Rental markets start to stabilise September 27, 2009 The residential rental market is beginning to stabilise with property oversupply decreasing across the UK, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). The latest ARLAsurvey shows the decline in numbers of tenants, which has led to a surplus of properties to rent, is coming to an end as 83 per cent of members [...]
Travelodge in Marston’s tie-up September 27, 2009 Travelodge, the cut-price hotel chain, is set to team up with pub giant Marston’s Inns to develop 13 new sites under a plan thought to be worth £40m. Under the terms of the deal Marston’s Inns would own the land and open a pub, leasing the rest to Travelodge which would build accompanying hotels. They [...]
AvtoVAZ seeks cash for workers September 27, 2009 AvtoVAZ, Russia’s largest carmaker, intends to apply for a 10-year credit line worth 12bn roubles (£249m) to help compensate workers it has let go, according to local press reports. The loan will be interest-free until 2015. The reports did not say where AvtoVAZ, which is part-owned by French car maker Renault, hoped to obtain the [...]
ALLEGED SWINDLER STANFORD HIT FOR SIX IN JAILHOUSE PUNCH-UP September 27, 2009 Jailed Texan billionaire Allen Stanford is having trouble fitting in at his new lodgings at the privately run Joe Corley detention centre near Houston. The 6ft 4ins property developer and banker was hospitalised this weekend following a punch up with a fellow inmate. A US Marshalls spokesman confirmed that he had been in an “altercation” [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK September 27, 2009 Five lucky diners enjoyed a meal at Apsleys at The Lanesborough, Michelin-star chef Heinz Beck’s new restaurant, and his first outside of Italy. The guests got stuck into Beck’s tasting menu, a seven-course feast, priced at £75 a head. The menu began with Sea bass wafer, tomato confit and avocado. Scallops, amaranth and black corns [...]
City airport set to launch first NY flight September 27, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) is launching its business class only London to New York service tomorrow, despite the massive slump in business and first class travel that has resulted from the downturn. The service, which will run from London City airport, will cost those wanting a return trip, in a fully-flat bed, on one of two [...]
BAE plays down reports of 1bn fine over ongoing bribe charges September 27, 2009 BAE SYSTEMS yesterday played down reports that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had discussed fines of up to £1bn over an ongoing bribery charge. “BAE Systems’ view is that the interests of the company as well as all of its stakeholders, including the general public, are best served by allowing the ongoing investigations to run [...]
London and South East in homes boost September 27, 2009 HOUSE prices increased by 0.2 per cent in September, according to a survey published today. The survey, by the housing intelligence business Hometrack, records only the second monthly rise in house prices since July 2007. Hometrack’s director of research, Richard Donnell, warns however that “the headline growth marks what is essentially a London and South [...]
Prime homes get a lift in the commuter belt zones September 27, 2009 COMMUTER belt properties are continuing to outperform the rest of the UK, with the average price of prime country properties around London rising two per cent in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Knight Frank/City A.M. Prime Commuter Property index. In comparison, similar properties in the rest of the UK only saw their [...]
G20 promises welcomed by ECB’s Trichet September 27, 2009 JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said yesterday the members of the G20 must tackle global economic imbalances in its new role as the key international policy forum, in the wake of the Pittsburgh summit. The group’s new role, backed up by advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial [...]
