High Speed Two railway to North unveiled today January 27, 2013 THE SECOND phase of the £33bn High Speed Two (HS2) railway will be unveiled by the government this morning, with communities learning whether they will be affected by the twin lines from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester. However plans for a direct link to Heathrow have been postponed while the government decides on the future [...]
Empty offices look bleak now but are also a sign of optimism January 24, 2013 THE City is changing, and not just because of the skyscrapers about to reinvent its skyline. The firms that are taking office space are changing as well. The trend for insurers to cluster in EC3 around the Lloyd’s building is well-established. Equally striking has been the lack of demand in Cannon Place and the Walbrook, [...]
Kingsland Wharves offers waterside living near the City January 24, 2013 After THE success of its one-bedroom apartments, Kingsland Wharves is now entering into the final stages of completing the development by launching a series of two and three bedroom homes. The prestigious new development is comprised of exclusive apartments overlooking the banks of the historic Kingsland Basin and is already going down well with City [...]
Walkie Talkie tower seals fourth letting January 23, 2013 LAND Securities has bagged itself another tenant for its Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City, the property giant revealed yesterday in an upbeat trading upbeat. Royal Sun Alliance is to take four floors at 20 Fenchurch Street, meaning thirty-four per cent of the building is now pre-let and a further 18 per cent is under [...]
Undertaker hits decade high on takeover deal January 22, 2013 The UK’s only listed undertaker soared to its highest share price ever yesterday after unveiling plans to buy a northern funeral business. Dignity, which famously buried Sir Winston Churchill, has agreed to buy privately owned business Yew Holdings for £58.3m, giving it 40 additional funeral parlours and two crematoria to add to its 600 locations [...]
Crack down on the high cost of living or growth suffers January 22, 2013 THE emergence of competitive economies in the East is a well-known phenomenon. But less understood is the challenge this poses to the West. First, the rising East will squeeze traditional markets (albeit while creating new ones). Secondly, it will turn the terms of trade for primary products against us. We are not powerless, however. Emerging [...]
Letters to the editor January 21, 2013 North Africa crisis [Re: Does the crisis in North Africa represent the start of a new wave of global instability, yesterday] Media portrayals of recent events in Mali and Algeria paint a picture of a high-risk continent, blighted by radical jihadists, chronic instability and incompetent governments. But Africa is far larger and more varied than Europe, [...]
Three London schemes given the go-ahead January 16, 2013 AUSTRALIAN property giant Lend Lease has won planning consent for a £1.5bn regeneration scheme in London’s Elephant & Castle area. Southwark Council yesterday approved the scheme, which aims to create 2,500 new homes, shops, restaurants and community facilities by 2025. Lend Lease said the development will create over 5,000 new jobs and the largest new [...]
Property firm Hammerson hires Sainsbury’s head as chairman January 14, 2013 DAVID Tyler, the chairman of Sainsbury’s, is to take on another FTSE 100 role, after it was announced yesterday he will replace John Nelson as chairman of property giant Hammerson. Tyler, who has also been a non-executive director at luxury group Burberry for more than a decade, will join the board with immediate effect on [...]
Further efficiencies are critical to making London’s railways thrive January 8, 2013 COMMUTERS finally have some welcome news. Just a week after inflation-busting fare increases came into effect, rail industry leaders have announced Britain’s biggest investment in infrastructure since the Victorian era. Look around any train or station serving London in the morning peak and the case for improvements is overwhelming. Many are packed or overcrowded. Londoners [...]