City office take-up stays low October 16, 2011 THE TAKE-UP of new office space in London’s Square Mile this year could drop to its lowest since 2003 as economic uncertainty continues to dampen demand, property consultant Cushman & Wakefield has warned. Research published by the firm today shows that leasing activity in the City and the Docklands rose more than 73 per cent [...]
Letting agents say supply of rental homes is falling October 16, 2011 THE SUPPLY of residential accommodation available to rent is in sharp decline, according to a report released this morning. The number of letting agents reporting that there are more tenants than properties has reached the highest level since records began, the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has said. Around three quarters of respondents to [...]
The quiet diplomat who is fighting on behalf of the real squeezed middle October 16, 2011 IT is always hard to fill someone else’s shoes, especially if they belong to a larger-than-life figure such as Lord Digby Jones or Sir Richard Lambert. That was the position that John Cridland found himself in when he took the reins at the CBI just under a year ago. The mild-mannered, softly spoken 50-year old [...]
Crunch time for Best Buy’s UK venture October 16, 2011 THE fate of 11 giant out of town stores owned by Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse is close to being decided, with a sale or closure the most likely outcome. The joint venture partners this summer froze the planned opening of a string of new stores and launched a review into the existing ones after [...]
Train journeys set to return to peacetime high October 16, 2011 RAIL PASSENGER numbers grew by more than five per cent over the summer, helped by more travellers switching to public transport as high petrol prices force drivers to leave their cars at home. Figures from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) show that the number of journeys taken in the third quarter of this [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 16, 2011 The Crown Estate Ian Marcus has been appointed as a non-executive of The Crown Estate, effective from 1 January 2012. Marcus is currently chairman of European real estate investment banking at Credit Suisse, chairman of the Bank of England Commercial Property Forum, and chairman of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust. Previous roles have included president of [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 16, 2011 WHITBREAD Analysts at UBS say Costa and Premier Inn owner Whitbread, which reports first half results tomorrow, is its most preferred stock in the leisure and tobacco sector. The investment bank is forecasting revenues of £889m, ebitda of £183m, and earnings per share of 69.6p. Whitbread’s restaurants continue to drag down on growth but Costa [...]
G20 and US earnings set to be positive catalysts October 16, 2011 AREVIVAL in hopes that the Eurozone crisis can and will be contained will continue to spur stocks higher this morning. The mood of the market certainly seems to be leaning towards the positive, and that will likely be reinforced by news from Paris at the weekend that the G20 have agreed that the IMF should [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD October 16, 2011 THE coming week is likely to be crucial for the direction of financial markets until year-end, with Eurozone stability at stake as well as the latest test of the one bright spot for investors, corporate earnings. In the case of the Eurozone, there is talk of a “binary” moment next weekend in which a European [...]
Debt weighs on owner of AA and Saga October 16, 2011 THE owner of Saga and the AA, Acromas, lost almost £500m last year as the interest payments on its massive debt pile took their toll. Acromas, taken private in June 2007 for £6.3bn by Charterhouse, Permira and CVC, posted a £458m pre-tax loss during the 12 months ended January, 13.4 per cent narrower than a [...]
