Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 companies are going green to protect their reputation rather than as a result of concern for the environment, suggests a UK-wide survey of opinion formers.

The Green Washers and Green Winners survey, compiled by communications and research team Chatsworth, polled 1200 national and trade journalists, sustainability experts and political groups to measure the perception of which companies are leading the way on sustainability issues, and which are more concerned with image over substance. 

Results suggested that the main motivation for UK companies to adopt green policies is to protect their reputation (27 per cent) with just 18 per cent believing the main motivator is good business sense. Only one per cent of those polled believe genuine concern for the environment is the key driver for UK companies to adopt green policies.

Nick Murray-Leslie, director of Chatsworth Communications, says, “Green-fatigue is setting in and companies need to rethink the way they communicate their sustainability programmes. Many opinion formers appear to be losing faith in the real intentions of UK corporates to meet their sustainable objectives and many detect more than a faint whiff of insincerity from the FTSE 100 and its commitment to sustainable practices.

“Perceptions as to the sincerity and effectiveness of corporate green campaigns are closely linked to sector.  No matter how hard oil companies or airlines try to improve their green credentials, their efforts are always likely be perceived as greenwash, as they are ultimately still big net polluters. 

“The amount being invested in terms of marketing and public relations on sustainability could probably buy you a large wind farm.”

Amongst those considered to be most guilty of ‘greenwash’ by respondants were global mining company Rio Tinto and oil giant BP, which came under fire for its high profile pollution activities as part of its core activities in the energy sector. Unilever and HSBC were amongst the top five green winners.

The results suggest increasing cynicism as to whether UK businesses are tackling environmental issues out of a genuine desire to protect the environment or merely to create an eco-friendly corporate image. “Trusted companies are those which are perceived to be green on the inside, not just on the outside, and their messages on green issues are just part of the work they are doing across their entire operations and not an end in themselves,” says Murray-Leslie.

Source: B2B Marketing, 29/09/2007

Britain may be facing a fall in house prices similar to that currently being endured in the US, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. The IMF says there is evidence to suggest that the UK and a number of other European nations are also vulnerable to a price correction.

It points to the fact that UK house prices have risen far higher than incomes over recent years.

But, it adds, a lack of supply could continue to hold up UK prices.

The IMF also says that the UK and other western European housing markets are in a better state than that in the US, because they have generally avoided the sub-prime mortgage industry.

This sector, which specialises in higher risk loans to people with poor credit histories, or those on low incomes, has all but collapsed in the US.

‘Risks’

“There remains the concern that the US experience might presage steep housing downturns in other countries that have also experienced a rapid rise in house prices, with associated risks for output growth,” said the IMF.

The other European nations that the IMF says are at risk of seeing falling housing prices are France, the Republic of Ireland, Netherlands and Spain.

A number of recent reports have pointed to cooling house price inflation in the UK.

The Department of Communities and Local Government said earlier this week that the annual inflation rate for property fell from 12.4% to 11.4% in the year to August.

The Halifax said it saw the same picture in September.

 Source: BBC, 17/10/2007

More evidence that market’s turmoil may lead to delays or cancellations, says CB Richard Ellis  The world’s largest property agency CB Richard Ellis has forecast grim times ahead for the building of new office space. 

In examining the building schemes planned between 2009 and 2011, CBRE has come up with a drastically reduced estimate of new offices being finished in the City of London.

In The Sunday Telegraph, they put the revised figures down to revised rental growth expectations, the end value of developments, construction costs and – crucially – the availability of finance.  This may see, as has previously been suspected, projects such as The Shard and The Cheese Grater, put into jeopardy despite work beginning on site clearance for both projects recently. 

CBRE is anticipating that 2008 will mark the peak of the office building cycle, estimating a delivery of 3.6m sq ft of new office space, against the previously planned 4.5 m sq ft. Source: Building Magazine, 24/09/2007

Gazumping has been replaced by “bid and chip” as the latest tactic in the property market, as buyers try to exploit nervousness among sellers after the Northern Rock affair.  

“Bid and chip” – not to be confused with chip and pin involves prospective purchasers of swish Central London mansions making a successful bid and then,  as the exchange of contracts draws close, chipping away at the price to get a reduction.   Their aim is to work on the fears of sellers of such homes after the havoc wreaked on the financial markets by the Northern Rock debacle.  The “bid and chip” trend has come to light as new figures show record numbers of seven-figure homes nationwide, with 88,000 properties now worth £1 million or more, according to Halifax. There were 6,170 sales of £1 million-plus homes    in the year to June, a threefold increase over the past five years, the mortgage lender says.  The “bid and chip” strategy could secure a bargain, but anyone trying the tactic has to be sure that there are no disappointed rivals waiting in the wings. If a party from overseas, rather than a City director, has his eyes on the place, the would-be “chipper” may be out of luck.  Peter Wetherell of Wetherell, an estate agency that specialises in Mayfair homes, explains: “The buyers try to knock you down in price, but you then turn to another bidder who was also after the property. The original buyers then find that they are able to pay up after all.”

Hot properties - A third of postcode districts had £1 million-plus sales in the past year, but 5 per cent of all postcodes account for 70 per cent of all £1 million-plus sales - SW3 in Chelsea had the most sales of million-pound properties (200). This was closely followed by SW7 in Kensington (196) and W8 in Kensington (196). SW6 in Fulham had the third highest number of sales (166) - Outside London, the most £1 million-plus sales were in the postcode area of KT11 in Cobham, Surrey (65). Altrincham and Macclesfield have the most million-pound sales in northern England. The top postcodes are WA1 (32) and WA14 (25) in Altrincham, SK10 in Macclesfield (21) and SK9 in Wilmslow (16)

Source: The Times, 24/09/2007

Small firms can benefit greatly from outsourcing their e-marketing, web experts have claimed. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), putting experts in charge of a firm’s internet presence will not only free up valuable time but greatly improve the quality of the company’s web reputation.  Robert Dirskovski, head of interactive media at the DMA, says: ‘There are a great many companies out there now…who will provide you with that service if you feel you need guidance.’ And commenting on the cost of outsourcing your e-marketing, he adds: ‘This is something an SME might be able to afford; it’s not a great expense.’ Meanwhile, the Internet Advertising Bureau had similar advice for firms wanting to set up their own websites.  The bureau claimed that for design and usability reasons, the creation of a website should be left to professionals. 

Source: www.smallbusiness.co.uk, 24/09/2007 

Prices of multimillion-pound homes in Central London may fall over the coming months as weaker financial markets and fears over patchy City bonuses and job security take their toll.  Savills, the property agency, expects minimal price growth – at best – over the coming six months and it is braced for prices to fall back by up to 5 per cent between the end of this month and the new year.  The agency is the first to adjust its growth expectations for prime parts of

 For the past two years much of that growth has been fuelled by a multibillion-pound spending spree by City investment bankers, lawyers and accountants and a dramatic rise in the numbers of wealthy overseas buyers, particularly Russian and Middle Eastern investors.  Homes at the highest risk of price falls are priced between £1 million and £3 million, “where City buyers make up the highest proportion”, according to Lucian Cook, director of Savills residential research.   House-price growth has fallen back sharply over the past three months, with inflation down to 3.2 per cent quarteron-quarter, compared with the 9 per cent quarterly growth between January and March.  

Source: The Times, 24/09/2007