John Lewis sales up as shoppers catch sports fever August 24, 2012 John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, posted strong sales growth last week, helped by increased demand for sports equipment following Britain’s gold medal haul at the London Olympics. The employee-owned firm said today department store sales jumped 14.5 per cent year on year to £61.1m in the week to 18 August, the third week [...]
Olympic feelgood factor fails to lift gloom on British high street August 23, 2012 GLOOM on the high street has continued in August, a leading survey revealed yesterday, with retailers becoming even more downbeat over business prospects for the next three months. Despite an uplift in morale from sunny weather and the London 2012 Olympic Games, retail sales were virtually flat compared to the same time last year. The [...]
CLS launches latest retail bond August 22, 2012 In the latest attempt to capitalise on consumer cash, CLS holdings, the London property investment firm, launched a retail bond yesterday. Investors will be able to put anything from £2,000 in the instrument, at a rate of 5.5 per cent. CLS has a portfolio of properties in London, France, Germany and Sweden.
Miners and Eurozone politicians take the shine off the FTSE 100 August 22, 2012 MINERS left Britain’s top share index nursing sharp losses yesterday after BHP Billiton’s results offered a bleak outlook for the sector, while other cyclical stocks were weaker as Greek and European officials met on the Eurozone debt crisis. London’s blue chip index was down 83.32 points, or 1.4 per cent, at 5,774.20. Cyclical stocks such [...]
Dev Secs makes £41m disposals August 21, 2012 Development Securities yesterday sold off a residential and two retail sites at Westminster Palace Gardens, Central London, the Wick Site in Littlehampton, and a retail park in Burnley for £40.9m. The Wick site was pre-sold to supermarket Morrisons for £12.5m, which plans to develop a 47,500 square feet store, a petrol station and a car [...]
Barratt signs £250m Croydon deal August 20, 2012 Housebuilder Barratt Developments announced yesterday it has exchanged contracts with Greater London Authority for a £250m redevelopment on Cane Hill in Croydon. Proposals for the 83 hectare former hospital site – the size of 100 football pitches – include 650 homes of which 163 will be affordable, as well as 70,000 square feet of office, [...]
What the other papers say this morning August 19, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Call to limit China’s UK nuclear stake Chinese companies competing for one of the UK’s biggest nuclear projects are unlikely to end up with a majority stake in any winning consortium in an attempt to allay concerns about Beijing gaining control of the Horizon reactor programme. Olympics effect on Scottish vote in debate [...]
Worst rain on record keeps London’s shoppers at home August 19, 2012 GREATER London’s shops were the worst hit by the heavy summer rains compared to their rivals elsewhere in the country. Footfall plummeted by 8.9 per cent in May, June and July in Greater London compared to the previous quarter, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard. The dramatic drop compares to [...]
Firms prosper as insolvency rate declines August 19, 2012 BUSINESS insolvencies fell sharply in July compared with the same month of 2011, according to research out today from Experian, with almost every region and sector registering an improvement. A total of 1,776 firms failed in the month, down on the 1,962 that failed in July 2011 – a drop of almost 200 despite the [...]
Retail sales post surprise rise in July August 16, 2012 Retailers reported an unexpected rise in sales in July and higher than earlier thought sales in June, data showed today, boosting hopes that consumer spending will help lift the economy out of recession. Retail sales volumes rose 0.3 per cent on the month to give an annual increase of 2.8 per cent, compared to economists’ [...]