By: Helen Cahill

I report on retail and property for City A.M. I have covered the investigation into BHS and London's housing crisis. You can email me on helen.cahill@cityam.com with tips or commentary.

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Here we go again: Ken Livingstone has defended his Hitler remarks as “factual”

June 2, 2016

Ken Livingstone has again defended the remarks he made about Hitler which led to him being labelled as a Nazi apologist, saying they were "factual" and could be compared to "1+1=2". Livingstone, who was suspended from the Labour party in April for defending a colleague over anti-Semitic comments, blamed "embittered MPs" for a backlash against him. [...]
Austin Reed employees found out about store closures through social media

June 1, 2016

A day after the heritage retailer Austin Reed shut its shops for good, City A.M has learned that most of the staff found out they had lost their jobs via social media. An employee at one of the company's major city centre concessions told City A.M: "About 80 per cent of the staff found out about it on social [...]
UK mortgage lending dropped to its lowest level since the height of the eurozone crisis in April

June 1, 2016

Mortgage approvals have hit their lowest level since the height of the Eurozone crisis, according to the Bank of England. Mortgage loans totaled just £281m in April, their lowest level since August 2012, after the hike in stamp duty came into effect at the beginning of the month and buy to let landlords fled the [...]
Brexit bluster: Telford Homes boss is so chill about housing he says he’d buy a plot on the day before the EU referendum

June 1, 2016

The chief executive of a top London property developer is so confident about the resilience of the housing market that he'd buy a plot the day before the EU referendum. Speaking to City A.M. on a day of strong results for the company, Jon Di-Stefano, chief executive of Telford Homes, said: "Even if we vote out people aren't going to disappear [...]
Mrs M&S: Why demographic profiling no longer works

June 1, 2016

Brands underestimate the power of social media at their peril. Steve Rowe’s comments about targeting ‘Mrs M&S’ last week were treated with derision on social media, with the Twittersphere roundly condemning Rowe’s decision. One user argued that it was “gendered, exclusionary and old-fashioned”, while another explained that Mrs M&S is "so cringey it makes my [...]
Telford Homes announces strong results as it sets its sights on the private rented sector

June 1, 2016

London residential property developer Telford Homes announced strong revenue growth in its final results for the year ending March 2016, and pre-tax profits at the company exceeded original market expectations. The firm's revenue was up by 42 per cent year-on-year, jumping from £173.5m in 2015 to £245.6m this year. Pre-tax profits were up by 28 per cent, to [...]
The supermarket squeeze: Big four supermarkets outperformed by discounters and premium competitors

June 1, 2016

The big four food retailers – Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – are suffering in the supermarket squeeze today as both discount and premium challengers boasted the strongest sales growth. Tesco had the smallest drop in sales of the big four, at 0.1 per cent, and Asda the biggest, with a 5.1 per cent decline in sales. Discounters Aldi and [...]
Footfall on the high street is in terminal decline, and low growth is the “new norm” – which retailers will thrive in the new shopping environment?

May 31, 2016

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Buy to let backlash: rent supply falls year-on-year and renters are set to pay the price

May 31, 2016

The supply of rental properties is fell year-on-year in April, down by five per cent, as letting agents predict that the stamp duty hike on buy to let properties will end up hitting renters in the coming months. The average number of properties managed per branch decreased from 193 to 183 year-on-year, according to data from the [...]
Austin Reed to close most of its stores and cut 1,000 jobs as part of rescue deal with Edinburgh Woollen Mill

May 31, 2016

Nearly 1,000 jobs are set to go at Austin Reed as details of the store's rescue deal started to emerge this morning, and nearly all the stores will be closed. Administrators were only able to convince Edinburgh Woollen Mill – who have agreed to buy the menswear retailer – to take on the chain's brand and stock. The retailer fell [...]

HSBC: City market’s top firm turns to Asia and Middle East

Premiership run-in: Saints and Bath will impact top four

Here We Are, National Theatre, review: Stephen Sondheim musical is more Severance than sing-a-long

By: Helen Cahill

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