Good morning. May the fourth be with you.
Britain’s least likely trade union has been formed by a group of property tycoons and real estate dynasties. The Landlords Union wants the government to rethink its policies which have allowed tenants to withhold rents. The Times (£) calls Adam Coffer (late of this parish) “the Len McCluskey of the group”.
Leading the charge for the opposition is Mike Ashley’s future son-in-law, Michael Murray, aka Mini-Mike. The Frasers property boss has attacked landlords, including Westfield(£), saying they need to adapt to ‘new realities’(£). By which he means that they simply have to accept no rents, lower rents tied to retail sales or no tenants.
Meanwhile, his future father-in-law’s business has been accused of breaching furlough rules by ‘pressuring’ managers to work one day a week.
McDonalds has written to landlords(£) asking for a 50% cut in rents. But then, it did pay its last rent bill in full.
Superdrug(£), meanwhile, wants a 25% rent cut – not a deferment, it insists – despite the fact that it has continued to trade and is owned by the world’s 35th richest man, Li Ka-shing.
Rent cuts are not being called for by Timpson(£), though, which continues to be a refreshing oddity in the sector.
Mini-Mike may think the landlords will end up owning ‘ghost towns’, but The FT (£) says empty stores could and should be profitably repurposed as residential.
Pub companies(£), meanwhile, have been ordered, again(£), to help their tenants. Is this last orders, though?
And the new normal will be far from normal(£), as details emerge for the government’s plans to get Britain back to work. Expect many to stay at home, while others commute by bike to half-empty offices(£) covered in 2m tape markers
Corporate confidence(£) is currently at an all time low, with 89% saying the economy faces “high” or “very high” levels of uncertainty.
And house prices could fall by 30%(£) over the next three years, says Lloyds. (Although they are more likely to fall by 5% and then recover.)
Intu is on the rise, though, as good news about waivers helped it climb 9% on Friday.
And Capco has said it will talk to shareholders after a majority revolted over directors’ pay.
Concern is also mounting in Manchester that the city council may use emergency powers(£) to give planning permission to a controversial £350m venue.
Azzurri, which owns Zizzi and Ask Italian(£), has called in restructuring experts as debts rise.
Burger chain Byron, which has 51 outlets, is close to collapse(£), with KPMG due to contact potential buyers.
And a third of small businesses say they will no longer bother with business interruption insurance(£) after insurers refuse to pay out over the coronavirus pandemic.
In other news, the Abu Dhabi royal family have vowed to continue their £32m fight with Lancer(£), despite last week’s ruling. The High Court refused to strike out part of Lancer’s defence, including references the failing health of the emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
A hydrogen-powered house in Devon(£) could become Europe’s greenest.
And finally, Ballymore has received a mixed response to its decision to paint ‘ghost signs’ on abandoned buildings in the Docklands. The “industrial-style branding” is an attempt to lend its Goodluck Hope development(£) on the Leamouth peninsula, east London, a bit of added character. Signs include 19th century advertising for long defunct businesses, including Mather’s Whale Oil, the Samuda Bros shipyard and Thames Ironworks. While some observers have commented that the artwork is a nice touch, others have been less kind. One said that Ballymore had torn “down history and put up luxury housing that wears its skin”. Which sounds almost as disgusting as whale oil, frankly.
