Supermarkets reap over £1bn of property investment in 2015 as new buyers pile in March 22, 2016 Britain's supermarket sector attracted over £1bn of property investment last year as investors shrugged off the price wars and and went in search of stable returns. Research released today by Colliers International and data analytics provider MSCI revealed that deal volumes reached £1.4bn in 2015, up slightly on the previous year but down on the record [...]
House prices: volatile equity markets and Brexit fears are hurting prime global rents, says Knight Frank March 21, 2016 Volatile equity markets and economic weakness in emerging markets dragged rental prices for high-end homes in key global cities lower last year, new research shows. Knight Frank's prime global rental index, which tracks the change in luxury residential rents across 17 cities globally, fell by 1.1 per cent in 2015, down from growth of 2.5 per cent in 2014. Geneva replaced Moscow as the [...]
Housebuilder Inland Homes posts record half-year profits as average prices rise March 21, 2016 Shares in Inland Homes edged higher today after the housebuilder and regeneration specialist posted a jump in half-year profits. The Aim-listed company, which buys and develops brownfield land in the south and south-east, posted a 274.4 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £21.5m in the six months to the end of December, boosted by a £14m revaluation [...]
Jack Wills secures extra £10m funding as its embarks on a store opening spree March 21, 2016 Jack Wills has secured an extra £10m of funding from its lenders as it looks to add another 10 stores to its clothing empire this year. The preppy fashion chain, which counts Prince Harry among its fans, said HSBC has agreed to increase its revolving credit facility to £30m for the rest of 2016 to help support its expansion. [...]
Fashion retailer New Look to move 800 staff to new London headquarters at King’s Cross March 21, 2016 New Look is moving 800 staff to new headquarters at King’s Cross after signing up for seven floors on the 67-acre regeneration site. The fashion retailer, which was bought last year by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, has taken a lease for 123,000 square feet of space in building R7 on Handyside Street on the north-eastern part of the site. It [...]
Halfords and N Brown share price drops after UBS downgrade, blaming Brexit, Amazon and currency woes March 21, 2016 Shares in Halfords and N Brown have dropped sharply today after analysts at UBS slashed their ratings for both retailers in a bearish note on the sector. The Swiss bank's research arm, UBS Evidence Lab, has warned of on a whole shopping basket of challenges facing retailers this year, including short-term uncertainty over Brexit, wage inflation, currency and the increasing dominance of Amazon. [...]
Dixons Carphone snaps up broadband and TV price comparison site Simplifydigital March 21, 2016 Dixons Carphone has agreed to buy broadband price comparison site Simplifydigital for an undisclosed sum as it looks to become a one-stop shop for digital services. Founded in 2007 by former Sky sales executive Charlie Ponsonby, Simplifydigital is the UK's biggest TV, broadband and phone switching service, sorting through 11,000 products to find the best deals. Dixons Carphone said the deal will help further bolster its position [...]
Tesco’s share price rises as supermarket takes fight to the discounters with launch of seven value own-label ranges March 21, 2016 Tesco has added fuel to the supermarket price war after launching a range of entry level own-label brands that will challenge the discounters on price. The retailer's share climbed by more than one per cent this morning after it said it will sell around 80 fresh, meat and poultry products under seven new "Farms" brands which, in many cases, will either match or [...]
Bank lending to property developers halves in just two years to £16bn March 21, 2016 Bank lending to property developers has halved over the last two years, making it more difficult for companies to kick-start schemes that could help ease the housing crisis, a new report out today claims. Bank finance has dropped from £34bn in January 2014 to just £16bn the same month this year – with bridging finance [...]
Sandwich chain Eat foots £3.6m VAT bill after toasties get grilled in pasty tax battle March 20, 2016 High street sandwich chain Eat found itself picking up a rather expensive VAT bill last year after toasties lost out in the long-running pasty tax row. In 2014, franchisees of rival chain Subway lost a Court of Appeal battle with the Treasury to force it to drop the 20 per cent VAT rate on toasted [...]
