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Knight Frank to build on London success

BIRMINGHAM, England, Sept 28 (Reuters) - British finance minister George Osborne will announce on Monday that he will scrap a tax on inherited pension savings as he lays out the Conservative Party's pitch to win the next election on the back of its economic policies. Ahead of what is expected to be a close-run ballot next May, Osborne will use a key speech to try to persuade voters that only the Conservatives can be trusted to keep Britain's economic recovery on track. The Conservatives are rated by voters much more highly than the opposition Labour party on the economy. But they lag narrowly behind Labour in opinion polls less than eight months before the election. In a move aimed at the party's ageing supporter base, Osborne will commit to abolishing before the election a 55 percent tax levied on pension pots of savers when they die. "People who have worked and saved all their lives will be able to pass on their hard-earned pensions to their families tax free," he will tell the Conservatives' last conference before the election, according to advance extracts of his speech. Osborne has focused on bringing down Britain's massive budget deficit since he took over the finance ministry in 2010. With the public accounts still deep in the red, he has little room to offer major tax cuts ahead of the election. The new pledge to be announced on Monday is expected to cost around 150 million pounds (244 million US dollar) a year, according to a Conservative briefing note. Nonetheless, his offer to scrap the pension pot tax strikes a contrast with the latest ideas from Labour.

Debt-laden Pret a Manger turns £500 million sales into a loss amid hefty interest payments: It made 64 million sandwiches, 47 million cups of coffee and sold 4 million bananas in 2013. But the one thing Pret a Manger didn’t make was a profit, because once again the sandwich chain’s operating profits were wiped out by hefty interest payments.

Brazilian giant stalks Tarmac as £5 billion bidding war begins: Votorantim, one of Latin America’s largest conglomerates, is understood to be planning a bid for a package of businesses being offloaded by Holcim and Lafarge, the Swiss and French cement giants, in an effort to seal a £32 billion mega-merger.

Greene King to raise Spirit bid: Greene King, the pub operator and maker of Old Speckled Hen beer, is weighing an improved £700 million offer for rival Spirit, Owner of Chef & Brewer.

Traders bet £700 million on Sainsbury’s fall: Hedge funds and traders have bet £700 million on a fall in J Sainsbury shares as concern mounts that evidence of a sharp deterioration in trading over the summer could prompt the chain to cut its dividend.

Crossrail development drives property boom Property prices are rising along the Crossrail route, four years before the high-speed line is due to open

Santander UK has poached Susan Allen from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to become managing director. Allen, who has more than 25 years of experience, led the asset finance, invoice finance and transaction services businesses for corporate clients at RBS. She has held a number of senior management positions at the bank. Santander UK is also set to appoint a new chief executive. Deputy CEO Nathan Bostock is expected to succeed Ana Botin, who recently moved up as chairwoman of the parent company.

House prices: Londoners threaten to flee the capital over housing costs: Londoners are threatening to leave the capital in their droves as many struggle to pay rocketing housing costs, as wealthy overseas and domestic cash buyers prop up housing prices.

The Bicester friends: Coaches full of Chinese tourists pounding up the ramp off the M40 tell the story. Bicester Village, a retail destination where designer brands typically sell older goods, has been a big success. Investors are therefore giving Hammerson the benefit of the doubt over a £400 million share placing launched to pay, in part, for other “outlet” centres. The largest of these is the £180 million buyout of two-fifths of a Leicester shopping centre Hammerson does not own. But the outlets business is more disruptive, and thus more interesting. Here, a £100 million deal cements Hammerson’s position as the best buddy of Value Retail. This brainchild of U.S. entrepreneur Scott Malkin has refreshed the concept of out-of-town retail parks selling branded goods. Hammerson owns 22% of Value Retail. It will invest £30 million in VR’s outlet centres and another £70 million into VIA Outlets, a European joint venture in which the duo are partners.

Message to Sports Direct’s Ashley: spoof not lest thou are spoofed: The retail entrepreneur, who owns 58% of Sports Direct, likes to make a stir. Conditionally agreeing to buy a 0.28% stake in Tesco, this week’s corporate disaster, has that effect. But Mr Ashley also cultivates an air of enigma. The curious claim that “the investment” reflects a “growing relationship with Tesco” leaves other motives to be guessed at. The deal seems to work like this. Sports Direct has shouldered the risk of 23 million Tesco shares trading below a threshold price at an undisclosed point in the future. The threshold is probably higher than the current market price of 192.5p, says Mike van Dulken of Accendo Markets. Goldman will pay Sports Direct a fee for this insurance. Minority shareholders might feel more comfortable with the unconventional transaction if Mr Ashley was better at stock market investment. Sports Direct did a similar deal involving a 6.6% stake in Debenhams in January. The shares have dropped 24% since, so a loss is likely. Sports Direct has also lost more than £1 million on a stake in fashion website MySale. A 22% shareholding in Blacks was wiped out when the camping store chain went into administration in 2011. Investments in Adidas and JD Sports performed better.

Sainsbury's removes Tesco from price-matching scheme to focus on Asda Sainsbury's removes Tesco from price-matching scheme to focus on Asda Sainsbury's looks to fight back against stalling sales with new round of price cuts and commitments

LONDON (Alliance News) - The average asking price for a house in the UK was flat on month in September, property tracking website Hometrack said on Friday - snapping a string of 19 straight months of gain. That followed the 0.1% increase in August. Among the individual components of the survey, new buyers with agents, volume of property listings, sales agreed and asking price achieved all moved lower in September. On a yearly basis, prices climbed 5.0%, slowing from the 5.5% increase in the previous month.

Dublin property prices soaring: Dublin’s property prices are soaring faster than London’s, soaring 25.1% in the year to August, and easily outstripping the British capital’s 19.1% rise.

Topps Tiles: Something to grout about as annual sales rise 8%: The recovery in the housing sector has helped Topps Tiles post an 8% rise in underlying annual sales.

Millions ‘wasted’ on car insurance inquiry: Britain’s competition watchdog has been accused of wasting “millions of pounds” of taxpayers’ money as it unveiled the results of a lengthy inquiry into the £11 billion motor insurance market.

Property will become a bigger pensions play The pressure to invest in property is unlikely to abate for years

London overtakes Hong Kong as world’s priciest city for companies to situate staff: The strength of the sterling has made London the world’s most expensive city for companies to locate staff, overtaking Hong Kong which has held the record for five years in a row.

Miller cements plans to hive-off homes arm: Housebuilder Miller Homes kicked off its long-anticipated flotation with plans to raise £140 million through a listing that will propel the firm into the FTSE 250.

Positive benefits revealed by Faroe Petroleum: Faroe Petroleum has hailed the progress it has made in the North Sea where the company has expanded through acquisition, although it fell into the red in the first half after facing complications off Norway.