London Cocktail Club launches £750,000 crowdfunding campaign to open more bars March 8, 2016 London Cocktail Club is tapping margarita lovers and party-goers for £750,000 after launching a crowdfunding campaign to help fund more bar openings across the capital. The company, which counts restaurateur Raymond Blanc and Dragons Den judge Sarah Willingham among its backers, has turned to Crowdcube to raise new equity, with £135,000 raised so far. It currently has five basement [...]
Supermarkets abandon more schemes as pressure mounts on Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco March 8, 2016 The number of developments ditched by Britain's supermarket titans has jumped since the first half of the year, with construction and planning applications also in decline, new research shows. Property advisory firm CBRE's latest analysis of the grocery property market shows that the number of abandoned schemes rose by 13.3 per cent in the second half of 2015. Proposed projects [...]
UK house prices: You can actually buy a flat in Preston for the price of a Ford Fiesta – or a property in Greater London for an Aston Martin March 8, 2016 It might be hard to believe, but you could buy a property in (Greater) London for the price of a (very expensive) car. Of course, it might be quite a toss-up: your £100,000 can get you either a one bed flat in Tilbury, near Romford – the cheapest property available in what estate agents call London (even [...]
Pizza Express serves up strong half-year sales as it ramps up expansion March 8, 2016 Pizza Express sales have jumped by 15.9 per cent over the last six months, boosted by new menu launches and its expansion both in the UK and abroad. The chain, which was sold to Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital in 2014 for £900m, said turnover grew to £267.2m in the 28 weeks to 10 January compared with [...]
UK house prices: More than £63bn properties have been bought using cash instead of mortgages since 2011 March 8, 2016 More than £63bn has been spent on £1m-plus homes over the last five years by buyers using hard cash as opposed to mortgages, new figures show. High net worth adviser Bower Private Clients said 7,200 homes worth more than £1m are being bought on average each year alone without the help of a mortgage. This is [...]
Burberry’s share price jumps as mystery investor shops at the luxury group March 8, 2016 Burberry lead the FTSE 100 this morning after reports last night that a mystery investor has built up a five per cent stake in the luxury goods company. Regulatory filings show that the shareholder's stake went over the five per cent disclosure threshold on 11 February, with HSBC acting on behalf of the investor. A separate [...]
Neighbourhood drones, virtual reality tours and holograms: Here are five ways we will be buying property by 2025 March 8, 2016 Dashing across town to visit a property for sale after work? According to trend analysts, The Future Laboratory, the days of paying a physical visit will be long gone by 2025 and replaced by virtual reality devices such a holograms instead. The report, commissioned by online estate agent easyProperty, has predicted several ways that buying, selling and redecorating [...]
UK house prices: The number of tenants in serious rent arrears improves in final quarter of 2015 March 8, 2016 The number of tenants falling seriously behind on rent fell in the final quarter of 2015 after worsening in the previous three months, according to figures released this morning. There were 82,900 households behind on more than two months’ rent between October and December, down from 84,200 in the third quarter, the latest data from [...]
Top tips from the experts on how to get lots of people looking at your property online March 7, 2016 In the last 12 months, a slew of online portals have opened up to help you sell or lease your property online. These websites are certainly cheaper than enlisting an estate agent, but they also involve more legwork. Here are some fool-proof ways to get your property noticed online, whether you’re selling up on PurpleBricks.com [...]
Kleinwort Benson’s Mayfair office sold to Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau’s Chinese Estates for £122m March 7, 2016 An property investment firm controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau has snapped up Kleinwort Benson's London headquarters in Mayfair for £121.7m. Chinese Estates has agreed to buy 14 St George Street from Aberdeen Asset Management, the pair announced today, in a deal representing a 3.5 per cent yield. Designed by Eric Parry, the four-storey building comprises 51,861 square feet and [...]