News

MORNING NEWS: Countrywide told to consolidate

News

Piers Wehner

20 August 2020

Good morning.

Countrywide has been ordered to slash branches, consolidate its brands and fire its chief executive by leading shareholder Catalist Partners(£) (aka Robin Paterson).

Airbnb has filed for an IPO(£), after months of ‘will they, won’t they’.

KPMG is set to earn £16m from the administration of Intu(£).

Meanwhile the government is facing renewed calls(£) to extend its ban on resi evictions, which ends on Sunday.

Persimmon was yesterday’s top faller on the FTSE 100, losing 2.48% despite announcing that its new chief executive Dean Finch was to join earlier than expected.

European office vacancy rates have risen by an average of 30 basis points to 5.8% during Q2.

Proptech start-up Offr has secured £2.7m in seed funding for its UK and Australia launch.

Marriott International(£) is facing a High Court lawsuit over one of the largest data breaches in corporate history.

Head of retail consultancy Jonathan De Mello has left Harper Dennis Hobbs.

And, as Apple becomes the world’s first $2tn company and Elon Musk becomes the world’s fourth richest person, The FT (£) asks is the recovery V-shaped? Nope, it is a K.

Around a thousand PWC workers are returning to their desks every week(£), despite being told they can continue to work from home. Apparently life stuck in a flat is a bit, well, flat.

Still, it isn’t enough to raise spending in central London, which is falling far behind the ‘burbs.

And despite a lack of spending at Greenwich Market, Knight Frank is pushing ahead with plans for a huge rent hike.

Boris Johnson’s plans to relocate Parliament to York(£) have been dismissed by the quangos(£) in charge of the Palace of Westminster restoration.

But plans for a space port in Sutherland(£) have been given the final go-ahead.

And finally, could it be that Nick Candy is running out of the sweet stuff? The property tycoon, better known to many as Holly Valance’s husband, is selling his beloved superyacht(£), named 11.11 after the birth date of their daughter Luka. For those interested, the 63m Benetti yacht has four bars, can sleep eight guests and a crew of 16, has two main bedroom suites, a helipad, a limo tender and a really nice hot tub. All yours for £54m. So, is Nick strapped for cash? Don’t be daft. He just wants a bigger boat.

Good morning. Countrywide has been ordered to slash branches, consolidate its brands and fire its chief executive by leading shareholder Catalist Partners(£) (aka Robin Paterson). Airbnb has filed for an IPO(£), after months of ‘will they, won’t they’. KPMG is set to earn £16m from the administration of Intu(£). Meanwhile the government is facing renewed calls(£) to extend its ban on resi evictions, which ends on Sunday. Persimmon was yesterday’s top faller on the FTSE 100, losing 2.48% despite announcing that its new chief executive Dean Finch was to join earlier than expected. European office vacancy rates have risen by an average of 30 basis points to 5.8% during Q2. Proptech start-up Offr has secured £2.7m in seed funding for its UK and Australia launch. Marriott International(£) is facing a High Court lawsuit over one of the largest data breaches in corporate history. Head of retail consultancy Jonathan De Mello has left Harper Dennis Hobbs. And, as Apple becomes the world’s first $2tn company and Elon Musk becomes the world’s fourth richest person, The FT (£) asks is the recovery V-shaped? Nope, it is a K. Around a thousand PWC workers are returning to their desks every week(£), despite being told they can continue to work from home. Apparently life stuck in a flat is a bit, well, flat. Still, it isn’t enough to raise spending in central London, which is falling far behind the ‘burbs. And despite a lack of spending at Greenwich Market, Knight Frank is pushing ahead with plans for a huge rent hike. Boris Johnson’s plans to relocate Parliament to York(£) have been dismissed by the quangos(£) in charge of the Palace of Westminster restoration. But plans for a space port in Sutherland(£) have been given the final go-ahead. And finally, could it be that Nick Candy is running out of the sweet stuff? The property tycoon, better known to many as Holly Valance’s husband, is selling his beloved superyacht(£), named 11.11 after the birth date of their daughter Luka. For those interested, the 63m Benetti yacht has four bars, can sleep eight guests and a crew of 16, has two main bedroom suites, a helipad, a limo tender and a really nice hot tub. All yours for £54m. So, is Nick strapped for cash? Don’t be daft. He just wants a bigger boat.