Just weeks after it was named as one of the top ten world cities to visit in 2015, Birmingham has displaced Berlin to be included in a list of Europe's leading business travel destinations. Last month Rough Guides claimed the Midlands' city was among the 10 must-see locations for tourists this coming year. Now a survey by Egencia, the... Read More
New York City has emerged as the top spot among global commercial real estate investors pushing London into second place. The vast majority (more than 90 per cent) of respondents to a survey conducted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) stated that they planned to either maintain or increase the size of... Read More
According to the 2014 International Construction Costs Report, the cost of construction within Central London is the highest in the world. Construction consultant Arcadis has compared building costs in a total of 43 countries and discovered that the strength of sterling, relative to the Euro, and accelerating price inflation have led to... Read More
American private equity firm, KSL Capital Partners, has reportedly set a 30-day deadline for offers on its Malmaison and Hotel du Vin portfolio — less than two years after it paid £200m for the chain of 29 hotels. Acquiring the business in 2013 from the administrator of the collapsed MWB Group, which went into administration in... Read More
With commercial property investors increasingly turning to the regional markets, Birmingham is attracting considerable interest. According to a new report by PwC, this will see the city overtake London as the most attractive location for property investment this year. London has begun to fall out of favour with American and Asian funds due... Read More
Planners have rubber-stamped the master plan for a new £107m bioscience hub at AstraZeneca’s former Alderley Park site in Cheshire. It's claimed the scheme could create as many as 7,000 jobs. Last year the pharmaceutical giant confirmed it was transferring its research and development facilities to Cambridge. The site, between... Read More
A high-tech refurbishment that included the installation of fibre optic broadband has prompted a rush of lettings at a West Midlands industrial park. Of 11 vacant units on Solihull’s Monkspath Business Park, ten — totalling more than 116,520 sq ft of space — were snapped up in the final three months of last year. Just one vacant unit... Read More
According to research conducted by property consultancy GVA, the M42 corridor out-of-town office market saw a significant upswing in activity last year, with a total of 420,00 sq ft of deals being made. This is nearly double 2013's total of 224,395 sq ft. The deals involved a range of businesses from SMEs to multi nationals at sites... Read More
With global commercial property transactions reported to be at record levels, many industry experts are now concerned that the current frenzy of investment will lead to a “bubble” if prices continue to rise. According to the annual survey of European investors’ intentions, conducted jointly by adviser PwC and think tank the Urban... Read More
Hungry shoppers gave Greggs its best Christmas ever with holiday sales up more than eight per cent. Along with its best-selling steak and cheese roll, its coffee sales alone totalled more than £1 million. Now Britain's biggest bakery chain is set to expand its presence, with outlets on retail and office parks high on the... Read More
Rockspring has purchased one of Taunton’s most popular shopping centres in a deal worth £27.55 million, reflecting an initial yield of roughly 6.65 per cent per annum. The acquisition comes hot on the heels of another shopping centre purchase in the South West, making it a busy start to 2015 for the property investor. Orchard... Read More
North-East businesses with a "taste for grandeur" are being offered offices in what is claimed to be one of the oldest buildings on Tyneside. The boardroom, within the Grade I listed Trinity House on Newcastle's Quayside, even comes complete with a 19th century oak table and mahogany George III chairs. Tenants are being sought for... Read More
Major retail and leisure developments were something of a trend in 2014 and seem set to continue this year thanks to the continuing improvements within the economic climate. This has allowed the debate over the future of the former Morrisons headquarters in Bradford to draw to a close, with the local authority this week giving the go ahead... Read More
Global commercial real estate transaction volumes hit record levels in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to JLL. Volumes in the final quarter reached $218 billion, which brought the preliminary volumes for the year to $700 billion, 28 per cent higher than the third quarter and 18 per cent higher than the same period in... Read More
The retail property market has faced some significant challenges over recent years, but with the economy improving and consumers more prepared to spend, it seems that 2015 could mark a turnaround for both the retail sector and its property market. According to the global property consultancy Knight Frank, retail sales are expected to... Read More
The Glasgow head office of online travel agent and flight search website Skyscanner has been sold to a new Scottish owner in a deal reportedly worth £27m. Hermes Real Estate spent almost £10m in 2011 remodelling the 1980s-built office block in St Vincent Street. It has now sold on the 73,000 sq ft Glasgow development to the FTSE-100... Read More
A UK-based investment management company has confirmed its property assets have increased by almost a half following the £1.6bn transfer of the Co-operative Asset Management’s (TCAM) property portfolio. Completed at the end of November last year, Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has taken over TCAM's massive property holding... Read More
With help of advisor Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), Associated British Ports (ABP) has completed the purchase Marchwood and Cracknore Hard Industrial Estates from Oceanic Estates. The estates, located on the western side of Southampton Water, are one of the largest self-contained industrial/warehouse holdings in the South East, spanning a... Read More
British Land insists that the structural integrity of The Leadenhall Building has not been compromised by the two fractured bolts that fell from the City skyscraper in November. The company also revealed that a third falling bolt was recently caught by precautionary tethering installed following the initial incident. In a statement... Read More
January is often cited as the “boom period” for Britain’s fast growing gyms sector, with thousands of consumers nationwide using the turn of the New Year to fulfil their fitness resolutions by signing up for memberships at their local chain. However, for Yorkshire based budget brand Xercise4less the emphasis will not be upon... Read More
Retailers were hoping that the combination of an improving economy and more optimistic consumer outlook would cause Christmas sales to skyrocket, but unfortunately this proved not to be the case. In fact, the high street endured its worst Christmas sales period since the start of the financial crisis, with data from the BRC/KPMG Retail Sales... Read More
As demand for Grade A office space increases, commercial property investors are keen acquire assets in prime locations. This has seen M&G Real Estate snap up an additional property on the Spiningfields development in Manchester, with the value of the deal amounting to more than £90 million. M&G Real Estate first ventured... Read More
