This time five years ago, the retail industry in the UK was shaken by the onslaught of Britain’s longest ever recession. One of the earliest casualties, still regarded as one of the most shocking administrations of recent years, was Woolworths, with the once hugely popular brand forced to exit high street trading for good amidst plunging... Read More
Nigeria is now the most expensive country in sub-Saharan Africa to rent commercial office space, a new survey claims. The report, by Broll Property Services, says that businesses are now paying $37 a month for a square metre of Grade A office space in Ghana and $26 for the same floor area in both Mauritius and Madagascar, while the... Read More
Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) generated almost €6bn last year from rents and by selling off chunks of its vast property portfolio. Overtaken by controversy almost from the day it was created in 2010, the state’s so-called “bad bank” has also admitted that it holds an interest in 108 of Ireland’s 835... Read More
Christmas tends to be a hugely successful time of year for both food and non-food retailers, with families preparing for the big day stocking up on gifts, food and drinks in order to make the most of the festive season. However, the news from some of the UK’s largest supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s has been relatively subdued... Read More
Norway — which owns the world’s biggest state wealth fund — has bought a 45 per cent stake in the industrial and logistics company Prologis. The sovereign-wealth fund has paid $450m for a 45 per cent stake in the US-based company, leaving Prologis with the remaining share and full management control over its assets. Prologis is... Read More
The global commercial investment group CBRE is awaiting European Commission clearance for its £250m takeover of the British-based building services provider Norland. Norland — which employs 4,000 people across 14 offices and serves 300 existing clients — will now be known as CBRE | Norland. Founded in 1984 it operates from a... Read More
Decades of damaging property cycles which saw booms and busts are ending, thanks to proactive policymakers and more realistic valuations from the real estate industry, according to a top Bank of England official. Andrew Haldane, the executive director for financial stability at the Bank, said there is reason to hope that the next cycle... Read More
It started — where else? — in America where Apple is building a “spaceship” office complex for its developers and designers and Google encourages its staff to scramble between floors using climbing walls. What started with basketball hoops and jelly bean machines has now matured into a conviction that having fun in the... Read More
After the best on-line Christmas sales ever, one of Britain’s leading accountants has warned that a distribution blue print is vital for continued growth. Traditional retail sales increased by just 0.4 per cent from December, 2012, but internet purchases rose by almost 20 per cent — with one in five non-food products bought online.... Read More
The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it has sold almost 100 branches located in the Chicago area of the United States as part of the process of gearing up towards the stock market flotation of its American RBS Citizens Financial Group arm later this year. The 94 Charter One branded properties were acquired by US Bancorp and,... Read More
In spite of concerns regarding the oversupply of office space, commercial property in Malaysia continues to offer lucrative returns to investors. According to investment professional Renesial Leong, commercial property offers a return of 5-7 per cent. This rate is higher than the average return of 3-5 per cent for residential... Read More
Peers were sceptical about Thomas Heatherwick’s plans for a garden bridge spanning the Thames, when the subject was debated in the House of Lords yesterday. Thomas Heatherwick (centre) in conversation with the Duke of York and Maurizio Borletti Describing the proposal as a ‘vanity project’ of London Mayor Boris Johnson,... Read More
As the economy improves job security has become less of an issue than at the height of the recession. In fact, as the New Year begins, a large percentage of workers are actively seeking new jobs. According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), around a fifth of UK workers have made the decision to... Read More
It started in the United States, spread to Australia, and landed in Britain less than 25 years ago. Now there are around 1,000 self-storage sites across the UK providing more than 30m sq ft of space. But hidden among the forgotten furniture and the contents of broken homes, a new breed of entrepreneur has moved in to take advantage of... Read More
The Spanish billionaire, Amancio Ortega, is reported to have purchased an office building in the heart of London’s West End for £410m. Madrid's Torre Picasso is among Ortega's property portfolio Although information about the deal is scarce, Ortega’s property investment company Ponte Gadea is said to have acquired Devonshire House... Read More
The UK commercial property market is set to rise by double digits (11.5 per cent) in 2014, according to the Ignis property fund team. The recent Investment Property Forum Concensus Forecast predicts an average total return of 9.3 per cent this year, but Ignis believes the market has the potential to deliver even higher returns "driven... Read More
The news from the high street over the past few months has been mixed, with some reports pointing towards an improvement in trading and others suggesting that difficulties still remain. The fact is that the picture is mixed. While some locations have experienced an upturn in sales, in other areas the picture remains very much the same with... Read More
London Underground is speaking to three leading retail chains over plans to convert more than 200 of its redundant ticket offices into supermarkets. Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Asda are all said to be actively considering opening chains of “click and collect” grocery stores on the network. With the Tube’s recently improved... Read More
O2 Arena owners AEG Europe have this week revealed plans to establish a 100 unit designer outlet centre to neighbour the iconic entertainment venue, on the scale of market-leading Bicester Village in Oxfordshire. Talks have now begun with property firm Land Securities, with the initial design of the project thought to take the form of an... Read More
Last year saw an upturn in consumer confidence as the effects of the economic recovery began to take hold. As a result, many high street chains hoped for a more profitable Christmas trading period than has been seen in the UK for several years, with brands such as John Lewis and Next in particular reaping the rewards. However, certain... Read More
An Irish city has declared itself “open for business” by setting the lowest commercial rate in the country's history. The landmark 15.8 per cent reduction in commercial rates now makes Limerick the cheapest place in Ireland to own and manage retail and business premises. Once considered one of the most expensive places in... Read More
According to three major business surveys, UK companies have now reached highs in business confidence not seen for 20 years, with the majority of firms surveyed believing they will be able to grow sales, profits and exports in the next 12 months. According to a survey conducted by Lloyds Bank of more than 1,500 British firms,... Read More
