Central London office take up jumps in fourth quarter January 20, 2020 Office take up in central London jumped in the final quarter of last year, as the diversity of businesses operating in the capital provided resilience for the city’s commercial property market. Take up increased four per cent to 3.6m sq ft in the three months to the end of December, above the 10-year quarterly average [...]
HS2 Q&A: Where is the route, how much will it cost and when will it open? January 20, 2020 Today’s forecast that the cost of HS2 could soar as high as £106bn will come as no surprise to close observers of the project. The number, calculated by infrastructure consultant Michael Byng, is in line with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s prediction last year that the project will come in “north of £100bn”. But the figure [...]
UK house prices: Post-election surge breaks records January 20, 2020 The decisive result of the General Election sparked a record-breaking surge in UK house prices in December and January, in the latest sign that the UK housing market has been revitalised by a “Boris bounce” There was a 2.3 per cent monthly surge in the average price of property coming to the market between 8 [...]
City Moves for 17 January – Who’s switching jobs at Charlotte St Partners, Bird & Bird and Hassium? January 17, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes Charlotte St Partners, Bird & Bird and Hassium Charlotte St Partners Strategic communications advisory firm Charlotte Street Partners has appointed Sarah Buchanan-Smith as partner, based in the company’s London office. Sarah will focus on developing Charlotte Street’s financial communications and investor relations offering, with a particular emphasis on supporting new and [...]
Revealed: This was the best performing UK stock of the last decade January 17, 2020 Ashtead Group, an industrial equipment rental firm, was the best performing UK stock on the UK’s FTSE 350 over the last decade, data firm Refinitiv said today, with a compound annual growth rate of over 40 per cent. A £1,000 investment 10 years ago in Ashtead, which was founded in Surrey and is now City-based, [...]
Primark UK store sales dip as retailer outlines expansion plans January 16, 2020 Primark’s like-for-like UK in-store sales dipped over the Christmas trading period, the budget retailer announced this morning. The high street chain’s owner Associated British Foods (ABF) said today that there was a “marginal decline” in like-for-like UK sales in the 16 weeks to 4 January. However, the impact of extra store space boosted total UK [...]
London property market sentiment strengthens after Conservative election victory January 16, 2020 London’s property market has enjoyed a “Boris bounce” following the result of last month’s General Election, as the capital saw a sharp increase in buyer interest and sales prospects. In December, 31 per cent of chartered surveyors saw a rise rather than a fall in enquiries from new buyers, up from minus 12 in November, [...]
US and China sign long-awaited ‘phase one’ trade deal January 15, 2020 US President Donald Trump and Chinese vice premier Liu He have signed a “phase one” trade deal in Washington that puts in place a fragile peace in the long-running tariff war between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump and Liu put pen to paper in a packed East Room at the White House after months [...]
Aviva Investors buys Docklands hotel site for £106m January 15, 2020 Aviva Investors’ Lime Property Fund has bought a £106m hotel development site near Canary Wharf. The asset management arm of Aviva has acquired the freehold interest in the site next to Westferry DLR station, where developer Rockwell will build a 30-storey Premier Inn Hotel. Read more: London luxury hotel market booms Whitbread, the owner of [...]
UK house prices increase as market shows signs of confidence in November January 15, 2020 UK house prices increased in the year to November, demonstrating returning signs of confidence in the property market, according to the latest data. Average UK house prices were up 2.2 per cent in November last year, compared to a 1.3 per cent jump in the year to October. Read more: London’s house prices rose twice [...]