Recovery led to 2013 surge in legal mergers August 3, 2014 THE NUMBER of mergers in the UK’s legal sector has jumped by nearly two thirds in the past year, with more than three times as many recorded in 2013 than in 2009, according to figures released this morning. The data, produced by accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy, revealed that there were 385 mergers in the sector [...]
Ofgem and big six energy suppliers spar over profit July 30, 2014 A fight between the big six energy suppliers and regulator Ofgem kicked off yesterday, due to a wide disparity between their estimates of company profits. Ofgem will today predict that firms will make £106 per household, up from the £101 it forecast a month ago. But the industry argues that their estimates have been wildly [...]
London workers boost rents in home counties July 23, 2014 IMPROVING job prospects and growing demand from London workers hunting for homes outside of the capital has sent rents in the home counties soaring this year. Figures released today by Knight Frank show that prime rents jumped 2.6 per cent in the three months to June, a marked increase on the 0.7 per cent growth [...]
City of London and Westminster property tribes (almost) put rivalry aside July 21, 2014 The City of London and Westminster’s property giants put their old rivalries aside last night, as they came together in the House of Lords to launch Building Central London’s Future – A Manifesto For Growth. Well, almost… First to the stage was co-founder of Exemplar Properties and chairman of Westminster Property Association Daniel Van Gelder, [...]
CNBC Comment: Why instability isn’t spooking markets July 21, 2014 THE BIGGEST point markets are making at the moment is that they aren’t making a big point. Given increased tensions around Russia and Ukraine, we are closer to war in Europe than we have been for a long time. Simultaneously, the death toll in Gaza tragically keeps rising. Yet despite these dominating geopolitical events, involving [...]
OnTheMarket: Estate agents to launch new site to rival Zoopla and Rightmove July 16, 2014 A group of estate agents yesterday announced that they had joined forces to create an online property portal to challenge the dominance of Zoopla and Rightmove. They said the portal would launch in January under the name OnTheMarket. Agents’ Mutual was founded last year by some of Britain’s biggest estate agencies, including Knight Frank and [...]
As Cheryl Cole’s secret Mustique wedding is revealed, here’s how to buy a property on the exclusive island July 14, 2014 As news broke today that Cheryl Cole secretly married her French boyfriend on the exclusive island of Mustique in the Caribbean, you just might be dreaming about how you could get a property there. Mustique, part of the archipelago that makes up St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is an island of 2.5 square miles with a beautiful, [...]
City Moves for 11 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 10, 2014 BNP Paribas Real Estate The property adviser has appointed Pippa Evans as UK HR director. She has most recently been working on an interim basis at HSBC. Evans was also formerly HR director at Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe, and senior HR business partner at Schroders Asset Management. KPMG The professional services firm has announced two [...]
In photos: Country house prices are still below their 2007 peak. Which will you choose? July 9, 2014 As we reported yesterday, Knight Frank, a real estate consultancy company, has collected data showing that country house prices are on the rise across the country. What the report also shows is that prime country house prices are yet to reach their 2007 peak, unlike the average property price across England and Wales. Here's a graph [...]
Vince Cable vows not to follow French example on Pfizer takeover July 8, 2014 The British government will not seek to follow the French in their bid to block the GE Alstom takeover if Pfizer revives its takeover plan, business secretary Vince Cable told a select committee yesterday. Warning that interventions like the one by the French government in the GE deal could drive away foreign investment, Cable added [...]