Reviving Britain’s ailing town centres will need radical action and planning, according to a new report. The Distressed Town Centre Property Taskforce — set up after retail guru Mary Portas's review of the High Street — claims the scale of the problem is so deep that many town and city centres need rebuilding from the gutter... Read More
Business start-ups have become key driving forces behind the growth of the UK economy, with the latest Entrepreneurs Index revealing that more than 90,000 new businesses were established during the first half of 2013. Business Secretary Vince Cable However, while entrepreneurial activity continues to grow, business failures remain... Read More
Investors looking for a better return than London or other European markets are turning to the German property market to boost their portfolio. The rush for high yield investments has increased transactions by 18.6 per cent so far this year and is expected to total at least €30bn — almost £25bn — by year end, still a long way... Read More
In recent months, the campaign to freeze business rates, or overhaul the system entirely, has been stepped up by retail and property bodies as Chancellor George Osborne prepares to release the details of his Autumn Statement. However, the BBC has learned that, rather than acquiescing to these requests, Mr Osborne intends to place a cap... Read More
According to the latest Entrepreneurs Index report commissioned jointly by Barclays and the Business Growth Fund, data shows that more than 90,000 new businesses were set up in the first half of 2013. This is an increase of 3.4 per cent when compared to figures recorded in the first half of 2012 and brings the total number of... Read More
Commercial rents for prestige offices in the centre of Dublin have topped €1m (£833,180) a year, the country’s new lease register has revealed. Ireland’s Property Services Regulatory Authority’s online Commercial Leases Register went live last month and immediately highlighted the fact that several of the capital’s... Read More
The latest research from Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has found that Manchester office space is being snapped up at a rapid pace. The year started off slowly, but Q3 saw city centre take-up reach 198,766 sq ft. This figure represents an increase of 77 per cent over the previous quarter, which brings the total take-up for the year to... Read More
The majority of zero-hours workers — those with no guarantee of work from week to week — are just as satisfied with their working arrangements as their full-time colleagues, claims a new survey. In fact, says the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) research, just over half of the zero-hours workers it questioned... Read More
East End property developers hoping to take advantage of the growing opportunities in the area, face opposition from historian and TV personality Dan Cruickshank. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the East End Preservation Society, the Britain’s Best Buildings presenter warned that the East End is facing irreparable damage from,... Read More
The news that Blockbuster has once more entered administration broke last month, with industry experts concerned that the chain is no longer in touch with the needs of modern consumers. Sadly, it appears that these worries were justified as administrators from Moorfields Corporate Recovery have thus far failed to find a buyer for the stricken... Read More
They are moving into empty shops and supermarkets and vacant offices across the country to breathe life into run down streets and drab developments. And, while artists and designers across the UK are finding new places to work and exhibit, landlords have found a cheap way of keeping their empty properties alive and secure. MADE. Pop-up... Read More
Prompted by rising rents in Britain’s biggest financial district, Deka Immobilien has paid almost £416m — 500 million Euros — for a City of London office building. Deka, buying on behalf of its open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa, has acquired the prestige St. Botolph Building in the City’s insurance... Read More
Dubai's commercial property market is undergoing a period of growth in most of its key areas as the emirate's economy improves and occupier demand is on the rise. The increase is centered on submarkets in the central region, such as Business Bay, Downtown Dubai, DIFC, Barsha and Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT). This information is based on... Read More
Sir Edward Lister, Boris Johnson's chief of staff and deputy for planning, has criticized the Government's decision to review the £1 billion redevelopment of the Shell building on the South Bank. He dismissed opponents of the scheme as being "ridiculous" if they believed they would be able to preserve the area "in aspic"... Read More
The debate over business rates is already a contentious issue with numerous bodies campaigning for a change to the system which would benefit small retailers in particular. According to many critics, the revaluation postponement has only has only added to the problems and will lead to more vacant shops on the high street. However,... Read More
Building a better business may lie more in your broadband connection than your business acumen, a new study has suggested. There is a proven link, researchers from Plymouth University have found, between super-fast broadband connections and the speed at which companies grow and create jobs. The Plymouth-based researchers questioned... Read More
Since 2008, the number of charity shops on the nation’s high streets has swelled by 30 per cent, with more than 10,000 retail properties now dedicated to fundraising for organisations such as Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Oxfam. However, a new report has found that, besides filling otherwise empty commercial... Read More
Pub operator and independent brewer Marston’s is to sell more than 200 pubs to property investor NewRiver Retail in a deal reportedly worth £90 million. Although no details have as yet been revealed regarding the future use of the 202 properties, it is believed that they will continue to operate as licensed premises, albeit with... Read More
Boris Johnson is planning to use Crossrail links and the HS2 route to transform a neglected part of London into a prosperous new district which will deliver a much-needed economic boost estimated to be worth £6 billion. The Mayor wants to establish an Olympic-style regeneration agency to oversee the project, which will be a mixture... Read More
Sladen Estates says it will create as many as 1,000 jobs from its plan to build a high quality employment park adjacent to the M1 in Nottinghamshire. The Derbyshire-based company has just bought the former Prologis Park site at Ashfield and intends to develop and rebrand the 45-acre site as Summit Business Park. Situated near... Read More
Ardstone — the Irish investment firm — has completed a run of multi-million pound investments by spending £40m on a Birmingham office block. Notable for being one of the few Irish investors to have avoided the property crash, in September Ardstone struck a £33.7m deal to buy the Citymark Building in Edinburgh from Irish Life.... Read More
Canadian companies have turned to the United States as a source of new properties, and are outpacing every other country in net real estate investment in the US market. The reason for this trend is a lack of availability at home, which means investors are forced to look further afield for opportunities. So what better place to look... Read More
