Good morning. Just so you know, today is national drink wine day in the US…
HSBC could be about to shed a tonne of London office space as it announces 35,000 job cuts and a $100bn asset sale(£). The bank is paying close attention to its extensive investment banking operations in the UK(£), which suggests a big chunk of London space might soon hit the market.
Meanwhile Revo is piling on the pressure over business rates, demanding that the government cut rates for bricks & mortar and whacks a tax on digital sales(£).
Too late for Beales, sadly, which is now closing its remaining 11 stores(£) after a buyer failed to materialise…
And Asda could be floated off(£) from its adoptive US parent Walmart(£). Apparently Asda’s poor performance over Christmas has put even more strain on the relationship.
Storm Dennis may have passed, but the flood-threat remains. Especially as 10,000 homes and a football stadium(£) have been approved for Britain’s flood plains. The FT’s Big Read (£) asks if insurers can afford the increasing flood risk caused by climate change.
Smaller lenders, meanwhile, could be forced out of the mortgage market(£) as they compete for an ever-shrinking pool of borrowers. The number of lenders has risen from 128 to 167 over the last decade, but borrowers per year have fallen from 2.3m to 1.2m.
Countrywide’s shares gained almost 3% in trading yesterday, but there is still no update on whether the sale of Lambert Smith Hampton can go ahead. Other big risers include intu, although the 5%-plus lift saw its shares close at just 12.95p.
Aberdeen Standard Investments is selling the 13-acre Broadwalk Centre next to Edgware Underground station, for £60m-plus…
And Liverpool has given the green light to an urban farm in the Baltic Triangle, as part of the 3.5ha Great George Street Project regeneration.
A school in Somerset has rejected its rebuild plans, saying there is not enough focus on renewables.
And a US film studio plans to take up reading. Oh no, that’s Reading. Blackhall Studios(£), which is responsible for Jumanji: The Next Level and Godzilla, will open a £150m complex in the Thames Valley(£) in 2022.
Meanwhile the Dutch are using all their wiles to woo Brexit-bruised businesses from Britain(£). So far 140 have crossed Het Kanaal to the Netherlands, with a further 425 testing the waters.
US fund manager Franklin Templeton will be able to dip its toe into real estate, after buying rival Legg Mason for $6.5bn(£).
The Vatican, meanwhile, is continuing to probe its purchase of a Chelsea office block in 2018, by raiding the home(£) of one of its senior finance priests.
And finally, any royals looking to leave the UK to start a new life in the Americas could do a lot worse than Sigrist House, which has just come on the market for a mere $8.5m. Admittedly the Bahamian bolt-hole(£) might prove a bit of a commute to Canada, but the pad does have all the right credentials. It was where the Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived when they first move to Nassau. Then again, Harry and Meghan probably don’t wish to be compared to the former Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. After all, he liked dressing up in Nazi uniforms and she was a divorced American!
