All articles by Peter Bill – Page 3
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InsightTime to peer into Pandora’s box
Do you recall the Pandora Papers? A box opened on 3 October to reveal the names of those who owned at least 1,500 UK properties worth £4bn.
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InsightA look back at the life of Centre Point's Harry Hyams
Peter Bill reappraises the life of Centre Point’s Harry Hyams, a man more interested in collecting than developing. Those who knew the real Harry talk of the man once vilified as ‘the Howard Hughes of Property’.
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InsightThree items of AOB for the RICS
There are three items of ‘any other business’ before the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors fully embarks on Agenda for Change 2.0.
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InsightLevitt’ll set RICS change agenda
Five members of the RICS Governing Council (GC) are absorbing a 400-page report by Alison Levitt QC on the circumstances surrounding the sacking of four members of the institution’s management board in November 2019. This steering group will issue directions to the ruling body’s other 21 members.
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InsightFrom cold war to homes front
Urban Civic intends to double in size over the next five years. In January, the master-developer, founded by Nigel Hugill and Robin Butler in 2009, was bought for £506m by the Wellcome Trust. Peter Pereira Gray runs the trust’s £32bn portfolio, which gained 12.9% in value last year. ...
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InsightBringing some sunshine into retail
A Pharmacy2U vaccination centre popped up last week in a former Laura Ashley store in the Fremlin Walk shopping centre in Maidstone. The signage is pop-up, not permanent. But some feel an injection of outpatient treatment centres into shopping centres could inoculate some stores against death by Amazon.
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InsightPlanning Bill won’t change a thing
To start, a diatribe on the dogma endangering the Planning Bill proposed in the Queen’s Speech last week.
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InsightMarketing won’t save the planet
George Orwell said: “The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” Yes, and for others to read them. Everyone in real estate treats everyone else in the game as foolish, at least when it comes to trumpeting projects.
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InsightI spy tenants for the Millbank refurbishment
A decade into a debate on ways to restore the Palace of Westminster, the grand and good greyheads in charge will be gratified to learn the passage of time has opened up a new decant option. Room enough for 1,500 displaced parliamentary staff will become available at 7 Millbank in ...
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InsightWill this be the year the IPSX idea floats?
PrimeLocation was launched in 2001 after nearly 200 agents, including Savills and Knight Frank, raised £11m to fund one of those new-fangled websites.
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InsightSEGRO, CPPIB and boxing clever
Word has it SEGRO is seeking a plot in or around the Square Mile on which to dig a ruddy great big hole.
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InsightCovid crunch is coming for offices
On Tuesday, the City of London Corporation gave permission for a 12-storey groundscraper set on the frayed eastern rim of the City. The 304,000 sq ft brise soleil-wrapped block (pictured) would look fine on sunny Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. On dull old Aldgate? Gaspingly out of place.
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InsightSpinning beach ball Babylon
On a breezy spring day in 2013, I gazed out upon a giant beach ball, tethered to the roof of a building adjacent to Old Street roundabout, north of the Square Mile.
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InsightTime to restore trust in valuers
In July, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) directed four big accountants to set apart their audit arms by 2024.
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InsightFactoids and housing crisis fixes
Rodding the planning drains may improve the flow of applications. But Boris Johnson’s claim that reforms contained in ‘Planning for the Future’ will increase the volume of new homes is humbug.
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InsightDiversity goes beyond box ticking
Hiring more women? Tick. Hiring more BAME people? Tick. These days, there is no point in even pitching for work without slides proving your diversity and inclusion credentials.
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InsightLearning from the past master
A pity Richard Desmond did not follow the late Tony Pidgley’s footwork when trying to double the size on his now-notorious scheme for 1,500 flats at Westferry Printworks on the Isle of Dogs – if only to understand how Berkeley got permission to build 1,280 flats on a plot one ...
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OnlineObituary: Tony Pidgley – ‘the best teacher in the business’
Planet Property author and former EG editor Peter Bill shares his memories of Berkeley Group boss, Tony Pidgley, who it was announced on Friday has died.
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InsightListing ships and a circus
David Atkins is still at the wheel at Hammerson until a replacement chief executive is found. On Monday, Rob Noel entered the map room of the drifting retail giant as incoming chairman. The former Landsec boss is now in charge of plotting the future direction of the listing ship, with ...
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InsightDon’t go boldly into the storm
Next Wednesday, 27 May, British Land is likely to declare a stonking loss for the year to March, caused by valuation shrinkage within the £4.8bn retail portfolio.
