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.
Debts at René Benko’s Signa Holdings more than doubled to €5bn in the nine months before it collapsed. The insolvency filing for the company, which co-owns Selfridges and the Chrysler Building in New York, show debts rapidly mounting to €5bn from under €2bn at the end of 2022. They were just €635m the previous year.
Meanwhile, Montreaux’s plans for the redevelopment of the former B&Q site in Cricklewood, NW2, have been approved by ministers. In a fine example of the UK’s sluggish planning system, the outline plans for more than 1,000 homes were approved by Barnet Council in September 2021, called-in last August, subjected to an inquiry in February, with the planning inspector handing over his report to levelling up secretary Michael Gove in June. Six months later, Gove has said he agrees with the report’s findings. A total of two years and two months from approval to approval.
And Helical has confirmed that it has let 68,000 sq ft at the JJ Mack Building, EC1, to Sainsburys as its new headquarters. The retailer will move from its current London HQ at 33 Holborn, EC1, to take the first, second and third floors in the 11-storey building in the next two years.
In other news:
URW places oversubscribed €750m green bond
RICS interim standards and regulation board chair made permanent
Labour may not hit £28bn green pledge in first five years
Foreign ownership of UK firms hits record high
Retailers pin hopes on Christmas shopping
Skyscraper lights luring birds to their deaths
