July 4, 2016

New office market briefing remains cautious about impact of potential Brexit ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Company news, Knowledge, Property

JLL has published a new briefing document to look at the possible impact of the recent Brexit vote on the UK’s office market. The report’s main claim is that the underlying economic fundamentals in the UK remain solid in comparison to previous downturns, and, while expectations are unsurprisingly being downgraded, there is still no need for occupiers or landlords to become too concerned at the moment before the full details and effects of the UK’s exit from the EU become apparent. The document also suggests: occupiers are taking stock, so flexibility is likely to become fundamental to near term decision making. Longer-term impacts or benefits of Brexit are still to play out; office occupier demand in London will be subdued in the near term although low vacancy levels, coupled with an increasingly diverse occupier base, should prevent a dramatic fall in rents compared to previous market corrections; hotels will benefit from weakened sterling and increase in tourism although they may see costs increase.

December 17, 2015

Redevelopment confirmed for one of Leeds’ most prominent office buildings ⁰

by Sara Bean • Company news, News, Property

Network Rail has agreed a 150-year lease to enable redevelopment of one of Leeds’ largest and most prominent office buildings which sits above Leeds train station. The extension of the ground lease at Bruntwood’s City House in Leeds will facilitate the redevelopment of the 12-storey office building. Bruntwood obtained planning permission earlier this year to undertake an extensive refurbishment of the vacant 121,000 sq ft office building which will feature a roof garden, business lounge and meeting space. Co-working and small suites will be introduced to cater for smaller start-up businesses whilst wings of up to 4,900 sq ft and full floors of 9,630 sq ft will be available for established companies seeking more space. As owners of the freehold Network Rail has worked closely with Bruntwood over the last 12 months to bring forward plans to redevelop the property – with the revenue generated from the lease being reinvested back into the railway.

October 22, 2015

UK’s digital leaders set to deliver £92 billion boost to economy ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Company news, News, Technology

A new report from Virgin Media Business and Oxford Economics claims that the UK’s ‘Digital Leaders’ are set to use digital technology deliver a massive boost to the UK economy in the very near future. The study of 1,000 companies employing 470,000 people claims that the UK economy could see an increase of 2.5 percent in GDP (£92 billion) and create more than a million new jobs over the next two years. According to the respondents, they had already increased their revenues by 4.4 per cent and reduced costs by 4.3 per cent over the past year by making better use of digital technology, generating an estimated £123 billion contribution to the UK’s economy, equivalent to 3.4 per cent of GDP. In terms of jobs, 44 per cent of executives don’t expect any jobs to become obsolete and, across the economy, companies anticipate hiring 1.1 million employees as a result of digital investments.

May 6, 2015

TfL to occupy first commercial property at International Quarter

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Company news, News, Property

Construction is to begin this summer on the first of a number of office buildings planned for the second stage of the International Quarter, a £2.1 billion mixed-use development in Stratford in East London. Transport for London (TfL) has signed a pre-let with Lend Lease and London and Continental Railways (LCR) to occupy all of the space in the 265,000 sq ft commercial property. An estimated 3,000 TfL workers will relocate to the International Quarter’s new offices and, once completed, an estimated 25,000 people will work at and visit the site each day. The developers claim they are in discussions with other tenants about moving to The International Quarter – which, at a total of four million square feet, will be one of the largest new commercial property developments in the capital.

April 28, 2015

Microsoft named most attractive major employer to work for worldwide ⁰

by Sara Bean • Company news, Flexible working, News, Workplace

Microsoft has been voted the most attractive employer of the world’s top fifty companies. Over two thirds (67.8%) of respondents in the Global Randstad Award survey 2015, said they would like to work for the multinational tech company. The IT industry was revealed as the most popular sector by 69 percent of men and 70 percent of women, with the runners-up being Sony and Samsung. Microsoft was voted the most attractive employer within the IT industry for its highly educated potential workforce, being the primary global employer brand for women and for its ‘drivers of choice’; named as salary, career progression, pleasant working atmosphere, interesting job content and strong leadership. In the survey, respondents said the most important reason why they’d leave an employer is a limited career path with the most mentioned reason to stay being a good work-life balance.

April 13, 2015

Approval granted for new 27-storey office building at Canary Wharf ⁰

by Sara Bean • Company news, News, Property

Planning permission has been granted for a new 27-storey office building at 1 Bank Street, Canary Wharf in London. The new 700,000 sq ft office building will comprise office space, three levels of trading floors, a retail unit at ground level, a free-standing retail kiosk on South Dock Promenade, public realm, planting and landscaping and basement car and cycle parking. There will also be public access to a new promenade along the South Dock. According to developers Canary Wharf Group, the new offices will provide capacity for an additional 5,837 full-time equivalent jobs. French bank Société Générale, has already agreed a lease for 280,000 sq ft of 1 Bank Street, covering the ground and first to seventh floors on a 25 year lease. Tower Hamlets also granted Canary Wharf Group outline planning permission for just over 1 million sq ft of space at 1 Park Place.

April 1, 2015

CBRE acquires facilities management business from Johnson Controls

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Facilities management, Property

Property giant CBRE has reached an agreement to acquire the facilities management business of Johnson Controls for $1.47bn. The deal will see CBRE acquire the Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) FM arm of the business, allowing the new enterprise to manage nearly 5bn sq ft of commercial real estate worldwide consisting of 2.3bn sq ft in North and South America, 1.2bn sq ft in EMEA and 1.4 bn sq ft in Asia Pacific. GWS, currently employs around 16,000 people worldwide, and had a turnover of around $3.4bn in 2014.The deal also see the two firms enter into a ten year strategic relationship, with CBRE offering a range of real estate services with Johnson Controls offering HVAC equipment and a range of building automation systems and other products in return. Both firms will also share investment in research and development.

March 25, 2015

Workplace services provider to pay all staff the living wage

by Sara Bean • Company news, Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Workplace

Services and facilities management group Sodexo has announced it is to join the Living Wage’s Service Provider Scheme and in future will report on and address the gender pay gap. It is part of its Public Service Pledge, an ethical manifesto for its contracts and conduct that includes a set of commitments aimed at ‘achieving a fairer and better society’. The Pledge also details ways in which it will step up reporting on its public sector contracts to increase transparency and accountability. Chief among these are pledges to publish the savings produced for Central Government through its contracts, and to publish annually how it has contributed towards Government clients’ stated target outcomes. Sodexo employs 34,000 employees in the UK and Ireland, with over half of those working on Government contracts, in justice, defence, healthcare and education.

March 16, 2015

Edinburgh and Manchester top UK’s regional commercial property markets

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, News, Property

With 2015 set to be a ‘stellar year’ for regional city growth, commercial property adviser GVA has compiled key statistics on Grade A office markets for the top nine UK cities. Manchester and Edinburgh topped the charts in terms of Grade A take-up in 2014, on 401,406 sq ft and 333,351 sq ft respectively, while Newcastle was at the bottom on 64,000 sq ft, just behind Liverpool on 67,199 sq ft. Edinburgh and Glasgow led the way in terms of immediately available space and Edinburgh also saw the largest leasing transaction in 2014 with the 108,564sqft deal signed by Standard Life Investment. Manchester (614,000) and Leeds (487,650 sq ft) top the heap in terms of Grade A space under construction. Meanwhile Manchester and Birmingham top the prime rent pile at £32 and £30 per sq ft for prime Grade A space respectively.

February 18, 2015

£16.5m deal for office development at Moorgate Crossrail station confirmed

by Sara Bean • Cities, Company news, News, Property

Land Securities has confirmed it has bought the leasehold to the 1.9 acre site located at the western entrance to the Liverpool Street Crossrail station for £16.5 million. Plans for the site, at 21 Moorfields, EC2, which currently comprises vacated 1970s offices and a Transport for London (TfL) worksite, include two new buildings totalling approximately 500,000 sq ft of predominantly office space, with some retail at ground level and a public realm. The two proposed buildings will provide direct access to the underground and the new Moorgate Crossrail station below – due for completion in 2018. Land Securities entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the site in December 2012 and has since negotiated to own the site on two separate 250 year leases, with TfL having the option of participating in the development.

February 5, 2015

Buoyant demand for commercial property across Europe, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, News, Property

Europe’s commercial property market ‘sizzled’ during 2014, according to a new report by Real Capital Analytics (RCA). Europe saw 213.1 billion euros of commercial real estate transactions in 2014, a rise of 13 percent over 2013. Paris led France to a 31 percent rise, although the French capital accounted for three quarters of demand. In contrast, demand in London fell 3 percent as high prices led investors to British regional markets, with the UK market overall up 16 percent. A similar trend emerged in Germany, where volumes in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg fell, while markets in the Ruhr, Cologne and Stuttgart strengthened. Most improved were commercial property markets in Ireland and Spain, where investment volumes soared 89 percent and 134 percent respectively.

January 27, 2015

Adobe completes refurbishment of central London offices

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Workplace design

Adobe has completed a refurbishment of the reception of its central London offices. The project includes new stone-clad walls and floor coverings to give the space an industrial feel by complementing the existing concrete floors and exposed internal pillars. Similarly, new carpet was specified in a ‘distressed’ finish. Bespoke elements of the design include the specially made reception desk and graphical manifestations on walls and meeting room partitions that range from the corporate to the abstract. “Adobe is the world’s biggest digital marketing company in an industry that is serious and creative, and we wanted our new reception to reflect this.” said Mike Walley, EMEA site operations manager for Adobe. The lighting in particular has transformed the space.” The project was carried out by K2 Space.