In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor extended business rates relief to small businesses and yesterday it was announced that businesses hit by the UK floods will be eligible for rates relief for a period of three months. While these moves are welcome, many property and business figures are calling for a root-and-branch review of the... Read More
With Valentine’s Day upon us, those who have not yet prepared by popping to the shops or ordering online may be facing rising levels of panic at the thought of confronting their loved one with nothing but an apologetic smile. Yet fortunately there is still time during the lunch break or on the way home to pick up a last minute... Read More
Construction work is expected to start this summer on a £250m office complex on the site of Jack the Ripper’s only murder within the City of London. Notoriously known as the Whitechapel Murders, all but one of the Victorian serial killer’s victims were found in the East End. Just before two in the morning on the last day of... Read More
The flooding which has affected large parts of southern England has caused devastation for hundreds of homeowners, with the military and Environment Agency still working in partnership to try to prevent further damage as the Thames water level continues to rise. However, in many towns it is not just homes that have been damaged – many small... Read More
Aberdeen’s “booming” economy is reflected in new figures from city planners which show a seven-fold increase in approved office space in just 12 months. Demand for office space rocketed in 2013 compared to the previous year, with a high level of interest in peripheral business park developments and major investment in a string of... Read More
This week, it was announced that budget chains Pure Gym and The Gym Group intend to merge their firms in order to widen their respective reaches and attempt to become dominant in the competitive low-cost market. Upon merging, the new body will control just over 100 commercial properties in locations throughout the UK. Pure Gym was... Read More
In the highly competitive supermarket race, Morrisons has for some time now lagged behind its main competitors and lost market share to even discount brands such as Aldi and Lidl. Industry experts believe that this is largely due to the chain falling behind competitors in terms of technological initiatives as, while Tesco, Sainsbury’s and... Read More
With property prices falling by 32 per cent since 2010, Greece has now reduced its tax on the sale of properties to just three per cent. Previously anyone buying a commercial or domestic property in Greece had to pay eight per cent on the first €20,000 of the property’s value and 10 per cent for amounts beyond that. The new... Read More
The Towers — claimed to be one of the busiest public houses in Ireland — has become the latest in a string of Dublin licensed premises to be placed on the market by receivers. CBRE has confirmed it is looking for offers in excess of €1.2m (£999,000) for the Ballymun pub. The business is being sold on the instructions of Declan Taite,... Read More
Following reports that shop vacancy rates are at a four year low, the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG Retail Sales Monitor makes further good reading for the high street. The report shows that like for like sales in January grew by 3.9 per cent when compared to figures from the previous year, while total sales growth... Read More
Confidence among CEOs and managing directors of British companies has hit a 22 year high, topping even the levels of confidence seen in the early 2000s before the financial crisis hit. According to business consultants BDO’s monthly optimism index, which collates results of surveys conducted by bodies such as the Bank of England, Markit... Read More
Fashion retailer Topshop has announced that it will be opening a flagship store in a prestigious fashion location in the United States as part of its growth plan to capitalise on new markets. A 40,000 sq ft store will open on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in the third quarter of this year, making it the second largest property controlled by the... Read More
Council leaders in Stoke-on-Trent are seeking an additional £47m to fund the ongoing regeneration of the city. The proposed borrowing will contribute to improvements to highways, the Etruria Valley development and a new central business district (CBD) recently branded Smithfield. Stoke-on-Trent's new bus station from Grimshaw... Read More
In contrast to reports coming from many areas of the UK, total office take-up in Cardiff was disappointing last year. The final figures were down by 20 per cent compared with 2012 according to DTZ Associate Director Chris Terry. Reporting for WalesOnline Mr Terry said that activity in 2013 focused mainly on the city centre and that... Read More
The London Olympics have left a lasting legacy in the UK, with a plethora of business and commercial opportunities created as a result of the flurry of activity surrounding the Olympic Park since the Games ended. However, while local businesses have certainly profited, sporting teams from slightly further afield have also benefited from the... Read More
Take-up in the Warrington office market has increased by 29 per cent with a total of over 395,000 sq ft let during 2013. Birchwood Park, Warrington The two most noteworthy transactions for the year were the letting of The Point in Birchwood, and the re-letting of Renaissance House on Centre Park. The total square footage for the two... Read More
But significant regional variations persist The high street faced its fair share of problems during the recession contributing to the number of vacant town centre properties. However, since the economy began to pick up last year there has been an upturn in the fortunes of the high street, with the vacancy rate in town centres falling to a... Read More
In-site Property Solutions — which specialises in flexible leases for small and start-up businesses — has confirmed it has £2m to spend on new commercial properties. The Leeds-based company already owns and manages more than one-million square feet of industrial and retail space across Yorkshire, the North of England and... Read More
One of Newcastle’s 1960s white elephant office blocks has been refurbishment and rebranded as a prestige business hub. Originally built as Pearl Assurance House, and used as the insurance company’s Tyneside headquarters, the concrete-clad building stood empty for almost a decade before it was bought by Hermes Real Estate Investment... Read More
Less than three months after it received more than £8m in extra funding, the Clyde Gateway agency — Scotland’s biggest and most ambitious regeneration programme — has written off £45m from its property assets. In November the agency, which has already received more than £200m from the Scottish Government, was handed an extra... Read More
Intu Properties — which has interests in more than 15 UK retail complexes — has confirmed it is in talks to buy Westfield’s Derby shopping centre. It also wants to acquire Westfield’s half-share in Merry Hill in Dudley. If the both negotiations are successful it would confirm Intu’s status as Britain’s number one owner and... Read More
Canada Life has agreed to invest more than £38m in the first phase of London’s Abbey Wood regeneration project. Secured after a joint approach by Berkshire Investment Capital and Development Securities the money will be dedicated to the Cross Quarter area of the project. The majority of the forward funding will be used to build an... Read More
