Many UK retailers are facing an uncertain Christmas trading period, as rumours of a triple dip recession and continuing struggles in the Eurozone continue to dampen many consumers’ festive spirits. Although this is the first Christmas in almost four years that has not been celebrated under the shadow of economic crisis, consumer confidence... Read More
Pizza Hut, which is owned by Yum! has announced its plans to open a further 700 delivery stores nationwide. The new stores will bring their total amount of delivery-only commercial properties to 1,000. The expansion will bring around 2,000 new jobs, but will take a number of years for all 700 to be open. Yum! hopes to have at least 100... Read More
The national unemployment rate was a cause for concern during the recession, as retail chains succumbing to administration began to lay staff off in earnest following multiple store closures. However, unusually, the recession did not seem to cause stable businesses to cut staffing numbers – on the contrary, many firms chose to... Read More
Due to its central location and easy access to the motorway network, the Midlands has established itself as a core logistics and distribution hub. Overall, 14 per cent of the stock on the market is stored and transported from the region’s 20.4 million square feet of warehouse space. This makes the logistics sector a key provider of... Read More
Britain’s labour market proved to be surprisingly resilient during the recession, with a larger number of people currently in work than in 2008 despite the plunge in the economic situation in the four years since. However, with fears of a further dip in the UK’s economy running high, this story may change as the country welcomes in the... Read More
We recently reported that the Manhattan commercial property market would bounce back from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. Last week the New York Times published a story revealing the difficulties faced by firms still struggling to return to business as usual and a potential time bomb for their landlords. While the focus of... Read More
The abundance of commercial real estate on the market in Malaysia’s Klang Valley is good news for tenants and is drawing attention from investors looking for higher yields in the Asian market. The Singapore Business Times reports that 89 million square feet of commercial space is currently available in the industrial and commercial... Read More
Last week was something of a mixed bag of news for the manufacturing sector, bringing both good and bad tidings for the coming year. While more vehicles are expected to be registered in the UK this year than have been seen since 2008, many other areas of the industry are feeling an increasing pinch as cheaper foreign imports flood the market... Read More
Supermarket shoppers should be cautious despite the latest headlines about a clampdown on misleading pricing. Eight leading supermarkets are ending so-called “special offers” that trick customers into getting a good deal-yet there is no guarantee that buy-one-get-one free deals and other deals are as good as they look. Last week,... Read More
Blackstone Group LP will be starting a new real estate fund dedicated to the Asian market. The company is focusing on what it describes as a "golden moment" to buy and sell in the region. Founded by Stephen Schwarzman and Peter Peterson in 1985, the Blackstone Group is a well-known private equity business. It is also the largest... Read More
In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced a £1 billion loan to extend the Northern Line to serve London’s forthcoming Nine Elms development. Nine Elms is an ambitious project that will transform the last remaining area of underused land on the banks of the Thames into a mixed use site comprising offices and retail... Read More
The automotive industry has been a rare bright spot in the UK for the past few years, with more and more companies choosing to invest in British factories than ever before. Recently, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover and Honda have all chosen to make large investments into their manufacturing plants in this country, leading to a boom in jobs for... Read More
Indonesia's capital city is home to almost 10 million people and according to a new real estate forecast, it's the place commercial property investors should be focusing on in 2013. PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC) and the Urban Land Institute have released their Emerging Trends in Real Estate - Asia Pacific 2013 report, and the results... Read More
Back in October, luxury handbag manufacturer Mulberry revealed that its annual profits may not meet those forecast by industry experts due to falling wholesale revenues and a slowing of growth in its international market. Now, it has emerged that the cost of improving the quality of its products has caused something of a squeeze on its... Read More
Fitch Ratings has released data indicating that the majority of European commercial property loans that have reached maturity this year remain unpaid. However the data relates exclusively to those loans that were part of secularization deals structured before the subprime crisis. In other words to commercial mortgage-backed securities... Read More
Multiplex giant Cineworld has bought art house cinema chain Picturehouse in a deal reported to be worth over £47 million. Picturehouse, whose 21 independent cinemas include the Ritzy in Brixton and the Phoenix in Oxford, will continue to operate as separate company. Co-founders Lyn Goleby and Tony Jones launched Picturehouse in 1989... Read More
Commercial property owners in California who are looking for a way to make savings financing energy efficiency upgrades will have a new option available to them under a pilot programme that is set to launch early next year. The state's Public Utilities Commission has approved an "on bill repayment" feature that will allow owners to... Read More
A free school could be opened in unused office buildings in Portishead in an attempt to solve the shortage of class places in the growing town. The Village Quarter Parents Action Group has selected educational visionary Marcus Orlovsky to push forward plans to open a free school for up to 240 students by September 2014. One of the... Read More
The top commercial property agents in Ireland are predicting the market is set to rebound in 2012 with transactions worth up to €650 million expected to change hands. This amount represents a huge change from the €200 million in sales for 2011. Foreign investors are leading the way, and prime office and retail properties are... Read More
Technology and telecommunications firms rented more new office space in Europe in the first six months of 2012 than banks and financial firms, according to a report issued by property consultancy CBRE. The worldwide popularity of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, as well as cloud computing, is contributing to these companies'... Read More
The New Zealand government has confirmed that it has completed a deal for the first three properties it plans to complete by early 2013. Warwick Isaacs, the Director of Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) has confirmed the Crown has signed documents agreeing to buy the commercial properties, which are linked to its central... Read More
Norway's sovereign wealth fund is planning to invest approximately $11 billion in the U.S. real estate market. The fund will eventually put a full five per cent of its assets into commercial property. Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive officer of Oslo-based Norges Bank Investment Management, has determined that one-third of this amount,... Read More
