Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of real estate-relevant headlines from the national papers.
The chief executive of e-commerce giant Amazon has told staff they must work in the office “the way we were before the onset of Covid”, with a five-days-a-week mandate from the start of next year.
Andy Jassy said the move would mean the company is “better set up to invent, collaborate and be connected enough to each other and our culture to deliver the absolute best for customers and the business”.
“When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Jassy said. “Before the pandemic, it was not a given that folks could work remotely two days a week, and that will also be true moving forward.”
The UK government will disagree with Jassy’s thinking. In an interview with The Times published today, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that giving employees the right to work from home or ignore work e-mails and calls in the evening will make them more “motivated and resilient”.
The long-awaited masterplan for the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre has been submitted for approval.
Overseen by the Earls Court Development Company on behalf of a joint venture between Delancey and Transport for London, the scheme would create 4,000 new homes set in 20 acres of public open and green space, as well as 2.5m sq ft of workspace and three new anchor cultural venues.
Delancey founder and chairman Jamie Ritblat said the project would be a rarity in that it will “put spaces first and buildings second”.
Landsec has issued a green bond to raise £350m to pay down its existing borrowing.
Chief financial officer Vanessa Simms said: “This transaction further enhances Landsec’s strong financial capacity, flexibility and maturity profile. This is our second bond issuance of the year, and in both cases, the order books were multiple times over-subscribed with competitive pricing, demonstrating the strength of demand for our credit. Landsec remains well-placed to fund its development programme and investment in acquisition opportunities.”
There’s also news on the Government Property Agency’s new chief executive; a welcome West End office trade; and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s plans for the historic Allders department store in Croydon.
All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:
Amazon primes workers for return to the office
Landsec to raise £350m with green bond
Urban Logistics refinances and hits acquisition trail
Unite Students lodges plans for Southampton PBSA redevelopment
Springfield Properties posts falls across the business
Henry Boot eyes improving second-half of year
Plans in for £8bn Earls Court development
Bourgeois takes permanent gig at GPA
URW cleared to redevelop Croydon’s historic Allders store
Three new retailers sign for Cribbs Causeway
Green & Partners recruits new equity partner
Acai Group buys Golden Square block for £41.5m
Haulage firm secures hub at Yorkshire’s Konect62
Duo of occupiers plug in to boutique office in Leeds
Office-to-hotel specialist gears up for UK deals
Ex-Fiera executives launch new firm
Plans in for resi revival of Glasgow’s Collegelands
Praxis builds out capital markets team with new hire
BPF names new sustainability committee chair
National deals round-up
UK PM Starmer says first budget won’t undermine growth goal (£)
London’s high-end property market cools on worries about tax hit (£)
London mayor plans to pedestrianise busy Oxford Street (£)
Working at home boosts productivity, says Labour (£)
Airbus revives plans for UK helicopter factory (£)
TGI Fridays lines up administrators as chain scrambles to stay in UK (£)
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