Beverly Bardy, sales director of the developer KW Linfoot, said: "As far as we are aware it is the first penthouse to sell in Leeds for £1m. There have been penthouses on the market but they have not sold for that."GlasgowThe demand for refurbished flats in Glasgow's city centre has pushed property prices up by more than a third. A one-bedroom flat in the converted Victorian post office building in the city's historic commercial district costs up to £120,000, rising to £500,000 for a three-bedroom property. The estate agency Knight Frank said that designer fixtures and fittings had proved very popular among fashion-conscious young executives and professional couples. Boosted by the quirky appeal of living in a former post office, three-quarters of the flats have been sold since they went on the market six weeks ago and homebuyers have paid up to £280 per square foot 35 per cent more than the previous highest inGlasgow.. Post Office management last night feared wildcat strikes by more than 6,500 postal workers at six sorting offices would spread throughout Britain.
Post Office management last night feared wildcat strikes by more than 6,500 postal workers at six sorting offices would spread throughout Britain. The unofficial industrial action yesterday by employees who have the reputation of being the country's most militant workers, halted deliveries and collections in south and east London, Watford, Liverpool, Stockport and Chester.A management spokesman said: "There is no sign of the dispute ending. In fact, the atmosphere is quite fragile and it could spread to the rest of the country." Union sources said that by noon today, staff in all London's main sorting centres would be out on strike.The conflict was prompted by management attempts to divert mail away from the Watford sorting centre where staff were on an official 24-hour strike over attempts to introduce "flexible" working procedures. Employees in Liverpool walked out because they were expected to send letters and packages to other centres to get round the Watford stoppage. Staff at other offices followed suit, disrupting services to millions of homes and businesses.Mick Linsell, Royal Mail's managing director of service delivery, said: "It is totally unacceptable that union members are attempting to hold customers to ransom by denying them a service."He said it was "particularly disappointing" when an independent review, supported by the Royal Mail and the Communication Workers' Union, had been asked to assess the present "unstable" level of industrial relations.
"Why can't the strikers make their case to the independent review team?" Mr Linsell said.Employees have been warned that they could face wholesale redundancies by the new postal regulator if they continued to take industrial action.John Keggie, the deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers' Union, said: "What we need is national level negotiations. We do not need senior managers issuing statements condemning postal workers as 'militants' and 'wild-cats'. Instead, they should sit down with national union officials and hammer out a solution to the dispute."Mr Keggie blamed the board of Consignia, the parent company of the Royal Mail, for attempting to change the industry overnight because of the new commercial freedom. Peter Carr, the chairman of Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services, said: "Millions of customers will have their postal services affected. The strike will cause real problems for businesses and individuals".
