Sophia Furber

Business news, real estate, cities, human rights

United Kingdom

Journalist specialising in real estate, business and economics. Currently EMEA real estate reporter at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Have also been published by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Oxford Business Group, Dow Jones' Zawya newswire and Estates Gazette.

I am associate editor at www.Migrant-Rights.org in my spare time. We advocate for the rights of migrant workers in the Gulf States, with a focus on labourers in the construction industry and domestic workers.

Portfolio
Migrant-rights
07/27/2015
Jaykar: the cheeky video scene of the Gulf

Earlier this year, a spoof hip-hop video " I'm not afraid of my sponsor " by Saudi filmmakers Telfaz11 spread through the internet like wildfire. The clip showed South Asian construction workers rapping about the bullying behaviour of their Saudi employer and the indignities of daily life on the building site.

S&P Global Market Intelligence
12/16/2015
Is Croydon the new Shoreditch?

A sprawling town on the Southern edge of London famed for its jungle of 1960s office blocks, Croydon has won the unlikely distinction of being London's fastest-growing tech cluster. It may seem a million miles from the trendy coffee shops and co-working hubs of East London's "Silicon Roundabout," but the town's tech cluster grew by 38% between 2011 and 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics. So could Croydon emerge as a rival to Shoreditch as a magnet for young tech companies?

S&P Global Market Intelligence
01/20/2016
Dutch commercial property: Healthy rebound or tulip mania?

The Netherlands' economic pain may have extended later than some of its European peers, but commercial property is starting to recover. Could the country be, as one economist put it, "the Spain of northern Europe," or will structural challenges and tough competition be sticking points for investors?

Migrant-rights
04/28/2015
We need to talk about the safety of construction workers in the Gulf

Today marks the ILO's World Day for Safety and Health at Work. One person dies every 15 seconds globally from a workplace accident, or 2.3 million per year according to ILO data. It's an opportune moment to think about the situation in the Gulf states, which boast some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects and architecture in the world, but have a dire record on construction worker safety.

Estates Gazette
12/13/2014
Mumbai's Millions

A look at Mumbai's high-stakes real estate market, based on a trip in November 2014

Estates Gazette
07/14/2014
Marathon wins race for €120m HSQ loans

Breaking News: New York-based Marathon Asset Management has bought the loans associated with Dublin development Heuston South Quarter for around €120m (£79.5m) from Lloyds Banking Group.

Himal Southasian
12/01/2012
Porn and the Kathmandu lady

Review of anthropologist Mark Liechty's book, Out Here in Kathmandu, which deals with modernity, consumerism and the rise of the middle class in Kathmandu

Migrant-rights
04/10/2014
Interview with UN migration expert, Aida Awel

Over 160,000 Ethiopian workers were expelled from Saudi Arabia in December last year after the government carried out a massive crackdown on ‘undocumented’ migrants. Ethiopia is now swamped with returning migrants, many of whom are women who were employed as domestic workers, and the government has slapped a travel ban on Ethiopian nationals traveling to the Middle East for work. Migrant-Rights.org talks to Aida Awel, chief technical adviser on migrant domestic workers at the ILO’s Addis...

IJGlobal
02/22/2012
Climate bonds initiative to develop green sukuk

The Climate Bonds Initiative is to begin work developing a green sukuk with the Clean Energy Business Council of the Middle East and North Africa and the Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association, according to a source from the Climate Bonds Initiative. This will be the world’s first environmentally friendly Islamic financial instrument, and will be used to finance wind and solar projects across the Middle East and North Africa.