The hospitality arm of London-based property company Dominvs Group has unveiled plans to build three hotels north of the border. Founded in 2011 by Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, the millionaire entrepreneur behind Euro Car Parts, Dominvs intends to build two hotels in Aberdeen and is about to close a deal to purchase a site in... Read More
While employment figures have steadily recovered since the end of the recession, factors such as underemployment and low pay remain problematic for the workers of the UK. This, Labour leader Ed Miliband believes, is in part due to the large influx of low skilled foreign workers entering the country who are willing to accept lower pay... Read More
With the uplift in consumer confidence first seen early last year continuing to build in momentum, investors are increasingly choosing to channel funds into developments which encourage large scale spending. At the forefront of this commercial property boom is the retail and leisure complex, with a number of such developments in the pipeline... Read More
Demand for retail and leisure property is expected to soar in selective locations as the economic recovery gathers pace over the next 12 months. The forecast, from Jones Lang Lasalle (JSL), follows a year of more high profile high street casualties and reports of a disappointing festive trading period in many town centres. Despite these... Read More
Commercial property investment in London hit £19.9bn in 2013, representing a six-year high, according to figures released on January 2 by Cushman & Wakefield. Investment was up by 47 per cent on 2012 levels, although it remains below the pre-crisis peak hit in 2007 of £20.54bn. One again most of the money came from overseas,... Read More
Australian commercial property sales hit the $17 billion mark in 2013. This figure includes retail, offices, industrial and hotel assets and compares to the record levels set in 2012 of $20.6 billion. Furthermore, early indications point to 2014 being another strong year for capital transactions. David Rees, the Australian head of... Read More
Work is expected to start this year on two multi-million pound office developments in the centre of Birmingham. The two office blocks — less than half-a-mile apart on either side of the city’s Snowhill railway station — are both expected to be occupied by the summer of 2016. The biggest project, but only by a single storey,... Read More
Construction firms enjoyed a hugely successful 2013, with the Help to Buy scheme introduced in the latter part of the year contributing significantly to the number of projects underway. However, the latest data released by the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) relating to December indicates that commercial construction is... Read More
This Christmas, as has been the case for many before, the undisputed champion of the high street was undoubtedly John Lewis. With most of the department store chain’s outlets across the country managing to break store records in the run up to Christmas Day, it is hardly surprising that bosses of the iconic British brand are earnestly... Read More
Capitalising on its winning bid to stage Expo2020, Dubai has opened the first freehold commercial property in the centre of Deira. The 12-storey Centurion Star Tower is a joint venture between Royal Star International and Centurion Residence Limited and is a mix of retail and office space built within twin W-shaped towers. The... Read More
The US office market has been on an upward curve since the economy began the slow recovery from recession. November's employment figures were much better than expected with 203,000 jobs created nationwide. In October 200,000 jobs were added, which meant that the jobless rate fell by 7 per cent. Unemployment now stands at a... Read More
A rash of high-value commercial transactions has confirmed New Zealand’s emergence from the global property downturn with total sales for 2013 at a six year high. “The recovery is being reflected across all sectors of our business. The market is rebounding in terms of transactional volume, positive results and confidence, and... Read More
Recruiting and retaining staff is a challenge for the commercial property industry in Canada's national capital, Ottawa, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Building Owners and Managers Association and Hays, a recruiting firm. Over half of respondents (57 per cent) said they are recruiting, but only 40 per cent said... Read More
Ireland’s tourism and hospitality industries are reflecting the country’s financial upturn with more than £116m worth of hotel deals either sealed or underway. Within the past few months sales have been agreed on 15 hotels, together worth €96m , with 17 more on the market with a combined asking price of a little over €25m ,... Read More
Newcastle University has unveiled is vision of urban sustainability by committing £50m to making the city a “living laboratory” of future technologies. The pioneering plan, which could take two decades to complete, involves building a Science City on the site of former Scottish and Newcastle brewery and a £2m Cloud Computing... Read More
The department store chain Debenhams has suffered its second winter of disastrous trading with poor Christmas sales prompting a £30m drop in pre-tax profits. Analysts had been expecting profits of at least £110m for the six months to April, 2014. But in an early release of its trading statement — covering the 17 weeks to 28... Read More
British Land and new joint owners GIC have unveiled plans to redevelop Broadgate, the 32 acre office and retail complex in the City of London. The plans follow the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in the estate by GIC from Blackstone which is believed to have cost the Singapore wealth fund £1.7 billion. Together, British Land and... Read More
In days gone by, workers looked forward to their retirement, planning on spending their pensions travelling and gaining new experiences which a 9 to 5 job did not afford them due to time constraints. However, it appears that this trend is now firmly a thing of the past with a record number of workers remaining in their roles past the... Read More
Construction of the Pinnacle office tower in the City appears set to resume, even though the project has been described as "impossible” by some observers. Work on the Pinnacle came to a halt in 2012 and a review process was launched due to increasing costs and serious concerns about the building's feasibility. Designers said that... Read More
For a generation weaned on email, Facebook and Twitter a face-to-face interview can seem a little daunting. But combining a little common sense with advice from hire-and-fire experts can go a long way to getting you that dream job. Here are their top tips for that New Year job hunt: On time is 15 minutes early — Today is not... Read More
The New Year seems like a good time to remind commercial property owners that a little known deadline is rapidly approaching. As much as £80bn in tax relief is being left unclaimed, according to research, and any left unclaimed by April will be lost for good. Under the UK’s capital allowances scheme, all commercial buildings are... Read More
2013 was a promising year for developers, with the improvement in the UK’s economic situation allowing planned developments to get back on track. Fortunately, it appears that this enthusiasm for large scale projects has continued into the New Year, with a number of high profile development projects across the UK planned for the first... Read More
