15 April 2016 | Jamie Harris Sodexo has reported operating profit of €621 million (£493 million) for the first half of its financial year, marginally up from 2015 (€620 million). Its revenues were reported at €10.59 billion (£8.42 billion), a 6.7 per cent rise from the same six-month period in 2015. Broken down into regions, Sodexo’s UK performance for the first half of its fiscal 2016 was €1.1 billion (£0.87 billion), a significant 27 per cent rise. Operating profit in the region was €66 million (£52.4 million), a 74 per cent increase. Most of its UK revenue includes work at the Rugby World Cup, held last autumn. Without Rugby World Cup revenues, Sodexo reports that organic revenue growth was still 12.2 per cent up on 2015. Michel Landel, Sodexo chief executive, said: “Based on the momentum achieved in the first half, we confirm our fiscal 2016 targets of around 3 per cent organic revenue growth and around 8 per cent growth in operating profit excluding the currency effect and exceptional expenses for the adaptation and simplification programme.” Source link

“The advantage that Basingstoke has over schemes like Ebbsfleet, or even large-scale regeneration sites, is there is an already established community and business area,” says John Izett, Basingstoke Council’s cabinet member for property and development. All the content from this weekís magazine, including this article, is available in the new app. A development partner will help to bring forward the infrastructure and first 3,400 homes, with the potential, though not guarantee, to build the remaining 4,600 homes in phase two. According to project director Richard Bayley, the partner and council will jointly develop and provide the infrastructure. “Our involvement is not just putting the land in,” he says. “It is a lot more than that: using the land and investing in the infrastructure and the development of the place.” It is a grand plan, and one that the South East needs more of to address its housing requirements, but you do not have to look far to find similar schemes that have stalled. An hour south in Hampshire is Fareham, which planned to deliver 6,500 homes through a similar arrangement. After seven years, no homes have been built, with particular problems around land assembly, infrastructure provision and community consultation. Robin Shepherd, planning partner at Barton Wilmore, warns that every problem that can beset a development is compounded in schemes of this scale. He says: “The challenge is to make it happen in the time available. They have said [Manydown] will span two local plan periods [usually a local plans spans 15 years]. Well, too right it will. They always take longer to deliver than anticipated.” Finance, infrastructure, timescale, legislation, and a skills shortage are issues, according to Shepherd. The advantage for Manydown is that the councils own the land – having acquired it for around £10m in 1996. This means many of the issues surrounding site assembly can be bypassed. As well as being development partners, the two councils are also willing to act as financiers, providing around 50% of the funding to get it started, though Bayfield says this will be subject to dialogue with interested parties. Izett adds: “There are so many examples of where things have been done badly in post-war communities. We have a responsibility to ensure if we are building on this land that it’s done well. Also, we see it as an opportunity to get future capital and investment returns.”  This is a big help in the search for a partner: few housebuilders would be willing to take on the risk of an 8,000-home scheme delivered over a 25-year timeframe. But the council involvement can also bring problems. When keeping control of the design process, councils often add extra policy requirements and restrictions, says Shepherd. “Sometimes it just wraps a developer in knots,” he adds. For Basingstoke, while moving on from the mistakes made in the 1960s is important, this must be tempered with considerations around viability. The key, says Shepherd, is for the councils to create as much certainty as possible, and for this the council joint venture has already assembled a team of more than 70 people to ensure it has the expertise and know-how. “We do not have all the expertise, but we do have the capacity for investing in infrastructure for the long term, and we are able to borrow money that allows investment into the community,” says Bayley. “We want a role in how the long-term management will work.  We are not just building and then forgetting about it.” When many councils are pulling back and de-risking, Manydown is an example of authorities showing a willingness to get their hands dirty. Source link

In a statement before its shareholder meeting today, the energy giant admitted the projected cost of the plant had a “contingency margin” that could see the price tag rise from £18bn to £20.7bn. This margin would involve EDF’s share of the financial commitment for the Somerset plant rise from £12bn to £13.8bn, while that of its partner China General Nuclear Power Corporation would increase from £6bn to £6.9bn. The company also revealed a construction timetable that could see the nuclear plant miss its projected 2025 completion date. EDF’s statement confirmed a 115-month construction period from the date of a final investment decision. However, with that decision not expected before September following a series of delays, the timetable would take completion beyond the original 2025 deadline and into spring 2026. A source at EDF UK said it still expected the project to meet the 2025 completion date. Source link

Legal & General Investment Management Real Assets (L&G), represented by Savills, has let restaurant space at One Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester to Shoryu Ramen for its first site outside of London.  Shoryu currently has seven restaurants in the capital and one in Japan. The operator has agreed a new 25-year lease for a 1,448 sq ft (135 sq m) ground floor unit at an annual rent of £100,500.  The deal follows recent lettings at One Piccadilly Gardens to Wrap It Up!, Ask and Byron Burger as well as Pret a Manger, which upsized to a larger unit. The landmark One Piccadilly Gardens building overlooks Piccadilly Gardens and was acquired by L&G’s Managed Property Fund in 2014.  Since purchase, L&G has made significant improvements to the retail frontage of the building, bolstering the tenant-mix and enhancing the size of the units.  Mark Russell, fund manager of the Managed Property Fund at L&G, comments: “In bringing Shoryu Ramen to Piccadilly Gardens we take another step forward in our plans to improve the food and beverage offer which will define the area as a destination.  This letting further enhances the variety of food choices on offer at the scheme following the recent lettings of Wrap It Up!, Ask and Byron Burger.” John Agnew, retail and leisure director at Savills, adds: “We are very pleased to have secured the first Shoryu Ramen outside of London at One Piccadilly Gardens, where it will be an excellent addition to the wide variety of food choices already on offer.” A spokesperson for Shoryu Ramen adds: “We are really excited about opening our first Shoryu outside of London and joining Manchester’s thriving dining scene.  The restaurant will offer our signature Hakata tonkotsu ramen, Shoryu buns and Gekkeikan Royal Warrant Sake.  Our limited edition seasonal cocktails and cold Japanese draft beer will also be on the menu.” Shoryu Ramen was represented by Spectrum Property Consultants. Source link