East Oxford Street prepares for major high street regeneration October 30, 2012 THE ARRIVAL of Crossrail and the regeneration of Tottenham Court Road is set to double spending growth in the area by £448m over the next 12 years, according to a report commissioned by the New West End Company. The east end of Oxford Street has struggled over the years to shake off its image as [...]
Work up a sweat and prepare for a challenge in this Egyptian paradise October 28, 2012 REMEMBER that week back in August, the one just after the Olympics when it wasn’t dark by 5pm? The Eurozone crisis had gone on its summer holidays and the whole of London — starry eyed with Team GB’s success — was convinced that being an Olympian was the best job ever. I do. Partly because [...]
Marvel at the views from this picturesque country manor October 25, 2012 Morley Old Hall, Norfolk Strutt & Parker Guide price: £2.5m Secluded in 32 acres of Norfolk countryside, this renovated Grade I listed Elizabethan hall greets visitors at the end of a long, tree-lined drive. Stretching over three floors, the hall has an impressive seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, fireplace-accented dining room, and a generous kitchen and [...]
Tech firms overtake financials in the City office rental market October 22, 2012 LANDLORDS in the Square Mile have seen a surge in demand from tech firms since the start of the year, with office take-up increasing by 39 per cent, according to estate agents Knight Frank. Technology, media and telecoms (TMT) firms acquired 931,000 square feet of offices in the first nine months of 2012, compared with [...]
Sign of the changing times at LME’s annual traders’ dinner October 22, 2012 TO the London Metal Exchange, where last week the historic British institution welcomed its new owner – Charles Li of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) – to its annual dinner. At a glamorous affair at the Grosvenor Hotel, packed to the rafters with around 2,000 traders, Li rather stole the limelight from guest speaker [...]
The best of the fest: must see flicks this weekend at the 56th Annual BFI London Film Festival October 18, 2012 THE 56th Annual BFI London Film Festival was has been a showcase for some of the world’s hottest young directors, as well as some more established personalities such as Tim Burton, whose Frankenweenie, reviewed above, opened the event. The festival is bigger than ever this year, with new venues being added in locations including Shoreditch, [...]
West End offices enjoys surge in investment October 16, 2012 INVESTMENT in London’s sought-after West End office market surged by 30 per cent in the third quarter as an influx of properties became available on the market and demand overseas investors continued to rise. Research by BNP Paribas Real Estate, the French bank’s property arm, said West End investment rose to £950m in the third [...]
Trade and tech are the solution to the world’s food crisis October 15, 2012 THE United Nations recently reported that, with global food prices rising, food shortages will likely emerge in developing countries at the end of this year and into 2013. And with today being World Food Day, we must get serious about one of the greatest humanitarian challenges of our time: feeding a global population that is [...]
Meet the investment banker who gave insurance a whirl October 14, 2012 AFTER the chaos of last year, 2012 has so far been something of a relief to the insurance industry. A perfect storm of floods in Australia and Thailand, the Japanese tsunami and nuclear disaster and the earthquake in New Zealand made 2011 the second most expensive on record for the Lloyd’s of London market, and [...]
Surveyors say commercial rents will slip further in third quarter October 11, 2012 A LACK of demand in commercial property will bring rents further down, according to survey data released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) today. Eleven percentage points more of those surveyed expected rents to fall over the next quarter, than thought rents would rise – but this was the most optimistic result since the second quarter last [...]