June 12, 2014

UK public sector estate now reduced by 2 million square metres over three years

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

The UK Cabinet Office has today issued the latest edition of its regular State of the Estate Report which shows that the government has reduced the size of the public sector estate by 2 million square metres since 2010 – which it claims will boost economic growth and save a cumulative £1.2 billion with more savings in the pipeline. Now in its third year, the report also shows that: during 2013 there was a 500,000 sq m reduction in the size of the estate; £240 million was saved on running costs, against a 2009 to 2010 baseline; there was a 7.6 percent reduction in the cost of office space per employee; office space per employee was down from 13 square metres to 11.9 square metres; carbon emissions were down by 14 percent; and waste produced was down by 15 percent. The reductions are a core element in the Government’s plans to consolidate and modernise the public sector estate.

June 12, 2014

Integration of workplace services continues to gain momentum, claims report

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

HR, FM and IT within large corporate organisations are gradually being brought together to provide ‘Workplace services’ that recognise new working practices and the importance of people. This trend – which has already seen an agreement between the BIFM and CIPD to collaborate in the future, will accelerate in the increasingly agile, digitally driven business environment. This presents an opportunity for FM to provide new service solutions that focus more on supporting people, and less on the buildings from which they work. This is according to a new report, Delivering the Vision of an Integrated Workplace, was commissioned by Mitie, which will be unveiled at the Facilities Show next week. The report highlights the opportunities for FM providers to offer an expanded range of consultancy-style services, such as space management and the analysis of FM and property data to drive property strategy.

June 11, 2014

New BBC Wales headquarters will be less expensive to run

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Company news, Facilities management, Property

The BBC is to move its main headquarters in Wales to a new, purpose-built broadcast centre in Cardiff city centre by 2018. BBC Cymru Wales, currently based in Llandaff in north west Cardiff, says it plans to relocate to a new 150,000sq ft. development in Capital Square – on the site of the current bus station at the northern entrance of Cardiff Central rail station. The decision follows a detailed three-year study prompted by the ageing facilities at the current base in Llandaff and the pressing need to modernise the outdated and unreliable technology. Options to upgrade the current site were ruled out as they were costlier, more disruptive and would have taken longer to deliver. The new centre, which is being designed by Fosters & Partners, will be roughly half the size of the current premises and less expensive to run. More →

June 11, 2014

Workplace features heavily in latest round of Government cuts and cost reductions

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property

The workplace features heavily in the latest round of cost savings announced by the UK Government. Of the £14.3 billion of cost reductions, £5.4 billion has been cut in the procurement of goods and services, with the Cabinet Office drawing particular attention to the use of consultants (which is probably the bulk of it), and the use of printer cartridges and paper (which isn’t). In addition, around £600 million was saved with the divestment of unused buildings and an increase in the number of departments sharing offices. The savings are driven by the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) which was set up by the Treasury and the Cabinet Office in the wake of the 2010 general election, and works with departments to make savings and address what it considers wasteful spending. This year’s savings follow £10 billion saved for 2012 to 2013, £5.5 billion in 2011 to 2012 and £3.75 billion in 2010 to 2011.

June 10, 2014

Silicon Roundabout remains the UK’s foremost location for business startups

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Research from accountants UHY Hacker Young has revealed the UK’s most popular postcodes for business start-ups. Silicon Roundabout is the most prolific area, generating 15,620 new businesses over the last year. London, unsurprisingly dominates the list with only three zones outside the capital making the top 20. Within London, Silicon Roundabout saw nearly five times as many businesses launched as Canary Wharf (3,180). The Borough, Bankside and Bermondsey areas, covered by the SE1 postcode, saw a rapid expansion in new business creation, with a 13 percent increase in new businesses, from 5,190 to 5,850 in the last year. Outside of London, Hove (BN3), came 10^th marked out as a hub for outsourcing, tech and finance businesses, Leeds LS14 which came 12^th and Warrington WA1 which both offer a large number of business and technology parks.

June 6, 2014

Audit commission urges UK councils to make better use of property

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector

UK local authorities should make better use of their £170 billion estate, including divesting or reusing around £2.5 billion worth of surplus assets, according to a new report from the Audit Commission. The report acknowledges that the estate has already shrunk by a third over the last decade but says there is still scope for councils to be more proactive in the way they manage property, not least when it comes to decisions about the use of idle or underused buildings and land. As the local government estate continues to shrink due to spending cuts and a range of Central Government initiatives such as the One Public Sector estate scheme, it was vital councils understood the properties in their portfolio and regularly reviewed them, according to the report’s authors.

June 4, 2014

Property sector calls for introduction of mandatory energy standards

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Ahead of the Queen’s Speech today, business leaders from some of the UK’s biggest property owners, developers and occupiers are urging the Government to end the “prevarication” around the introduction of mandatory energy standards for privately rented commercial buildings, amid concerns there is “significant opposition” to them within the Coalition. The UK Green Building Council has released the text of a letter sent to Prime Minister David Cameron by the heads of major companies including Legal and General, Whitbread, Land Securities and Marks & Spencer on the Government’s proposed minimum energy performance standards (MEPS). It argues that commercial buildings are responsible for around one fifth of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions. More →

June 3, 2014

Commercial property helps fuel rise in number of new construction projects

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Construction growth in the three months to June was at its highest peak since the start of the year, driven by a renewed strengthening of non-residential properties, according to new figures from industry analysts Glenigan. Following reports from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) that the economy is growing at its fastest pace since its records began in 2003,the Glenigan Index, which covers the value of projects starting in the UK over the previous three months, is 20 per cent higher than a year ago. Its non-residential index is up by 24 per cent compared to the same period in 2013, the strongest rate of growth seen since the three months to January of this year; largely fuelled by the private sector, with the industrial, office and hotel and leisure sectors all seeing healthy improvements. More →

May 29, 2014

New tenants reflect strong demand for office accommodation on Regent Street

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

In one of the most substantial West End lettings this year, global asset and investment manager, Tudor Capital Europe LLP is to locate its new UK headquarters to Crown Estate’s 10 New Burlington Street development. The firm will move into some 40,000 sq ft across two floors at the £250m redevelopment, which forms part of Regent Street’s £1 billion regeneration. This follows on from a 30,000 sq ft letting to Ares Management at the same building. The addition of Tudor Capital Europe to the line-up at 10 New Burlington Street means the office element (around 100,000 sq ft) is 75 per cent let at completion. The move illustrates strong demand for office accommodation on Regent Street, where office take up rose by 90 per cent in the 12 months prior to March 2014, compared to an increase of 31 per cent over the wider West End in the same time span. More →

May 29, 2014

Green light (at last) for nine acre Birmingham City Centre mixed use development

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property

The developer of a major new mixed use project on a 9 acre site in the centre of Birmingham has announced that work will begin soon, after nearly ten years of delays. The £500 million Arena Central scheme was initially announced in 2004, then significantly extended and revised in 2011 to double the amount of commercial property available as part of the development. The first impressions of the finalised plans were published earlier this year and featured open public spaces, an urban meadow, cascading water features, ramps and a pedestrian spine that connects the elements of the site and connects to the main shopping areas in Broad Street and city centre residential areas to the South. All in all, landscape architect Gillespies has designed four acres of soft landscaping within the development, nearly half of its total footprint. The first office building for the site will be designed by Make Architects. The building, named Arena 1 will be a 144,000 sq. ft. set to complete in 2016.

May 28, 2014

Barangaroo South Tower 2 in Sydney is now Oz’s greenest large office building

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

One of Sydney’s landmark new office towers has just been awarded a 6Star Green Star –Office Design V3 rating, the Green Building Council of Australia’s highest environmental accreditation. South Tower 2 in Barangaroo South is part of a $6 billion carbon-neutral development alongside Sydney Harbour. The 42 storey skyscraper is part of a three commercial building cluster in Barangaroo South called International Towers Sydney. Each of the buildings incorporates arrange of sustainable features including cooling systems using water from the harbour and solar shading. The buildings also make use of the development’s shared environmental features including an on-site backwater treatment plant which will recycle up to one million litres of water a day for use by the local community. The intention is to create a world class sustainable community in the city.

May 23, 2014

Workplace design and management of TMT sector aped by other firms

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Workplace design

The publication of a report last week by the British Council for Offices highlights the wider impact of workplace design trends and commercial property arrangements in the increasingly important Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector. Not least it suggests that they are having a transformational influence on the way firms in other sectors approach leases, workplace design and the changing nature of work. It is no coincidence that the TMT sector is the one most commonly associated with the employment of the much-talked-about Gen Y demographic, nor that the business practices most commonly associated with this overly-stereotyped group are those that are having the greatest influence in the way we design and manage offices.