Retail
Waitrose has agreed to open a 10,055 sq ft store at Redevco’s Chelmer Village Retail Park in Chelmsford, taking the scheme to full occupancy. The store will include a 7,000 sq ft sales area and two dedicated trolley bays (Property Week, 22 July 2026).
Ocado Retail has taken the final unit at Indurent Park Stoke Central on a 15-year lease, bringing the 530,000 sq ft scheme to full occupancy. The site will support its electric delivery fleet and is expected to open later in 2026, creating hundreds of jobs (Indurent, 21 July 2026).
Urban Outfitters has agreed a lease for an 8,500 sq ft store at Sheffield City Council’s Heart of the City regeneration scheme, joining retailers including Superdry, Lucy & Yak and Søstrene Grene (Property Week, 20 July 2026).
The Works’ adjusted EBITDA rose 47% to £14m in the year to 3 May 2026, supported by 3.1% revenue growth to £260m, stronger margins and £2m of cost savings. Adjusted pre-tax profit increased 44% to £7.2m, although statutory pre-tax profit fell 28% to £6.8m and total profit after tax declined sharply following the closure of its online operations. The retailer opened a net five stores, taking its estate to 508, while like-for-like sales rose 8.8% in the first 11 weeks of the new financial year; full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance remains £15m (Retail Gazette, 23 July 2026).
JD.com’s €2.2bn (£1.9bn) takeover of Ceconomy faces further scrutiny after the European Commission raised concerns that potential Chinese state support may have enabled a higher offer and could distort European competition. JD.com, which has secured 85.2% of Ceconomy’s shares, denies using foreign subsidies and can propose concessions before the Commission’s decision deadline of 2 October 2026 (Retail Gazette, 23 July 2026).
Wickes’ Q2 revenue rose 2.3% to £483m, supported by a 6% increase in TradePro sales and a return to growth in its retail division. First-half revenue increased 2.1% to £865m, while the retailer plans to open four to five stores and upgrade 15–20 locations during 2026 (Retail Gazette, 21 July 2026).
Superdrug owner AS Watson is reportedly considering delaying its £1.5bn London and Hong Kong flotation until 2027 due to regulatory complications in Asia. The proposed listing was expected to value the retail group at around £22.5bn and provide Singapore’s Temasek with an exit from its near-25% stake (Retail Gazette, 20 July 2026).
Hobbycraft has completed its 13-month CVA ahead of schedule as active online users rose 13%. The retailer closed nine underperforming stores but opened three garden-centre branches, with every remaining store profitable over the past year (Retail Gazette, 21 July 2026).
Tesco has acquired three Proudfoot Group supermarkets in Scarborough. The Seamer and Manham Hill sites will reopen as Tesco Express stores in autumn 2026, while Newby will become a Tesco Superstore in 2027; Proudfoot will retain its Eastfield store (Retail Gazette, 23 July 2026).
Logistics
Austrian Post has agreed to acquire 100% of Serbian parcel operator D Express and merge it with its existing City Express subsidiary, creating one of Serbia’s leading private parcel providers. D Express delivered around 14 million parcels and generated €36m of revenue in 2025, supported by 27 depots and more than 300 parcel lockers; the undisclosed transaction remains subject to regulatory approval (Parcel and Postal Technology International, 22 July 2026).
FedEx has opened a nearly 1,000 sqm logistics centre in Košice, its second-largest facility in Slovakia. The hub handles parcel and freight shipments, with process improvements halving international shipment processing times and allowing couriers to depart 45 minutes earlier (Property Forum, 21 July 2026).
Kuehne+Nagel has raised its 2026 profit guidance after stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. The freight forwarder increased its recurring EBIT forecast to CHF1.35bn–CHF1.55bn after reporting an 11% rise in Q2 EBIT. The company also highlighted progress on AI-driven productivity initiatives aimed at delivering annual savings of up to CHF150m by 2027 (Reuters, 23 July 2026).
Maersk is expanding its integrated logistics network with a new distribution centre in northeastern Brazil. The facility in Suape will increase the group's warehousing and distribution capacity in one of Brazil's fastest-growing logistics regions, strengthening its end-to-end supply chain offering (Maersk, 16 July 2026).
Maersk is investing US$100m in a new fulfilment hub near Boston. The project will create close to 1,000 jobs while expanding the company's warehousing and last-mile delivery capacity across the US Northeast, supporting growing customer demand for integrated logistics services (Maersk, 15 July 2026).
Office
Panasonic has signed a five-year lease at Olimpia Nova in Łódź and will relocate its employees there in September. The agreement is the first secured since the 8,200 sqm office building was rebranded and relaunched (Eurobuild CEE, 21 July 2026).
Brex has dramatically expanded its San Francisco footprint by leasing an entire office building. The fintech company has taken the full 200,000 sq ft building at 270 Brannan Street, doubling the space it leased in 2025 and marking a significant shift from its earlier remote-first strategy as it reinforces its long-term commitment to San Francisco under Capital One ownership (San Francisco Chronicle, 22 July 2026).
NatWest is relocating its Welsh headquarters to Cardiff’s One Central Square. The bank said the move underlines its long-term commitment to Wales, with the new headquarters bringing employees into modern office space in the city centre (CoStar News, 20 July 2026).
Other
Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Philippine Airlines for 18 Trent XWB-97 engines to power nine Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, with options covering five more aircraft. The agreement also includes Rolls-Royce’s long-term TotalCare maintenance service (The Business Desk, 21 July 2026).
CVC DIF has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Italian waste-management operator EcoEridania, including the indirect purchase of iCON Infrastructure’s 75% interest. Founder and CEO Andrea Giustini will increase his minority stake, while CVC DIF will support further organic and acquisitive growth. The deal, CVC DIF’s first Italian investment since opening its Milan office, is expected to close in Q4 2026 (CVC, 17 July 2026).
Whitbread plans to build a 108-bedroom Premier Inn hotel in Hunstanton, with a planning application expected in autumn 2026. The multi-million-pound development would be the first Premier Inn on the North Norfolk coast and include a restaurant and on-site parking (BE News, 21 July 2026).
