Graeme King

Sleeperz hotel plan approved

THIS is how a new six-storey hotel in Newcastle city centre will look after planning permission was granted for the £7.5m scheme to go ahead. Read

Ambitious plans for the future of Wynyard Park

MORE than 78,000sqft of office space has been let at Wynyard Park on Teesside in the last year, the developers have announced as they celebrate their third anniversary on site. Read

Focus on good quality lending needed

MUCH has transpired in the world’s financial markets in the past month and the Government’s bank rescue plan announced by Chancellor Alasdair Darling last week should, I hope, finally bring back some stability to people’s thinking. Read

Spectrum ‘competitive on cost’

THE team behind the fast developing Spectrum Business Park on the edge of Seaham in County Durham say demand for more cost effective office space in the economic downturn is seeing ever more enquiries about its buildings. Read

Talking about investment

A CONFERENCE in London next month is to promote the virtues of Islamic investors at a time when those utilising conventional lending are struggling to fund deals. Read

Bad news for the property market in UK

RESEARCH on the state of the UK property market has delivered more bad news for the month of September, with all property total returns falling to -2.4%, compared with -1.1% in August, making September the weakest single month since the low points of November and December last year. Read

High street fashion chain to expand

FASHION retailer New Look is expanding its presence in Durham’s Prince Bishops Shopping Centre. Read

Consultants win Royal Mail contract

PROPERTY consultant Sanderson Weatherall has won a major contract with Royal Mail, providing estate management services to the group’s property division right across the North of England. Read

‘Bid will help keep city centre business interests at the top of political agenda’

NEWCASTLE businesses are being asked to vote this month on a multi-million pound scheme that would see the city having one of the largest business improvement districts (Bid) in the country. Read

Students a vital asset to the city of Durham

Above average affluence among Durham University’s student population continues to support Durham City retail which features some interesting retailers, says Mike Birkett. Read

Opportunity knocks in a challenging economy

The head of architecture practice IDPartnership in Newcastle is determined to create truly sustainable developments, has a passion for southern Africa, and can see reason for optimism in the economy. Graeme King met the intriguing Mark Massey. Read

The week ahead

Arrear set to rise at the Rock; more gloom expected from Bellway....But Whitbread set for better news Read

Friday evening's business news

FTSE down massive 9% in the day; Barclays considering its options; Rosebys closes more stores Read

Pubs boss steps down in wake of huge losses

THE boss of leisure group Premium Bars and Restaurants (PBR) has resigned, saying the industry is experiencing the worst market conditions seen in 50 years. Read

PBR

Turnover 2008: £66m 2007: £36.7m %change: +79.8% Read

OIL & GAS

Recession fears push oil to $86.05 a barrel Read

Grainger shares down 2.25p

THE UK stock market reacted with caution yesterday to the rate cut from the Bank of England and the FTSE 100 Index ended the mid-week session 238.53 points lower at 4366.69. Read

THE FTSE 100 closed down 238.5 points at 4366.7. The session was extremely volatile with the market at one stage trading as high as 4654.2.

Investors remained very nervous despite the Government unveiling its bank re-capitalisation plan and a co-ordinated 50 basis points interest rate cut by the world’s major central banks. Read

A worker turns a valve along an oil pipeline at dusk

Wednesday evening business news

Warm welcome for rate cut; Oil falls on recession fear; Lewis buys into M&B Read

Huge shed for distribution plan launched

PLANS to build one of the largest ever distribution sheds in the North East have been officially launched with helicopter tours of the giant site near Newton Aycliffe in County Durham. Read

Author Profile

Graeme King is a business reporter for The Journal covering stories across the spectrum of North East business, as well as recently developing a specialism in commercial property. He joined the paper in 2001 as a news reporter before moving to the business desk a year later, having started his career on a weekly community paper in Leeds.