Great Portland Estates hails strong lettings demand despite fears over Brexit February 10, 2016 Great Portland Estates said strong demand for its offices helped it to strike another 15 lettings in the third quarter despite increasing uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum. The West End-focused developer has had a busy three months after signing Italian fashion giant Benetton to its flagship store at 73-89 Oxford Street and leasing the last two remaining floors at 240 Blackfriars [...]
Dunelm’s share price jumps as homeware chain declares special dividend February 10, 2016 Shares Dunelm have surged by as much as 10 per cent after the homeware chain posted a better-than-expected jump in first half profits and declared a £63.9m special dividend. The retailer, which has 151 stores across the UK selling everything from curtains to bed and sofas, said pre-tax profits grew by 10.7 per cent to £75.5m for the six months to 2 January [...]
Ascential floats on the London market at 200p per share, giving welcome relief to Guardian Media Group February 9, 2016 Ascential, the magazine and events business that runs the Cannes Lions advertising festival and publishes Retail Week, has floated on the London market at 200p a share. The valuation gives the company, which is owned by Guardian Media Group a and private equity group Apax, a market cap of around £800m. They remain the largest [...]
London house prices: Single Chinese investor buys entire £15m Waterloo scheme February 9, 2016 Proof, if proof were needed, that London is still hugely attractive for overseas investors – but increasingly unaffordable to the people who actually live in the capital: a single Chinese investor has bought out an entire development in Waterloo for £15m. Dover House, which recently completed construction, is made up of nine luxury apartments and retail space. [...]
Nearly five per cent of Britain’s shops have been empty for more than three years February 9, 2016 Nearly five per cent of Britain’s town and city centre shops have remained empty for more than three years, new research shows, in a stark reminder of the challenges still facing the high street. The number of empty shops dropped to its lowest level in six years in January, down 12.5 per cent year-on-year, according [...]
A day with Zac Goldsmith: Just one of the prizes up for grabs at the Conservatives’ Black & White ball February 8, 2016 Guests at the Tories' Black & White Ball just can't get enough of hanging out with Conservative MPs it seems. Despite having to fork out at least £5,000 for a standard table for ten, and up to £15,000 for a premium table, one of the guests at the lavish event, held last night at the Brewery in [...]
Another mammoth tower for London: Developer Aroland Holdings has just submitted plans for 1 Undershaft, the City’s tallest skyscraper February 8, 2016 No sooner has the Cheesegrater completed, but Singaporean developer Aroland Holdings submitted plans for 1 Undershaft – which, at 72 storeys, will be the City's tallest building once it's completed. The building, which will stand between the Cheesegrater and the Gherkin, will include office and retail space, as well as the now-compulsory viewing gallery over the [...]
EasyFood store re-opens in London after crowds of shoppers forced its closure two days after launch – but this time with bouncers February 8, 2016 The first EasyFood store has re-opened in north west London after being swamped by customers – but this time there’s security. The low-cost supermarket, which is selling every product for 25p throughout February, was forced to shut just two days after opening in Park Royal last week. Eager bargain hunters had cleared the shelves of [...]
Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta see share prices rise: Miners soar to the top of the FTSE February 4, 2016 Brighter metal prices and a tumbling US dollar helped turn the fortunes of London-listed miners around today, as analysts speculated that the worst could be over for the embattled sector. Mining stocks were reinvigorated as fading expectations of an interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve sent the greenback tumbling. This helped gold hit a [...]
These 13 property developers will help TfL build its property empire – including British Land, Balfour Beatty, Land Securites, Berkeley, Redrow and Canary Wharf Group February 3, 2016 Transport for London has chosen 13 companies to help it build thousands of new homes on its unused land and generate billions of pounds of new revenue. Canary Wharf Group, Land Securities, Balfour Beatty, Barrat Homes and Berkeley Group are among those chosen to develop 50 sites in to homes, offices and retail outlets across London. [...]