The Government has welcomed a multi-million investment in Merseyside and the North West by Unilever. The Anglo–Dutch consumer products giant announced the £200m expansion during a visit by the Prime Minister and Chancellor to the company's Port Sunlight factory. The financial commitment will see the opening of a new global... Read More
As the London commercial property market reaches boiling point many foreign investors are buying privately to avoid competitive bidding or funding the construction of office blocks from scratch — forcing British investors to make their money from regional opportunities. Last year, insurers and sovereign wealth and pension funds... Read More
Hammerson has announced that three top restaurants have agreed terms to join its new £70 million Southampton WestQuay Watermark development, with each restaurant making their debut within the city. The restaurants, which will take occupation of space on the upper level of the development, are: Byron, which offers a simple menu... Read More
The Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Chester has been under the close scrutiny of property advisors for some time, with its recent £5 million investment seeing large scale improvements made to the mall’s rear entrance on Pepper Street. It has come as something of a surprise, therefore, that owners have now made the decision to place the... Read More
Bruntwood has unveiled plans for a new business lounge at The Plaza, Liverpool. The new facility will provide a meeting room and informal breakout space, which will contain newspapers, magazines, complimentary refreshments and Wi-Fi connection. Head of sales at Bruntwood, Matt Lee, said “The business lounge is designed to add value to... Read More
After a near record year the shortage of industrial and commercial space in Worcestershire could "choke off" further recovery, an independent property consultancy is warning. Primarily at risk are the strengthening warehouse and industrial markets where medium-sized units between 20,000 and 50,000 sq ft are in very short supply, says... Read More
Although most supermarket brands in the UK are struggling to attract custom at present, Morrisons has consistently been the worst performer out of the “big four”, with its failure to launch an online service until well after its key rivals and minimal focus on dropping prices continuing to impact upon profits. Analysts predict that... Read More
According to research by the business advisory firm, Delloitte, the retail sector has seen a significant drop in companies going into administration. The information showed that only 119 retailers went under in 2014 compared to the previous year, which saw 183 – a fall of 35 per cent. Generally, across all sectors, administration dropped... Read More
Exactly two years after it secured multi-million backing for its 317,000 sq ft City of London office scheme Aldgate Developments has accepted a second cash injection. This time the US private equity firm Starwood Capital is investing £200m in the project. Originally unveiled in January, 2013, the development firm confirmed it was... Read More
Despite an investment wobble in the run up to the independence vote, Edinburgh office take up reached a decade-long high last year. Around 875,000 sq ft of office space was transacted through lettings and sales in the Scottish capital during 2014, according to property services provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). The end-of-year... Read More
As consumers continue to channel additional spending into luxuries, retailers are keen to take up space in destinations which attract a high level of footfall. This has seen shopping centre owners invest heavily into growth and modernisation, with The Mall at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol the latest to benefit from a planned programme of... Read More
The former site of the BBC headquarters for the North West of England is the latest target of Manchester property group Bruntwood. This six acre Oxford Road plot was originally sold for £10m back in 2011 when the broadcasting company made the move to MediaCityUK. It is currently owned by Realty Estates and is used as a car... Read More
Large retail developments are increasingly focusing upon attracting a wider range of retailers to benefit customers as the economic recovery continues to gather pace. At The Octagon shopping centre in Burton, the owners feel that this will be best achieved by refurbishing the centre and providing an increase in trading space as a means of... Read More
Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has seen an economic rebound, but the benefits being referred to as “Abenomics” appear to be benefitting Tokyo and not the outlying areas. For a time, as the Bank of Japan busily printed money and Abe spent it, commercial property investment did spill outside of the capital into the countries... Read More
After nearly four months of negotiations one of Britain's largest privately owned property companies has paid close to £125m for a distressed Midland's business park. IM Properties — which already owns several sites in the Solihull area — has now bought Blythe Valley Park out of receivership. Just five minutes from Solihull town... Read More
Throughout January, Canary Wharf will be playing host to a spectacular illuminated arts exhibition featuring a dazzling range of interactive sculptures, projections, digital art and lasers, all created by eleven internationally acclaimed artists. The UK's Stephen Newby, German duo Hedi and Bernd Spiecker, Balint Bolygo from Hungary and... Read More
Many retailers enjoyed a successful festive trading period with brands such as John Lewis, New Look and River Island all reporting an increase in profits for the six weeks to the beginning of January. However, fashion chains Bank and USC were less fortunate, with the former entering administration and the latter due to close a significant... Read More
A business consortium has unveiled multi-million pound plans to transform a five-acre site in the centre of Sheffield into a retail quarter. Chaired by a former chief executive of Vickers Defence Systems, John Crowther, the Sheffield Retail Development Group (SRDG) claims it has "identified half-a-billion pounds of funding" for the... Read More
The boss of a Midland's design agency has been left with an unusual dilemma — where to park his new office. Neil Morten, head of Rugeley-based GMP Design, bought a condemned Boeing 737 jet to create an innovative new office for his growing business. Now he's searching south Staffordshire for a prominent site to house the stripped-out... Read More
While the number of firms entering administration has lessened significantly since the peak years during the recession, they are still very much a reality in modern day Britain. This has recently been seen in the administration of the De Stefano Property Group, to which administrators from KPMG have been appointed to sell off a number of the... Read More
With the Christmas trading period over, retailers will be turning their minds to the coming year and the ways in which they can best profit from the economic upturn. For Tesco, however, the question is not how to boost profits further but how to prevent a further slip into the financial doldrums – with the announcement of 43 store closures,... Read More
British Land has continued is winter clear out with the sale of a triple-asset portfolio to Legal & General Property for almost £220m. The latest disposal includes the Kingswood Retail Park near Hull for £58m, the House of Fraser building in central Birmingham — still referred to by many as "Rackhams" after its former occupier... Read More
