Focus On Regent’s Park: Celebrity-packed Nash terraces and luscious parklands make NW1 “super-prime” London September 23, 2016 If you want to go celebrity spotting in London, you could do a lot worse than Regent’s Park. High profile residents of this historic area surrounding the royal park of the same name include Damien Hirst, Christian Candy, Gwen Stefani, Jamie Oliver and Kate Moss, not to mention all the Middle Eastern royalty and Russian [...]
Gotta catch ‘em all: how extreme collectors hunt down the world’s rarest watches December 8, 2016 In a thankfully deserted café near the river in Battersea, my acquaintance extracts an unassuming plastic shopping bag from a rucksack. From inside it, he unfurls 12 wristwatches, laying each one gently on the table; were the sole waitress present paying us any attention, she might think it a rather suspicious scene – even more [...]
Restaurateur Mark Hix reminisces with artist Gavin Turk about the glory days of the YBAs ahead of his upcoming show at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery November 10, 2016 I’ve converted a couple of veggie artists over the years, tempting them with tasty cuts of rare beef – Tim Noble and Mat Collishaw spring to mind – but I suspect Gavin Turk is a lost cause. Gavin, one of the original YBAs, has been veggie for over five years and went full-vegan last year; [...]
New homes on sale in London this weekend: from flats on “Billionaire’s Row” to Regency style mews in Wimbledon June 24, 2016 Buxmead, Hampstead From £6.9m to £17m Though it’s only recently been dubbed “Billionaire’s Row”, Bishops Avenue in north west London has housed media magnates, Saudi Princes and A-List celebrities in its gated mansions for over a century. Criticised in some circles for its empty homes, a rare new build development went on sale last week [...]
London house prices: Ex-council flat in Covent Garden sold for record-beating £1.2m August 14, 2015 A small two-bedroom flat near London’s Covent Garden has become one of the most expensive council flats ever sold after going under the hammer for £1.2m. Property agent Barnard Marcus said the flat, which is part of Siddons Court, an ex-council mansion block on Tavistock Street, has been snapped up for £1.21m after just six [...]
Persimmon’s profit jumps as demand from customers remains “encouraging” after the Brexit vote August 23, 2016 Housebuilder Persimmon brushed off any worries the company has been hit by Brexit as it posted a strong set of half year results today. The company's share price was up 4.24 per cent in afternoon trading after it announced profit before tax jumped 29 per cent in the six months to the end of June, up to £352.3m. Revenue increased [...]
Sadiq Khan slams Boris Johnson’s “toothless” Concordat housing scheme at Mayor’s Question Time June 22, 2016 Sadiq Khan has slammed former mayor Boris Johnson's flagship housing scheme for failing to stop new London homes being sold as "golden bricks" to overseas investors. Johnson's Concordat scheme, which was launched in 2014, was pitched as the solution to stopping major developers advertising London homes abroad first for overseas buyers, who had months more [...]
With diverging monetary policy and more political uncertainty, should investors expect 2017 to be the year that growth makes a comeback? January 3, 2017 This year is being heralded as a new dawn for markets. The economic malaise which has dogged developed economies since the financial crisis will finally subside; the battle against deflation has been won; fiscal stimulus is firmly on the agenda, and real growth will return. Such optimistic assessments may prove to be on the money. [...]
London private equity firm buys out northern healthcare company July 18, 2016 London-based private equity house Agilitas has announced the acquisition of Exemplar Healthcare, a company providing residential nursing care. The management buyout deal, understood to be worth around £150m, comes after Agilitas last week sold French company Ionisos to private equity giant Ardian. Read more: London-based private equity firm announces sale to Ardian Exemplar, based in [...]
The government’s public land sell-off for new homes is not running to schedule, according to the National Audit Office July 12, 2016 The government's plan to release enough public land to build 160,000 homes is not running on schedule, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has claimed today. The government has only sold land with capacity for 8,580 homes – and it needs to release the land for 160,000 new homes by 2020. Read more: Can [...]