One of the world’s biggest accountancy firms has moved part of its digital team to East London’s Tech City. Deloitte — one of the “Big Four” professional services firms alongside PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG — will initially move 170 of its digital team to its Technology Studio on Clerkenwell Green.... Read More
The job of main contractor for the £100m Central Square development in Leeds city centre has been awarded to Wates Construction. Planning permission for the 11-storey office scheme — situated between Whitehall Road and Wellington Street on the former Royal Mail site — was granted in March. Ground clearance work is slated to start... Read More
The luxury cars sector has become one of Britain’s strongest export markets, with consumers in the Middle East and China in particular keen to get their hands on brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley and Rolls Royce. However, since the end of the recession, demand for luxury vehicles in the UK has also picked up, causing many... Read More
A multi-billion pound pension fund has set aside £50m for commercial property development on the west coast of Scotland. Strathclyde Pension Fund — which has an estimated £14bn under management on behalf of more than 200 employers and 200,000 public sector workers including the majority of Glasgow City Council staff — has confirmed it... Read More
Community service sentences handed out to two shopping centre managers who masterminded a £200,000 property service scam have been condemned as “excessively lenient”. Juliet Coard and Michael Lawson were employed at the 200-store Galleries shopping centre in Washington, near Sunderland, when they heard a contract to clean and... Read More
A £200m, 15-year plan to build a new community development on the outskirts of Edinburgh has been unveiled by the Scottish government. To be called Shawfair, the project was first mooted almost two decades ago. Since then it’s been shelved, revived and reworked several times. The latest master plan includes 4,000 new homes — 700... Read More
The warm spring weather appears to have encouraged many consumers to hit the high street as personal finances improve. Yet April did not just see retailers benefit on an individual level, as the retail industry as a whole enjoyed the strongest monthly leap in sales seen in a decade. During the past month, sales climbed by an... Read More
During the recession betting shops became the saviours of many high streets, taking up empty units and lowering vacancy rates. However, with the end of the recession came calls to slow the rapid expansion of bookmakers, with many local authorities voicing concerns that they were detracting from the diversity of town centres and pushing out... Read More
Office construction in the capital has fallen by 5 per cent over the last six months according to Deloitte’s latest London Crane Survey. The survey records only 15 new starts – the lowest number since 2010 – and there is very little development in the pipeline following this year’s peak. Central London currently has the lowest... Read More
As the number of businesses courting expansion continues to rise the commercial property market, in some locations, is being pushed to its limits as the balance of supply and demand grows ever more disproportionate. Yet while this is creating problems in areas such as the West End of London, it is also creating opportunities for landlords... Read More
Competition on the high street has become increasingly intense leading to many brands offering numerous promotions in order to win back customers from rivals. Unfortunately, while this has seen brands such as Next and River Island thrive, others such as Marks & Spencer continue to struggle. The retailer has announced a third... Read More
Just days after it was put on the market Birmingham’s historic Assay Office has been snapped up by specialist developer TCN UK. Owned by Dutch parent company TCN, this is the first time its UK division has ventured into the Midland’s property market. Launched in Britain in 2006 the developer specialises in unique and innovative workspaces... Read More
British Land has posted record full-year profits of £297m. The year-on-year rise of more than eight per cent is being credited on a “burgeoning economy and continued commercial demand”. The latest accounts show the value of its UK property portfolio had risen overall by 8.3 per cent, while its office and residential holdings, a... Read More
The number of distressed properties advertised for sale in Australian national newspapers has fallen to the lowest level in several years, which is being taken as further evidence that the commercial property sector is on an upwards trajectory. According to the LandMark White Forced Sales Monitor, ads for only 43 distressed properties were... Read More
Although the recession may be over, and the retail industry gradually recovering from one of the worst downturns in living memory, there is no guarantee of financial security for retailers in the increasingly competitive 21st century. Home furnishings retailer Paul Simon has this week found this out the hard way, with a number of unfortunate... Read More
Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent has become one of the most successful retail complexes in the UK, with units in high demand.The popularity of the centre has become so great that a growing number of overseas brands have examined the possibility of taking up space; the latest of which is premium cards and stationery retailer Jolie... Read More
In what it describes as an exclusive, the Daily Star reports that three high-profile Premier League figures face a HMRC probe into a multi-million pound property scheme. The newspaper claims that Manchester United stars Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, together with West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce, could be ordered to hand over a... Read More
Praxis Holdings has added a seventh shopping mall to its retail portfolio by acquiring the St John’s Shopping Centre in Preston. It’s also snapped up a Cheshire office building, with both deals costing the London-based property investor just £7m. The latest transactions are part of a high-profit asset shake-up for Praxis — which has... Read More
GVA — the Birmingham based property consultancy — has named the global engineering and services group Bilfinger as a potential merger partner. Shareholders of both firms will have to approve the deal before the amalgamation can go ahead. No financial terms have been disclosed, but subject to legal clarification and a shareholder... Read More
With AstraZeneca preparing to move to its new global headquarters in Cambridge, the new owners of Alderley Park has vowed to maintain its drive to attract world class science and technology companies to the Manchester campus. The pharmaceutical giant’s 400-acre site, together with more than a million square feet of offices and... Read More
Although online initiatives such as social media can play a huge part in marketing strategies for small businesses, it can be difficult for retailers to pinpoint a technique which works for them in terms of improving sales. This has become abundantly clear in a new survey conducted by ChannelAdvisor, which has shown that only one in... Read More
Increasing numbers of British retailers are choosing to examine their options overseas, with emerging markets in Asia and the improving economic circumstances in the USA and the Eurozone contributing to this boom in international opportunities. Shoe retailer Clarks is the latest to reveal an intention to expand its overseas store portfolio,... Read More
