B&Q owner Kingfisher has said first-quarter profits fell by nearly 30 per cent after sales were affected by weak demand and the cold snap. Trade profits at Kingfisher, which also owns Screwfix in the UK and Castorama in France, fell to £114m for the 13 weeks to 4 May. Like-for-like sales, which exclude new store openings, fell... Read More
Prominent architect Richard Rogers has joined the calls to save Preston Bus Station from demolition. His intervention into the long-running saga comes as English Heritage considers the latest request to get the 1960s building listed. The founder of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has an impressive CV. His work includes Paris cultural... Read More
Many retailers have spent the past few years cutting back on their commercial property portfolios or failing to renew lease agreements. However, confectionary chain Hotel Chocolat has made the decision to seek a number of franchise partners in order to facilitate a substantial expansion which will help the chocolatier break into new and... Read More
Thriving trade in Britain's hotels and restaurants is leading the way towards an economic recovery, according to the business lobby group the CBI. Chancellor George Osborne has been under fire from the IMF Its quarterly survey showed that hotels, restaurants and bars enjoyed their biggest increase in trade in almost six years. This... Read More
Dutch pension fund service provider PGGM Private Real Estate Fund has entered into a new venture with IAGM Retail Fund, a subsidiary of Inland American Real Estate Trust. Dallas skyline PGGM's head of private real estate, Guido Verhoef, described the joint venture as a continuation of a relationship between the two companies "based on... Read More
With the mass exodus of retailers from the nation’s high streets remaining steady despite a slight stabilisation of the economy, businesses such as pawn shops, bookmakers and pay day loan companies have become the new staples of many town centres across Britain. While these may be lowering vacancy rates considerably and thus... Read More
Mayor Boris Johnson has announced plans to transform the Royal Albert Docks into London’s third financial centre. The £1 billion development is intended to act as a gateway to the ‘tiger’ economies of the Asia-Pacific region and create around 20,000 new jobs. The deal to develop the 35 acre site has been made with Chinese firm... Read More
The Real Property Association of Canada has released its second-quarter report measuring the confidence of senior executives in the country's commercial real estate industry. Individual opinions are divided, but as a group industry leaders have become more anxious about the prospects for the market. The confidence index has dropped... Read More
Birmingham’s Mailbox is to get a major facelift to accompany the regeneration of the city centre. The announcement was made by Brocton Capital and Milligan Retail, the partnership which owns the £127 million building. The Mailbox opened in 1998 and is the largest mixed use development in the UK. It incorporates office space and... Read More
In 2007 market conditions created a huge bubble in property trusts. Now, the Sydney Herald reports, A-REITS (Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts) are creating another. The interesting thing about this particular bubble, is that one of its beneficiaries, who happens to be the chief executive of a property trust, has decided to call... Read More
Earlier this week a large-scale regeneration scheme was launched in Derby, with developer Compendium Living aiming to turn the city’s run-down Castleward district into a thriving modern community. The £100 million redevelopment is one of the largest projects of its kind to ever hit the East Midlands city, and it promises to deliver... Read More
The South African government's proposal to start collecting carbon taxes starting in 2015 could contribute to the high administration costs facing the commercial property industry. Property analysts and CEOs have identified it as one of the industry's biggest challenges for owners, along with tax increases and electricity rates. Robbie... Read More
The British car manufacturing industry has followed on from a strong year in 2012, with continued investments leading to a higher demand from international markets than has been seen for quite some time. Now Jaguar Land Rover has announced further expansion of its Castle Bromwich, Birmingham operations after posting record-breaking annual... Read More
The Queen's property company, the Crown Estate, has announced plans for a £320 million joint venture with one of Canada's largest pension funds. Oxford Properties, a division of Omers, the Ontario metropolitan employees' retirement fund, is taking a 50 percent share with Crown Estate in the redevelopment of two West End blocks running... Read More
When you visit the high street for some retail therapy or do the weekly shop at your favourite supermarket, how do you pay for your goods? The majority of us will simply put it on a debit card, but are there still some people who swear by cash? As with everything in life times change and technology advances. Nowadays consumers have... Read More
British Land has announced that Meadowhall, Yorkshire's leading retail destination, has become one of the world's first shopping centres to offer virtual gift cards. Shoppers at Meadowhall can now buy dedicated digital ‘V-Cards' that are redeemable exclusively via tablet and mobile devices and are usable at over 250 of the centre's... Read More
It has been a year since Queen of Shops Mary Portas was asked for her suggestions to turn around the poor performance of the nation’s town centres. Following Ms Portas’ review, 12 towns across the country were awarded the status of “Portas Pilot Towns” and received a share of a £1.2 million investment earmarked to fund the chosen... Read More
Commercial property investment in the Czech Republic reached €237 million (£203 million) in the first three months of 2013. This figure represents a 12-fold increase from the same period in 2012, when only one transaction closed. Petr etr Sulc, head of DTZ’s office in Prague, told Property EU; ‘We have a good pipeline of sales... Read More
The financial crisis took a lasting toll on British business, with experts from the retail and leisure industries consistently reporting low consumer confidence as a result of dwindling household incomes. However, the service sector also felt strong repercussions of the tough economic times, with businesses forced to make dramatic cutbacks in... Read More
The traditional high street newsagent is battling for survival as supermarket giants push into the convenience store market, according to the boss of Britain’s largest chain of managed convenience stores and newsagents. Britain’s largest food retailers, J Sainsbury, Tesco and Wm Morrison, are switching their attention from... Read More
The Scottish commercial property market is continuing its slow recovery according to the latest figures. CBRE’s quarterly MarketView reveals that, while Scotland continues to lag behind then rest of the UK, property returns rose to 0.2 per cent during Q1 reflecting a slowdown in the decline of capital values across all sectors. The... Read More
The Simpsons is one of the longest running scripted shows on television and is still going strong after 25 seasons. But have you ever wanted to be a part of The Simpsons? Visit Moe’s Tavern, enjoy a Krusty Burger and wash everything down with a Duff Beer? Well now you can, but you have to visit Universal Studios Florida to experience... Read More
