The Crown Estate has posted record profits of £252.6 million, a 5.2 per cent improvement on last years’ figures. The return on the estate’s £8.1 billion portfolio, which includes prime West End assets in Regent Street and St James’s, was 11.3 per cent. This easily outperforms the industry benchmark of 9.9 per cent and provides a... Read More
At present, the debate over independence dominates the Scottish political agenda. While a date for the referendum has now been set, voters seem unable to arrive at a clear decision with most opinion polls showing a great deal of uncertainty regarding Scotland’s position should the majority vote yes. This is certainly a problem for the... Read More
Starbucks has handed over £5m to HMRC, its first corporation tax payment since 2008. However the money has only gone some way towards assuaging critics. The coffee shop chain said on it had made the contribution to please its customers and would be paying a second £5m payment in the last half of the year despite claiming the business... Read More
Asian cities continue to dominate as the costliest places in which to set up office and Hong Kong holds onto its position is the most expensive one of all. Four other Asian cities were listed in the top five, according to the semi-annual Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey results released by CBRE Global Research and Consulting. The... Read More
London's O2 Arena has defied the recession and announced a 35 per cent increase in net profits on revenues which rose 5 per cent to £62.8m in the year ending December 31 2012. It is the highest recorded revenue by the O2 since it opened as an arena in 2007. The boost was fuelled by high-profile events including the 2012 Olympic... Read More
Astra Zeneca, put its current difficulties aside this week when it unveiled Cambridge Biomedical Campus as the location of its new £330 million global headquarters. The pharmaceutical giant has suffered from falling sales of late as patents on some of its leading products have expired. Chief executive Pascal Soirot remains... Read More
According to the IPD Pan-European Hotel Performance Report released this week, investment in hotels provided the highest return in the commercial property sector last year. The report shows that the European hotel sector provided a total return of 5.8 per cent in terms of local currency during 2012. This is stronger than the overall... Read More
It is no secret that high street shopping has become something of a hark-back to days gone by. The idyllic market scene, with butchers, greengrocers and DIY stores on every corner, is no more and instead consumers rely on supermarkets and chain stores to purchase the goods necessary for day to day life. However, while internet shopping... Read More
Plans for a mixed use development, dubbed the ‘Canary Wharf of the railways,’ will be unveiled to the public this week. The £10 billion proposal will regenerate over 100 acres of semi-derelict sidings at Old Oak Common and is expected to create in the region of 90,000 jobs. At the centre of the scheme will be the new Crossrail hub... Read More
Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has introduced a bill to make it easier for owners of commercial real estate to access private capital from overseas. Senator Menendez The measure, which was re-introduced by Menendez and Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wy) is intended to head off another potential mortgage crisis, encourage job growth and help... Read More
With the economy finally showing signs of improvement shoppers are once more hitting the high street in earnest once more. Despite the fact that inflation remains a little high, the wealth of offers and promotions being rolled out by both commercial property-based and online retailers are allowing consumers to make the most of their... Read More
Plans have been submitted to Liverpool City Council for a £260 million regeneration of the area surrounding Liverpool’s football stadium, Anfield. The plans are subject to public consultation, but if agreed 296 homes would need to be demolished to make way for the regeneration plans. The plans include an expansion of the current... Read More
It seems we can’t escape tall buildings these days. Take a look at the changing London skyline and do a rough crane count. Travel to the top of the Shard. Only last week a ceremony was held to mark the topping-out of the Cheesegrater while the nearby Walkie-Talkie rapidly heads in the same direction. Then there’s St George Wharf and... Read More
We’ve all had a voucher given to us as a present at some point in our lives. You know the ones that you can spend in a variety of shops, including Boots, Debenhams, Argos, etc. But these vouchers only cover large retailers, so what about small independent retailers, can they offer a voucher scheme? Small independent shops have... Read More
Many new developments are springing up across the UK with the aim of creating employment and boosting local economies in a bid to combat the effects of several years of recession. The Government has attempted to aid this process by offering regional growth funds, cutting business rates in designated Enterprise Zones and making improvements to... Read More
Whitbread’s Costa Coffee has been given a boost by the poor British weather which has been enticing customers into outlets, helping the chain increase first-quarter sales. The company, which also owns the Premier Inn chain of hotels, said that sales at Costa branches rose by almost one quarter in the 13 weeks to May 30, including 8... Read More
Figures released on Friday reveal that the number of commercial property developments completed during 2012 was half of that recorded in the previous year. According to the IPD UK Annual Property Index, only 40 commercial developments were completed last year, one of the lowest levels of new space arriving on the market in the last... Read More
Mary Portas’ scheme has been widely criticized in the past few months for failing to draw crowds back onto the nation’s high streets. Instead of using the money awarded to towns taking part in the scheme for improvements and consumer initiatives, critics claim, the majority of Portas’ street teams have instead squandered the cash on... Read More
Shopping-centre developments across Britain are restarting for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis, delivering a timely boost to the economy. New projects have been on hold amid concerns that economic conditions would curb demand from retailers for new shops. This reduced developments to a 10-year low. However,... Read More
While the stream of retailers entering administration has slowed greatly since the start of the year, largely due to a boost in consumer confidence, the retail industry is by no means out of the woods yet. This has been made startlingly apparent this week with the cessation of trading announced by upmarket furniture retailer Dwell. The... Read More
Saudi Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the owner of the Savoy hotel, is interested in building a mile-high skyscraper. The building would be five times higher than The Shard He has invited London and other major cities to submit proposals for government support and tax breaks to build what would be the tallest building in the... Read More
Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre has this week been placed on the market by Co-operative Insurance Services (CIS). The development contains 270,000 sq ft of retail space, an 850 space car park, Rochdale’s market hall and, additionally, an office unit called Octagon House – all of which combined bring in an annual income of almost £2... Read More
