Here’s a round-up of the financial news and investment stories that caught our eye this month, including trouble for London’s West End, some good news for owners of a popular hatchback, and the Beatles star making bundles of cash on a vegan venture…
West End woes
The Financial Times reports that property prices in London’s West End are falling fast, “as higher interest rates snuff out the tentative recovery”. One commercial property owner, Shaftesbury, says its portfolio value has dropped 3.6% over the last six months while tenants have to ‘grapple’ with “potential power outages, rising energy costs and rail strikes.”
Farewell Fiesta
Prices of second-hand Fiestas have skyrocketed after Ford announced plans to end production after 47 years and nearly 5 million vehicle sales. Many pre-owned editions of the hatchback now cost more than a new model.
Let it beak
Sir Paul McCartney has turned over a tidy plant-based profit, having made a £1.5 million return on vegan chicken brand TiNDLE. The Beatle is one of the most famous vegetarians on the planet, having launched a range of meat-free foods with his late wife Linda. Clearly, Wings are not something he’d order for the table.
Go home with E.T.
You can own the original E.T. — for the same price as a luxury London penthouse. The model that Steven Spielberg used to bring his friendly alien to life is set to be sold for an estimated $2 to $3 million at a Hollywood auction. Built for the 1982 classic film, the model pre-dates modern CGI technology and effects, features 85 points of movement, and is regarded as an “engineering masterpiece.”
Hands up who’d buy this?
From one unusual auction item to another. A life-sized cast of the late Princess Diana’s hand is expected to fetch £40,000 when it goes under the hammer in Essex in November. The 24-centimetre cast was created by world-renown sculptor Oscar Nemon just before his death in 1985, with Diana being his last sitter.
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