Can you see the appeal of a converted office building? October 30, 2012 PAUL COOPER | OSBORNE CLARK Converted office units offer an alternative investment opportunity for City workers. The process of converting offices uses space in prime locations across the city that otherwise would be left derelict. ROBERT MCCREATH | ARCHON SOLICITORS Office spaces that have been converted into residential units give buyers the perfect opportunity to [...]
Record level of offices turned into residences October 30, 2012 THE NUMBER of offices being converted into homes is set to jump significantly over the next two years as developers chase higher returns for their property, according to property services firm DTZ. Strong growth in London residential values and weak demand for secondary office property is prompting developers and landlords to turn tired office blocks [...]
Miners on shaky ground despite stabilising backdrop October 30, 2012 WITH the US markets firmly shut for a second day, investors had no choice yesterday but to focus on corporate events closer to home. Luckily the FTSE’s resources stocks more than made up for the lack of American action, with market watchers gripped yesterday by the unfolding tale of two miners. First up, Lonmin finally [...]
Premier sells Branston arm in £92.5m deal October 30, 2012 PREMIER Foods yesterday said it has agreed to sell its Branston range of pickles and sauces to Japanese food manufacturer Mizkan for £92.5m, in its latest efforts to pay down debts. The deal, which is expected to be completed early next year, includes Premier’s Bury St Edmunds factory where the sauces including Branston relish, salad [...]
Advisers October 30, 2012 ADRIAN MAGUIRE FRESHFIELDS ADRIAN Maguire, corporate partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, acted for Premier on the sale of its sweet pickles and table sauces business with the support of intellectual property partner Andrew Craig. Law firm Ashurst advised Mizkan. Maguire joined Freshfields in 1996 as a trainee, after graduating from Durham, and was made partner [...]
Quarto attacks rebel investors over attempt to oust founder October 30, 2012 BOOK publisher Quarto yesterday lashed out at a group of investors aiming at ousting co-founder and chief executive Laurence Orbach, urging other shareholders to vote against his being replaced at a meeting next month. The group also warned that the spat was a distraction at a time when it should be focusing its attention on [...]
Drivers face Blackwall Tunnel toll to fund new river crossing October 30, 2012 MOTORISTS will bear the cost of a new Thames crossing in east London, Transport for London said yesterday. TfL has not set aside any money in its budget for the planned tunnel at Silvertown or a new vehicle ferry service, and said the “most appropriate way to fund the projects would be to charge a [...]
M&S to launch four overseas sites October 30, 2012 ■ Marks & Spencer is to step up its international growth plans with the launch of four new foreign language websites next month. The retailer revealed that it will expand online in Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium on 19 November after opening its first two overseas sites in France and Ireland in the past year. [...]
Hugo Boss posts China sales rise October 30, 2012 ■ German fashion house Hugo Boss said yesterday it was seeing some signs of improvement in China, with sales picking up there in the third quarter. “We do see stabilisation but no recovery in consumer confidence in China yet,” chief executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs said, as the firm posted third-quarter earnings showing flat sales of €646m [...]
EE rolls out UK’s first 4G mobile network amid contract criticism October 30, 2012 THE UK finally saw its first high-speed 4G service switched on yesterday after years of delays and legal threats between the country’s mobile networks. EE, the parent of Orange and T-Mobile formerly known as Everything Everywhere, launched its 4G service in 11 UK cities and moved the first customers onto its new, third, network, also [...]
