Office rents in Brum are stabilising, says CBRE report

Headline rents on prime office space in Birmingham are now more competitive than Manchester, according to new research from CB Richard Ellis.

The property consultancy’s Rents and Yields Market View shows that prime rents in the city now average £27-£28 per sq ft. 

Retailers report like-for-like sales during Christmas

The vast majority of retailers (85 per cent) reported positive like-for-like sales figures for the Christmas 2009 trading period, according to analysis by business advisory firm Deloitte. 

On average, the retailers surveyed by Deloitte reported like-for-like increases of 5.9 per cent, with clothing and footwear retailers posting the strongest figures, increasing sales by 10.3 per cent. 

One thousand miles for one million pounds

In just over 100 days, four people from Deloitte’s Birmingham office will take to the roads of Britain as part of a cycling team bidding to raise £1m for ParalympicsGB over the next four years.

On June 12 2010, more than 100 cyclists from the firm will embark on a 1,000 mile ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End as part of the Deloitte ‘Ride Across Britain’.

Technology to turn cement green

Technology is set to become even more environmentally friendly this year as companies pursue a green agenda, according to research from business advisory firm Deloitte.

In 2010, technology’s contribution to CO2 reduction could result in electric cars, more efficient aeroplanes and greener data centres.

Deloitte predicts the rise of the DVD vending machine

First it was crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks, now the humble vending machine could boost revenue growth for video-on-demand (VOD) with the number of DVDs distributed this way set to double, according to Deloitte’s technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) practice.

The web has become the most efficient means of distributing short form content but drivers such as price (the cost can be as little as 60p per night) and convenience will increase the popularity of vending machine rentals.

Still everything to play for, says Bootle

After a difficult period over the next two years, there’s no reason why the UK economy cannot return to being a relative outperformer when compared to other major European countries, according to a leading economist.

Roger Bootle, economic adviser to Deloitte, said the UK should be able to compete with neighbouring European economies but warned that it would be futile to compare it to fast-growing developing economies that, even with a decent performance by its past standards, it is never going to beat over a prolonged period.

Deloitte acquires property firm Drivers Jonas

Business advisory firm Deloitte aims to create a new model in the real estate advisory market with the addition of Drivers Jonas, the UK’s oldest property advisory firm.

The deal will create a business group of around 700 partners and professionals, including 650 Drivers Jonas partners and employees who will be joining Deloitte, significantly extending the firm’s capability in this market.

Parris to speak at Legal Awards

Matthew Parris will be the guest speaker at this year's Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards

Times columnist and former Conservative MP Matthew Parris will be the guest speaker at this year’s Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards.

Matthew is one of the country’s most respected journalists and Parliamentary commentators. As well as writing for The Times, he’s a columnist for The Spectator and until 1998, when he was famously sacked for ‘outing’ Peter Mandelson on the BBC, wrote for The Sun newspaper.

Prior to his career in journalism, Matthew was a successful MP, having been elected to represent West Derbyshire in 1979. Before that he served as a diplomat and even had a stint as Margaret Thatcher’s personal assistant.

In 1986 he left politics and became the presenter of London Weekend Television’s political interview programme Weekend World. Today, he remains a regular political commentator and has written a number of books on the subject, including Great Parliamentary Scandals, I Couldn’t Possibly Comment and The Great Unfrocked.

Matthew will be speaking at Birmingham Law Society’s annual Legal Awards dinner on 25 March at the International Convention Centre.

Bernard Shepherd, president of Birmingham Law Society, said: “The Legal Awards is well known for attracting high-profile speakers, and they don’t come much more high-profile than Matthew Parris.

Consumer confidence remains fragile

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) latest retail sales figures, retail sales volumes fell by 0.3 per cent month-on-month in November. Year-on-year sales were up 3.1 per cent during the same month, a slow-down from October’s 3.7 per cent rise.

Jane Whitlock, consumer business partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: “Today’s figures from the ONS show that whilst consumer spending has been resilient in 2009, confidence remains fragile.  Consumers recognise that 2010 will bring a number of challenges for their personal finances, starting with the VAT increase on 1 January.  These challenges will undoubtedly influence their purchasing habits and lead to continued weakness in consumer spending growth.

Deloitte rowers stick their oar in for charity

Deloitte corporate finance manager Martin Prophet and tax manager Stuart Woodward put in an ‘oar-some’ performance by taking part in a charity ‘rowathon’ organised by the firm.

Martin, who specialises in forensic and dispute services, and Stuart both work at Deloitte’s Birmingham office. They joined 70 other employees from across the UK to take part in the event to help raise more than £80,000 for Deloitte’s two national charity partners, Cancer Research UK and NSPCC.