Business Centre sector continuing to thrive amidst increased competition and Brexit uncertainty

Business Centre sector continuing to thrive amidst increased competition and Brexit uncertainty 0

by • Flexible working, News, Property

New research published by the Business Centre Association (BCA) in collaboration with CBRE claims that the business centre sector enjoyed a 13 percent increase in turnover and was home to around 11 percent more workers in 2015 and 2016, despite initial fears about the impact of Brexit on the sector, and increasing competition from new entrants into the market. The sector is worth around £3.3bn in terms of turnover, up from £2bn in 2013. The findings come from The UK Business Centre Market report which surveyed 580 business centres, representing 23 percent of the sector across the country, to assess the current state of the market. Overall, the report found the UK wide business sector is now home to 93,000 individual small businesses which employ over 480,000 people, supporting around £18bn of GDP.

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British Land launches Storey flexible workspace brand

British Land launches Storey flexible workspace brand 0

by • Company news, Flexible working, Property

British Land has launched Storey, a new brand providing flexible workspace for businesses employing between 20 to 70 people and larger organisations seeking additional space on flexible terms. Created to fill a perceived gap in the London office market which customers say is not being satisfied, Storey provides offices for companies who have outgrown co-working space and whose needs have evolved. Storey also suits existing or larger office customers seeking project or shorter term space on top of their core requirements. Storey will operate within British Land’s existing London assets, predominantly at its Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent’s Place campuses. These have ‘a critical mass of office customers and offer the ideal environment for ambitious organisations looking to grow. Storey customers will be able to access facilities traditionally reserved for larger organisations and automatically benefit from the broader campus environment where a focus on wellbeing also supports growth and productivity.’

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Hong Kong and London’s West End again top global commercial property costs, according to CBRE

Hong Kong and London’s West End again top global commercial property costs, according to CBRE 0

by • News, Property

Hong Kong (Central) and London’s West End topped the list of prime commercial property occupancy costs again, according to CBRE Research’s latest annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report. Hong Kong’s (Central) overall prime occupancy costs of US$303 per sq. ft. per year topped the “most expensive” list, followed by London’s West End (US$214 per sq. ft.), New York (Midtown) (US$203 per sq. ft.), Hong Kong (West Kowloon) (US$190 per sq. ft.) and Beijing (Central Business District (CBD)) (US$183 per sq. ft.).  Global prime office occupancy costs—which reflect rent, plus local taxes and service charges for the highest-quality, “prime” office properties—rose 1.9 percent year-over-year, with the Americas up 3.6 percent, EMEA up 0.8 percent and Asia Pacific up 1.2 percent.  Durban (South Africa) had the highest increase in occupancy cost overall, though Stockholm (Sweden) registered some of the fastest growth in Europe, along with Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Belfast (U.K.) and Amsterdam (Netherlands). In Asia Pacific, Shanghai (Puxi) in China had the highest growth in occupancy cost, followed by Guangzhou, Bangalore and Shanghai (Pudong). Buenos Aires showed the biggest increase in the Americas overall, while suburban Denver, suburban Houston and New York Midtown South saw the largest occupancy-cost increases in the U.S.

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Commercial property giant acquires controlling stake in London based flexible office provider

Commercial property giant acquires controlling stake in London based flexible office provider 0

by • Company news, Flexible working, Property

While we should never read too much into a single piece of business, the news that one of the world’s largest property investors is buying a young and still growing British flexible office provider is surely a sign of things to come. As Blackstone, a private equity giant with £140 billion of real estate assets worldwide acquires a controlling stake in The Office Group for £500 million, we must view the deal in the context of a market in which the most dynamic players are WeWork and its contemporaries. The Office Group has grown from seven buildings to thirty-six since it was founded in 2003 and provides flexible office and coworking space to start-ups, freelancers, small businesses and increasingly, corporates such as Facebook, Dropbox and British Gas.

3D printing and Virtual Reality could reduce waste in design and construction says BCO

3D printing and Virtual Reality could reduce waste in design and construction says BCO 0

by • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology, Workplace design

3D printing and Virtual Reality could reduce waste in design and construction

Digital technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D printing could help reduce waste during a design and construction project, suggests a new report from the British Council for Offices (BCO). “Virtual Reality and 3D Printing – Reducing waste in office construction through new technology” reviews the existing applications of these technologies and their ability to mitigate waste during the design and construction process. The report, which is the result of a collaboration between an international team of multi-disciplinary experts also identifies opportunities and challenges for the technology in the future. According to the authors, if the UK construction industry is to come anywhere close to achieving the ambitious targets set out in the Government’s 2025 construction strategy there needs to be a sensible re-think about how we design, procure and construct buildings in the future; and two technologies that are now reaching maturity and could help are VR and 3D printing.

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RICS and banking sector sign commercial property valuation agreement

RICS and banking sector sign commercial property valuation agreement 0

by • News, Property

The Royal Institution for Charted Surveyors (RICS) and the British Banking Association (BBA) have signed a memorandum of understanding outlining their commitment to maintaining high standards in commercial property valuation. The trade bodies intend to future proof the profession by working on maximising consistency in standards of practice, supporting risk-based regulation and tools for managing risk and liability in valuation. Three key areas to be addressed have been highlighted in the agreement: the balance of risk and reward in valuation services, education on liability and risk for lenders and valuers, and clarification of the standards expected in the sector.  RICS is set to publish revised guidance on risk, liability and insurance in valuation to help the market to address the challenges that surfaced following the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. As a result of the report Balancing Risk and Reward: Recommendations for a Sustainable Valuation Profession in the UK Dr Oonagh McDonald CBE, RICS has been working with the BBA and the wider industry to deliver improvements to the commercial secured lending sector.

Will battery storage be the next big energy trend for commercial buildings?

Will battery storage be the next big energy trend for commercial buildings? 0

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

Building managers and FMs are under growing pressure to reduce costs and convince senior management about the need to take control of their energy needs according to a survey carried out a recent energy event; which also revealed that the majority (56 percent) believe that battery storage will be the biggest energy trend in the next decade. This was according to delegates at the recent Energy Live Future conference at Leicester’s National Space Centre where more than a third (38 percent) of delegates at the event, sponsored by British Gas Business, agreed that reducing energy costs remained the central energy issue for large organisations and those who manage commercial buildings. This was closely followed by the challenge of convincing business leaders to allow investment in new technology (35 percent). Nearly half (48 percent) of delegates suggested that political uncertainty, caused by the General Election, Brexit and changing regulation, could make it even more difficult for them to make significant energy changes.

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What will the UK General Election mean for the workplace? Some experts respond

What will the UK General Election mean for the workplace? Some experts respond 0

by • Architecture, Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Any residual feelings of certainty that anybody in the UK may have had about the country’s future following last year’s Brexit vote, will have had them pretty much eradicated by last Thursday’s General Election result. However, we must try to make sense of things for society and the wider economy as well as specific facets of it, such as the world of work. The whole thing looks like the pig’s ear that it is, of course. Fortunately, as some experts have already argued, there are some reasons to see some positive outcomes, including a soft (or softer) Brexit and the chance of a more positive approach to workplace rights, now that the Government needs to maintain a broader consensus. The fear or hope that the UK would lighten its already soft touch approach to workplace legislation would seem at least to be less well founded.

 

 

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Google submits revised plans for vast new campus in London

Google submits revised plans for vast new campus in London 0

by • News, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Google has submitted a revised application for planning permission to Camden Council for its proposed £600 million King’s Cross Campus in London. This building will be the first, wholly owned and designed Google building outside the United States. Construction on the purpose-built 11-storey building, comprising of more than 1 million square feet, of which Google will occupy 650,000 sqft, will commence in 2018. The building, designed by Heatherwick Studio and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) will feature a natural theme, with all materials sourced through Google’s healthy materials programme. This new building, combined with the current building at 6 Pancras Square and an additional third building, will create a Google campus with the potential to house 7,000 Google employees. The new building is being developed from the ground up and will contribute to the Knowledge Quarter and King’s Cross’s growing knowledge-based economy. The original plans for the building from 2013 by AHMM had been put on hold, although some features such as a running track remain.

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Every building on the planet must be net zero carbon by 2050 claims World Green Building Council

Every building on the planet must be net zero carbon by 2050 claims World Green Building Council 0

by • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The building sector, which is responsible for global emissions roughly equivalent to those of the whole of China, must operate at “net zero carbon” by 2050 if global warming is to remain under two degrees Celsius, the limit enshrined in the Paris Agreement. According to a new report from the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), there are currently 500 net zero commercial buildings and 2,000 net zero homes around the globe (well under 1 per cent of all buildings worldwide), requiring a monumental and coordinated effort by businesses, governments and nongovernmental organisations to bring the building sector within striking distance of Paris Agreement targets. The report defines ‘net zero buildings’ as highly energy-efficient buildings which generate or supply the energy they need to operate from renewable sources to achieve net zero carbon emissions, and lays out specific actions that the private sector, governments and NGOs can take to ensure all new buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030 and that all existing buildings are renovated to operate at net zero carbon by 2050.

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Brexit uncertainty fails to impact London office demand, as occupiers push ahead with relocations

Brexit uncertainty fails to impact London office demand, as occupiers push ahead with relocations 0

by • News, Property

Since the announcement in June last year that Britain would be leaving the EU as a result of Brexit, there has been a widespread assumption that occupier demand, and hence wider market confidence in the commercial property market, would be knocked. Yet that does not seem to be the case, according to a study by real estate  advisers Knight Frank, who have tracked financial and TMT requirements over the last 12 months, and compared them to key years in the property cycle. The study claims  that the property market has mirrored the wider  UK economy, which has proved resilient following the vote to leave the EU. Firms have reported a shortage of skilled workers across a range of industries including IT, accountancy and engineering. Demand for staff is growing within all sectors and all regions of the UK, but there are fewer and fewer people available to fill the vacancies. A survey of UK CEO’s conducted by PWC at the start of the year reported that six in every ten respondents expected an increase in company headcount during the course of the year. Furthermore, a number of large international firms have acquired new offices, and many companies expanded across Central London including Expedia, WeWork, HSBC Digital and Zoopla.

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An overdue attempt to connect smart buildings with smart people

An overdue attempt to connect smart buildings with smart people 0

by • Comment, Property, Technology

As first events go, the inaugural outing for the Smart Buildings series of conferences  succeeded in delivering a full day of insightful presentations and debates, with a highly engaged audience of industry experts. A theme to emerge early on – in the opening remarks by Worktech Academy’s Jeremy Myerson in fact, was that the concept of ‘smart buildings’ is far from new. Depending who you ask, the idea goes back to the 90’s, the 80’s or even the 60’s. So why have we waited until 2017 for a conference on the topic? Many of the presenters agreed this is because we have only recently entered a new technological phase – the ‘plateau of productivity’ of Gartner’s Hype Cycle, as Owen King of Unwork pointed out – the time when widestream adoption of a technology kicks in and its viability becomes more clear. Indeed, the benefits of smart buildings are now widely regarded to fall into six categories; sustainability, productivity, talent, wellbeing, brand and cost control. And, while sustainability was the topic du jour at similar events six or seven years ago, the industry focus has shifted towards productivity and wellbeing.

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