Canary in the coal mine: other business districts are watching what happens next for Canary Wharf

Canary in the coal mine: other business districts are watching what happens next for Canary Wharf

by • Cities, Features, IN Magazine, Property

Already the symbol of a bygone era, Canary Wharf runs the risk of becoming a relic unless it reinvents itself. And others are watching The first casualties of the already cliched injunction to make offices worth the commute were always going to be the world’s most inaccessible business districts. In the UK the most high profile of these is Canary Wharf, 52 hectares of former wasteland in East London that became a financial powerhouse. Part of the regeneration of the area that began in the 1980s, it became synonymous with the era and with Margaret Thatcher and her reform of the financial services sector. This came to pass even though its most iconic structure One Canada Square was only completed in 1990, shortly after she had left office and shortly before its developer filed for bankruptcy. More →

BCO Awards dominated by South East offices yet again but Glasgow office takes top spot

BCO Awards dominated by South East offices yet again but Glasgow office takes top spot

by • News, Property, Workplace design

Barclays’ Glasgow campus was celebrated as the Best of the Best at the British Council for Offices BCO AwardsBarclays’ Glasgow campus (pictured) was celebrated as the Best of the Best at the British Council for Offices (BCO) National Awards last night, also taking home the prize for Corporate Workplace. Seven further winners of BCO Awards were recognised as leading examples of excellence in workplace design in the UK. There were no winners in any category in the Midlands or North of England, Northern Ireland or Wales, although two offices in Manchester and Widnes were commended and the President’s Award went to HMRC for its ongoing national estate management programme. More →

Act now on retrofitting if you want to boost commercial property values, new report argues

Act now on retrofitting if you want to boost commercial property values, new report argues

by • News, Property

For European real estate owners and investors already on a journey to net-zero-carbon through retrofitting, upfront spending has the potential for long-term rent and capital-value accumulation, according to a new report from Colliers. Europe’s Renovation Wave [registration] explores the regulatory and societal pressures the authors claim is now driving an era of accelerated asset renovation, and the proactive actions investors, owners and occupiers can take to make sure their assets are not ‘left behind and stranded’ in the race to decarbonise the built environment by 2050. Retrofitting is also the subject of a special supplement published in the new issue of IN Magazine. More →

Half of landlords now planning a flexible working offer

Half of landlords now planning a flexible working offer

by • Flexible working, News, Property

Over half of UK landlords are planning to independently develop an offering for the growing flexible working market across their portfoliosOver half of UK landlords are planning to independently develop an offering for the growing flexible working market across their portfolios, according to the annual report on the flexible workspace sector by The Instant Group. The 2023 UK State of the Flex Market report [registration] polled more than 200 flex operators and landlords for insights into the sector. Findings also suggest that two-thirds (61 percent) of flex operators intend to increase their footprint in the next two years, while market imbalances in regional hubs, enduring occupancy rates, and surging demand for sustainable buildings all featured prominently in the report. More →

‘Levelling up’ development is new home for 1,400 civil servants

‘Levelling up’ development is new home for 1,400 civil servants

by • News, Property, Public Sector

The UK government has purchased land for the permanent site of the new Darlington Economic Campus as a key part of its so-called levelling up programmeThe UK government has purchased land for the permanent site of the new Darlington Economic Campus as a key part of its so-called levelling up programme. The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) was established in August 2021 and currently houses 674 government staff. McLaren Property has now sold its option on a 7,926 square metres site on Brunswick Street in Darlington to the Government Property Agency for a permanent base for the Treasury’s second headquarters and Department for Business and Trade. More →

Half of firms won’t meet 2030 decarbonisation target, report claims

Half of firms won’t meet 2030 decarbonisation target, report claims

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Fewer than 50% of organizations expect to meet decarbonisation targets by 2030, study reveals A new report from Siemens Infrastructure claims that there is limited agreement amongst businesses on how best to progress towards a decarbonised and resource-efficient world and under half expect to meet their net zero targets based on current thinking. According to the Transition Monitor 2023: The Great Divide on The Path to Net Zero report, whilst more than half of those surveyed believe the infrastructure transition is accelerating in their region, a quarter of senior executives said that progress on decarbonisation is “too slow”, while 29 percent believe progress is “coordinated”, and 31 percent describe it as “on target”. More →

Firms look to consolidate office space in response to persistence of hybrid working

Firms look to consolidate office space in response to persistence of hybrid working

by • Flexible working, News, Property

Many firms are taking the opportunity to consolidate office space presented to them by the persistence of hybrid workingWorkers able to work remotely are still only coming into an office for an average of 1.75 days a week, a study of 119 workplaces in 22 countries by workplace consultancy AWA claims. The responses, collated in April-May 2023 and representing organisations employing close to 155,000 people, saw a slight increase on AWA’s study a year ago, indicating that office attendance has reached a more or less steady state and that hybrid working is still a favoured solution. More →

Government scales back plans for regional office hubs as more people work from home

Government scales back plans for regional office hubs as more people work from home

by • News, Property, Public Sector

work from home settingThe UK government has announced it will be scaling back plans for thirty office ‘hubs’ outside of London by 25 percent and letting out surplus floor space to other departments as more civil service workers are choosing to work from home. In 2022 the government’s property strategy highlighted plans to relocate 22,000 posts out of London by 2030, creating 30 new regional ‘government hubs’ as it closes its older offices across the UK. However, currently just over half of that figure have been relocated. More →

Rummaging through the workplace memory hole

Rummaging through the workplace memory hole

by • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

I recently whiled away an idle hour checking which of the more deranged pronouncements from the period of peak workplace hysteria in late 2020 have been memory holed…talking of Orwell, I recently whiled away an idle hour checking which of the more deranged pronouncements from the period of peak workplace hysteria in late 2020 have been memory holed. There was some weird, wild stuff, often coupled with a feverish response to anybody urging caution. At one point somebody (I know who but won’t say) suggested I should be banned from LinkedIn for pushing back on the idea that any firm that didn’t go fully remote would be out of business within five years. More →

Growth of serviced office market doesn’t mean it has bounced back

Growth of serviced office market doesn’t mean it has bounced back

by • Flexible working, News, Property

An analysis of the UK serviced office market from Sirius Property Finance, claims that while the sector is set to grow by 17 percent in 2023, a growing acceptance of remote working means it is still struggling to match its pre-pandemic highs.An analysis of the UK serviced office market from Sirius Property Finance, claims that while the sector is set to grow by 17 percent in 2023, a growing appetite for remote working means it is still struggling to match its pre-pandemic highs. More →

Office lease lengths may be decreasing but majority of firms will increase their footprint

Office lease lengths may be decreasing but majority of firms will increase their footprint

by • News, Property, Workplace design

office lease lengths has fallen to the lowest on record and that vacancies rates had soared, office designers Unispace are suggesting firms should be wary of making 'rash decisions' regarding their office footprintResponding to reports from property management platform, Re-Leased, that UK office lease lengths has fallen to the lowest on record and that vacancies rates had soared, office designers Unispace are suggesting firms should be wary of making ‘rash decisions’ regarding their office footprint over the long term. A study published by the firm – Returning for Good – which surveyed 9,500 employees and 6,650 employers from 17 countries worldwide – claims that while employees in the UK spend the least amount of time in the office compared to any other country, there is an expectation that this will increase as workers face limited access to career progression opportunities while working remotely. More →

Global prime office rents rise for second continuous quarter – Savills

Global prime office rents rise for second continuous quarter – Savills

by • News, Property

An international real estate advisor says the fact that prime office rents are continuing to edge up demonstrates that demand is thereSavills latest global Prime Office Costs (SPOC) analysis claims that net effective costs for occupiers taking top quality office space in key cities around the world rose 0.3 percent in Q2, following a rise of 1.1 percent in Q1. The international real estate advisor says the fact that prime office rents are continuing to edge up demonstrates that tenant demand is still present and landlords are cautiously optimistic in some markets. More →

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