London’s Haymarket Hotel has been named the best in the UK. The Piccadilly hotel beat off hundreds of rivals to gain the accolade in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards. It also scooped seventh place in the European top hotels category and 20th in the worldwide nominations. Located in Suffolk Place, the Georgian property... Read More
Six weeks before the opening of its landmark incubator business hub a North-East development company has signed its first tenant. The Blyth Workspace scheme — aimed at kick-starting the re-development of a neglected industrial quayside — is partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the Homes and Communities Agency... Read More
Although the London commercial property market has proven immensely strong since the end of the financial crisis, in the years to 2013 it was yet to reach the heights of the pre-recession peak in 2007. However, in 2014 overseas investors and a growing number of domestic buyers managed to bring total investment in the City of London and the... Read More
Local Growth Minister Penny Mordaunt says that a former flour mill, at the heart of London’s Royal Docks, will be the centrepiece of a thriving new business district. Today the Minister visited the Millennium Mills site, which has been abandoned since the early 1980s, to see how work is progressing on its transformation, thanks to a... Read More
LondonMetric Property PLC has acquired the 410,000 sq ft Eddie Stobart distribution facility in Dagenham from Meaalofa Developments Holdings Limited for £56.5 million. The 28 acre site is currently let to Eddie Stobart for seventeen years, with a rent of £3 million a year which began in August of last year. One of the benefits of the... Read More
Although supermarkets continue to struggle against the rise of the discounters, certain specialist stores still find that they often lose consumers to the “all under one roof” principle. This has been especially true at chocolatier Throntons, as along with battling rivals such as Maison du Chocolat and Godiva, its decision to sell its... Read More
Axa Real Estate (Axa) is concerned that Japanese commercial property prices may be close to their peak. The fifth-largest property fund in the world is looking at the recent increase in real estate values due to the government’s efforts to put an end to deflation and give the economy a boost, and is considering putting some of its... Read More
Barwood Developments Ltd (BDL) has sold 60 per cent of its holding to clients of specialist investor and property adviser Delancey to form a new logistics joint venture. The new company will be known as db symmetry. The majority acquisition is a strategic move into the logistics sector which Delancey sees as a growth area. "The sector... Read More
Bruntwood and Kier Property, in a joint venture, have begun construction of a brand new six-storey building at 3 Sovereign Square in Leeds City Centre. The scheme was given the go-ahead from Leeds city council in the summer of last year, while the site preparation took place in November of the same year. It will take 18 months to build,... Read More
The Home Office is paying more than £12.5m a year in business rates on its London headquarters, according to Valuation Office Agency (VOA) figures. The Ministry of Defence also earns a place in the capital's top ten rate payers. The remaining eight places are dominated by high-end retailers and financial institutions with Harrods’... Read More
With space on the surface in London becoming increasingly limited, developers are beginning to seek opportunities beneath the hustle and bustle of the city’s streets. This has seen investors come forward to redevelop unused tube stations, commuter train lines and ancient carriageways – and now, it seems even the capital’s World War II... Read More
Consumers have continued to up their spending on luxury items as the economy recovers which, along with the retail industry, has hugely benefited operators of leisure businesses across the country. This week, developer Birchall Estates has confirmed that Chesterfield’s local economy will be able to cash in on this boom as it will soon begin... Read More
During the recession, the overwhelming focus of the retail industry was directed towards the high street and the ensuing drop in occupancy levels that occurred after the financial crisis. However, although street teams such as the Portas Pilots continue to channel huge amounts of funding into initiatives designed to draw in consumers, it... Read More
The Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF) has reported a total take-up of 439,000 sq ft in the Warrington area. There were a total of 102 transactions in 2014, representing a 16 per cent increase on 2013 figures and an overall increase of 11 per cent. Among notable transactions pushing the numbers up were the lettings to Ombudsman... Read More
Last week, London First released research showing that only half of the 50,000 new homes required each year to support the city’s growing population are being constructed. While chairman of the policy and resources committee of the City of London Corporation, Mark Boleat admits that this is a problem that should be addressed, he... Read More
LDC, which is part of Lloyds banking group, has acquired Birmingham’s NEC Group in a £307m deal, making it privately owned for the first time. The NEC Group includes the National Exhibition Centre, the International Convention Centre and the Barclaycard Arena along with a variety of businesses such as The Ticket Factory, catering... Read More
St Paul's Developments has been chosen to deliver a logistics and warehousing hub on a 44-acre "oven ready" site in South Yorkshire. Named as development partner by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the Rotherham-based company is expected to start work on the 750,000 sq ft 31 East project within a few months. Included in the... Read More
Nine years after it was first suggested, Sheffield planners are expected to approve a £65m scheme to give the city its own Chinese commercial and social hub. A consortium of six Chinese investors settled on Sheffield — and decided to build on a Chinatown concept originally unveiled by local businessman Jerry Cheung — after... Read More
During the recession, many specialist retailers were hit hard by the rising number of discounters which aimed to provide a wide variety of stock at low prices for consumers. One of the chains which struggled was undoubtedly Mothercare, yet there are now signs that a programme of cost cutting measures and store portfolio alterations are... Read More
Argos has been one of the largest turnaround successes on the high street in recent years, with store revamps and huge investment into services such as click and collect proving popular with consumers. However, the chain and its owner Home Retail Group’s latest results failed to live up to economists’ expectations. In the 18 weeks... Read More
Absorption of office space in India rose by close to 10 per cent in 2014 to over 33 million sq ft. This figure is indicative of confidence in the commercial property market, and the belief that growth is likely to continue this year, according to a report released by CBRE. The activity was led by Bangalore at 37 per cent and the... Read More
Citing a desire to better serve its customer base and strengthen the company’s position for long-term growth, Mercedes-Benz USA has announced that it will move its US headquarters from its current location in New Jersey to Atlanta. The company plans to relocate employees from its Montvale, New Jersey offices to a temporary location... Read More
