, due to a £3.7m valuation decline in its portfolio. The company, which owns local neighbourhood shops across the UK, however, said its business is performing well as like for like rents grew by 0.7 per [...]
Almacantar’s plan hit for six December 1, 2011 Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has bowled over UK developer Almacantar’s plans for a top-end, £400m residential development near Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, and will fund the project itself. MCC said the England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to award the club a string of major matches for the period 2013-16 had given its committee [...]
HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB December 1, 2011 CHATHAM CLOSE, NW11 Price: £795,000 A three bedroom unmodernised semi detached house located off Erskine Hill and backing onto Big Wood. It offers an entrance room, reception and dining room together with the kitchen and family bathroom. The property also has a view of trees and hedges fronting the house. Call Glentree International 020 8488 [...]
BUY December 1, 2011 DIRECTOR OF ESTATE AGENT DOUGLAS & GORDON Q.We have an offer and are about to exchange on our house, but at the last minute our buyers have asked for a price reduction. What are our options? A.Sadly the England and Wales property buying system allows, effectively, three chances for a buyer to [re]negotiate a price, once [...]
Five reasons why Hampstead is still tops December 1, 2011 1.HISTORY To live in Hampstead is to share cobbled streets and gourmet bakeries with the likes of Emma Thompson, Ricky Gervais, Peter O’Toole and Judy Dench. But the village’s place in the literary canon makes it one of the most historically evocative places in London. Keats lived next to South End Green, while an epic [...]