Michael Phillips

This isn't just a story about real estate deals gone bad - it's a tale of supercar-driving sales people paid oversized commissions, and broken promises of how people's money - often their life savings - was being used.

Godwin Capital raised £162M from normal people over five years from 2019, before collapsing into administration in June. It's implosion leaves those investors facing near total wipeout - and with questions unanswered about where their money went bisnow.com/london/news/ca…

They also told investors that their money hadn't been used in the way originally specified. Read the full story here. bisnow.com/london/news/ca…

Administrators have told the thousands of small-time investors that backed Godwin Capital companies to the tune of £160M that they face huge losses, with only £5M of assets identified so far.

Arriving 22 April is The Underground, a new twice-a-week Bisnow newsletter going deep into the major stories in UK commercial property, written by yours truly. If that sounds interesting (it will be), sign up here: bisnow.com/subscriptions/…

@Gladwell Rather than the Canadian municipal dream, surely Paw Patrol is an example of a hyper capitalist society where public services have been outsourced to a billionaire orphan?

Oh yeah. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rev…

Mammon 1, God, nil. A bitter tale of how a Church pension fund backed the grandson of circus owner Bertram Mills to take down Steve Smith, the founder of PRS REIT, which has built 5,400 family homes for rent in seven years. Result: the death of public market PRS start ups.

Presenting this year's Bisnow Women Leading Real Estate list, 24 for '24. Having produced this list five times now, we decided to revisit the first iteration, to find out how the industry has changed. You can find out here. bisnow.com/london/news/wo…

No new Chelsea stadium at Earls Court it would seem bisnow.com/london/news/mi…

Dominus: The £2.4 billion real estate family company built by a refugee Dominus: The £2.4 Billion Real Estate Family Company Built by a Refugee costar.com/article/348454…£24-billion-real-estate-family-company-built-by-a-refugee

Royal Mail takeover talks puts one of UK's most valuable property portfolios in spotlight Royal Mail Takeover Talks Put One of UK's Most Valuable Property Portfolios in Spotlight costar.com/article/210893…

Once a symbol of Britain's global might, the London Stock Exchange’s waning strength is now a worrying emblem of decline for the City of London. politico.eu/article/britai…

More to come later this week from @MaddyMcCarty on which lenders are embracing decarbonisation, and from me next week checking in on what has changed among the biggest owners and managers since last year. bisnow.com/national/news/…

In the first part of this year's three part series, my colleague @CiaraReports took a deep dive into the world of green loans. They should be a win-win for real estate, helping to cut carbon and boost profits. So why are so few lenders and borrowers embracing them?

As part of Bisnow's ongoing analysis of what real estate's biggest players are really doing when it comes to decarbonisation, we turned our focus on to a vital part of the industry: lenders.

Interesting news from the UK retail market - ADIA has ended its £350M sale of a majority stake in the Liverpool One shopping centre because rents are improving, but buyers aren't factoring that in to the price they are offering bisnow.com/london/news/re…

@hannahcbrenton @fionamaxwell @KCarlsonJourno Huge congrats Hannah, look forward to reading your work on London finance!

And this, with @fionamaxwell and @KCarlsonJourno - who has taken over Brussels coverage politico.eu/article/france…

In belated job announcements, I'm now senior UK finance reporter for Politico in London. We've launched a new financial services newsletter, with the crack team of @fionamaxwell @JamesFitzJourno @eleanor__myers Read the first edition here politico.eu/article/politi…

@CoLEnvironment @peterproperty I think as long as there is transparency about how much of the material is being reused, and the emissions being created, that's fine. But it's murkier than where the building isn't demolished at all, which I would argue is the more common understanding of a retrofit

@mrmikephillips @peterproperty So adding tonnes of embodied carbon in a new facade is #retrofitting but reusing existing materials isn’t?

Shot I took last night of what CoStar confirmed in November is to be the new HQ of HSBC near St Paul’s The …er…’retrofit’ of the old BT HQ, stretches the meaning of the word, costar.com/article/131815…