A host of investment opportunities is available across the UK. One of the largest and most valuable portfolios on the market is BP Pension Fund's entire Berkeley Square estate in Mayfair, W1. The fund is selling the Berkeley Square estate in a bid to raise over £300 million. CB Hillier Parker is marketing the portfolio of over 100 buildings and the fund wants to sell the estate either as one lot or as six predefined portfolios.

The estate covers 10 acres on and around Berkeley Square, including the square itself and is seen as one of the best locations in London. It comprises nearly all of the buildings on the western side of the square, Hill Street, Hays Mews and Charles Street, as well as Bruton Street and Bruton Place on the east side. In the retail sector, supermarket chain Sainsbury's has put 24 of its remaining Homebase DIY stores on the market. The group sold most of the chain in December in a £969 million deal with private equity group Schroder Ventures and rival DIY chain B & Q. The stores are mainly located in the south of England and the Midlands and have a total value of around £170m and an income of more than £12m. A single buyer is preferred, but the portfolio could be divided in two. NAI Gooch Webster is advising Sainsbury's. Dublin-based agent Christies is seeking over £700,000 sterling for a modern commercial investment building in Surbiton, a suburb of west London. The three-storey investment building is currently producing annual rents of £57,400, most of it from six retail units let to Majestic Wine Plc on 25-year leases from 1988. The next rent review is due in 2003.