A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Search firm moves to Quays

THE LEADING international executive search consulting firm Spencer Stuart has moved into new offices at Whitaker Court on Sir John Rogersons Quay in the south Dublin docklands. It adjoins 02’s European headquarters. Spencer Stuart is renting 600sq m (6,458sq ft) on the second floor of the building for its new global technology and knowledge centre.

Other tenants in the building include Mediavest and System Dynamics. Fionnula O Buachalla of Jones Lang LaSalle, who advised Spencer Stuart, said it settled on Whitaker Court because the flexible floorplates could meet the companys size requirement on a single floor and the commercial terms were “realistic and reflective of the market”.

Michael Healy of Savills,who handled the letting, said that while there was plenty of office space available in the city there were few new blocks that could cater for small-to-medium sized requirements such as was available in Whitaker Court.

The quoting rent is €323 per sq m (€30 per sq ft).

Shopping centre deals up

THE value of shopping centre deals in the UK is set to clear £5 billion for the first time since 2006, underlining the return of confidence to the sector, particularly in the last quarter.

New research shows that 40 shopping centre acquisitions are likely to be completed this year with a total value of £5 billion – a 58 per cent increase on the combined number of deals in 2008 and 2009.

An estimated £3.5 billion is being spent in the last three months. The sales include Capital Shopping Centres’ £1.6 billion acquisition of the Trafford Centre in Manchester.

The increased level of shopping centre sales has been prompted in many cases by bank pressure and in other instances by the recovery at the prime end of the retail market.

Capital values in UK up 6.6%

THE UK commercial property market has shown a growth in capital values of 6.6 per cent over the past 11 months , bringing returns for the year to date to 13.5 per cent.

The IPD research also shows that there was an income return of 6.5 per cent in the same period.

The bulk of the capital appreciation was delivered over the first six months of the year driven by a 70 basis points equivalent yield compression from last December to June, ending the period at 7.5 per cent.