Magic Circle law firm looks north to counter soaring London rents February 9, 2015 FRESHFIELDS Bruckhaus Deringer could become the latest law firm to move its back office workers north to a Manchester service centre, in a push to cut its rent bill in London. Staff at the Fleet Street offices were told yesterday of the plan, which imitates other firms such as Berwin Leighton Paisner and Allen & [...]
“Magic Circle” firm looks north as London rents soar February 9, 2015 We all know that London rents can be eye-wateringly expensive. Just last week we revealed that rents in the capital have risen six times faster than other parts of the UK and of course we all remember the MP Mark Simmonds who had to quit because his six-figure package wasn't enough to keep up with [...]
Delancey puts Walbrook building up for sale for £500m February 2, 2015 The Walbrook building is being put up for sale by property investment firm Delancey. Estate agents Knight Frank and CBRE have been briefed on the sale, which is expected to raise around £500m, according to Property Week (£). Delancey bought the building from Minerva in August 2011 in a joint venture with Ares Management [...]
Jamie Ritblat’s Delancey in talks to sell the City’s Walbrook building for £600m February 1, 2015 THE OWNERS of the Walbrook in the City are understood to be in talks to sell the trophy office building for as much as £600m. Jamie Ritblat’s property company Delancey has owned the Walbrook building since 2011, when it acquired its owner Minerva for £200m. Although now almost fully let, the Foster and Partners-designed building [...]
High hopes for 250 City Road as Berkeley unveils new tower at Tech City hub January 29, 2015 Anyone following the current spread of new developments cropping up around London could be forgiven for thinking the market on City Road is over-saturated. This long stretch off of Old Street roundabout has attracted a seriously impressive number of developers, which is partly a success story for Tech City (the government-backed initiative to create a [...]
OnTheMarket vs Zoopla: Property portals at war as estate agents’ website enters the market January 26, 2015 A war of words broke out last night as the boss of property portal Zoopla labelled OnTheMarket – a new challenger in the property portal space – as “a regressive business model trying to stifle innovation”. The new property sales website, mutually owned by estate agents including Savills and Knight Frank, is being launched this [...]
Leon Brittan obituary: Former home secretary and EU commissioner dies aged 75 January 22, 2015 Brittan, who became one of the big political figures of the Thatcher era, was first elected to parliament for the Conservatives in Cleveland and Whitby in 1974, and then for Richmond in Yorkshire in 1986. After being elected, Brittan held many key political roles relating to business and finance. He was chief secretary to the [...]
11 of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies are in the UK: Marks & Spencer, BT, and the London Stock Exchange January 22, 2015 The UK is home to 11 of the world's 100 most sustainable companies with Marks & Spencer, BT, and the London Stock Exchange all making it into the prestigious ranking. The other UK-based companies listed were Reckitt Benckiser, Centrica, Unilever, British Land, Sky, Pearson, BG Group and Electrocomponents. Each year media company Corporate Knights produces the ranking which measures companies' sustainability in terms [...]
Former home secretary Leon Brittan has died aged 75 January 22, 2015 Former Conservative MP and one-time home secretary Leon Brittan has died aged 75. Brittan's family has confirmed that he died last night (January 21) after "a long battle with cancer". The statement added: "As a family we should like to pay tribute to him as a beloved husband to Diana and brother [...]
London house prices: Capital would be hit disproportionately by mansion tax January 20, 2015 The extent to which London will be disproportionately hit by a new mansion tax has been revealed by new research looking into the most expensive properties in the UK Labour has proposed a tax on properties worth over £2m, which, according to research by Knight Frank, means 2.5 per cent of properties in London would [...]