Good morning. Here is your AM bulletin, with the latest news and views from EG as well as a few of the best bits from the morning papers.
The Reuben brothers have sold a trophy retail building on Madison Avenue to vacuum tycoon James Dyson for $135m. The brothers co-owned 747 Madison with Wharton Properties founder Jeff Sutton.
Meanwhile, another set of brothers are also selling up in the States. Zuber and Mohsin Issa have sold 63 EG Group stores in Kentucky and Tennessee as they attempt to reduce a £7.6bn debt mountain.
Back in the UK, L&G boss Sir Nigel Wilson has called for urgent planning reform as part of an “investment-led growth strategy” to turn around Britain’s fading fortunes.
But there is some good news this side of the pond. The number of insolvencies has fallen. But that is only because so many smaller firms have already gone bust and now it is the bigger businesses – like Wilko – that are starting to fall.
Meanwhile, UK property stocks have taken a further tumble amid fears that the Bank of England will hike interest rates even further.
But more than a dozen UK lenders are lowering mortgage rates again, as swaps markets predict rates could peak below 6%.
Even so, the FCA has concluded that just half of the 1m homeowners with interest-only deals will be able to pay off their debt once their term ends. The borrowers are more confident, with only a third saying they would face difficulties.
And, back on the other side of the Atlantic, The FT (£) says Warren Buffett’s $814m (£639.5m) bet on housebuilders should not be mistaken for a thawing of the frozen US property market.
HM Revenue & Customs has said there is no correlation between the fact 95% of its staff are working remotely for at least part of the week and its failure to hit basic performance targets.
And Oxford Street could become the blueprint for the decline of the high street, unless ministers start to support regeneration efforts. The report by the Retail Sector Council attacks levelling up secretary Michael Gove’s rejection of Marks & Spencer’s Oxford Street plans, saying decisions like this are “hollowing out” high streets.
Meanwhile, M&S is on track to re-enter the FTSE 100, after the UK retailer upgraded its annual profit outlook.
And finally, 13 urban trees have been shortlisted to become 2023’s Tree of the Year. All have withstood the development that has taken place around them, while some have survived bombing raids, pathogens and arson attacks – not to mention centuries of British weather.
