Available office space at Sandbrook House boosts regeneration in Rochdale
Rochdale is an area on the up at the moment, with the regeneration of the town centre and the new Kingsway Business Park development. In addition, new office space is being made available at Sandbrook Park, which is hoped will help attract new businesses to the area.The Sandbrook House property was first built by the Co-op and is now owned by Zen Internet, an award winning independent Internet Service Provider (ISP). The company has recently placed its vacant Rochdale offices for rent which have already attracted new tenants to the region.
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Nikal Make a Start on Altair
Work is soon to begin on Nikal’s Altair scheme in Altrincham with the first phase to include the demolition of Oakfield House and the Nationwide Auto Centre on Oakfield Road, two Trafford Council-owned buildings.The five acre scheme will include a large retail element, new Altrincham office space, a hotel, and a permanent ice rink for the town. The developer also hopes that the site will become home to the new Altrincham General Hospital with Nikal managing director Nick Payne commenting:
The demolition of these buildings is where we hope Altrincham General Hospital will be built if we win the tender. The development will be the catalyst for the renaissance of Altrincham, leading to a permanent ice rink, offices, hotel and shopping, as well as the proposed new interchange. We hope to be on site with the first phase of development early in 2011 with the first phase open to the public by summer 2012.
A decision on the hospital is due later this year.
Cllr Michael Cornes, executive member for economic growth and prosperity, added:
It is encouraging to see work progressing on the Altair site, bringing the creation of jobs and regeneration of this area a step closer to reality. This scheme will be a real boost for Altrincham enhancing it as a modern and vibrant destination for visitors, shoppers and local people.
Trafford Council are advised by Drivers Jonas Deloitte and Nabarro LLP.
Executive Offices Group streamlines processes with CentreCharge2010 upgrade
Executive Offices Group (EOG) is the latest serviced office provider to streamline processes thanks to a recent upgrade to RJmetis’ CentreCharge2010. The company, which has a portfolio of 36 centres across the country, will be using the software to improve both the efficiency of its own operations in terms of weekly and monthly reporting schedules and is confident that the upgrade will also make day-to-day use of its facilities easier for its own clients.Read the rest of this entry »
Two 30,000 sq ft Lettings in Two Days for Manchester
Two firms who picked up much of the Halliwells business have signed for just over 60,000 sq ft of office space in Manchester city centre.Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG), insurance law specialists, have signed for a further 4 floors at Chancery Place totalling 30,000 sq ft, whilst HBJ Gateley Wareing have let 31,000 sq ft at Ship Canal House.
These two lettings will be the largest following the break up of Halliwells in July, although Ford Campbell and Campbell Woolley are both understood to be in the market for smaller lettings. Both companies were sub-letting space from Halliwells at their offices in Spinningfields and have since taken up temporary residence in a variety of Manchester serviced offices.
The commercial property sector will surely welcome the lettings, it is worth remembering the old 180,000 sq ft Halliwells offices at 3 Hardman Square in Spinningfields will be coming back on to the market soon. It is unlikely many will be too concerned though given the lack of new build Grade A office accommodation currently being developed in central Manchester.
Ford Campbell & Globaleye take Office Space at The Triangle
Serviced office operator, Forsyth Business Centres, have welcomed two more businesses to their serviced offices at The Triangle in Manchester. Occupancy has now almost reached 60 percent in the 31,000 sq ft business centre, which has shown steady growth this year.Recruitment specialists, Globaleye, and corporate finance experts, Ford Campbell, are the two most recent tenants. Ford Campbell were one of the companies displaced from 3 Hardman Square following the collapse of Halliwells in July.
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Double Boost for Liverpool Offices
There was great news for Liverpool offices last week with the news that two companies have chosen the city for new offices in the North West.ServiceSource International and Oceans Connect have both announced the opening of new offices in Liverpool. The North West Development Agency expect around 458 new jobs to be created as a result of these moves.
ServiceSource have chosen offices at The Plaza in Liverpool, signing for a total of 12,000 sq ft in the recently refurbished building in the centre of the city. According to Place North West, they chose from a shortlist which included offices in The Corn Exchange and offices at Silkhouse Court in Liverpool before opting for the Bruntwood building.
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Manchester Council issues CPO for London Road Fire Station
In what is probably the least surprising headline of the last year, Manchester Council has finally submitted a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for Manchester’s London Road fire station.
The council have been threatening owners Britannia Hotels Group with a CPO for a number of years and it seemed they have spurred the group into action when they submitted a planning application last month. However, it seems this has not done enough to appease the council who have seen numerous planning applications come and go over the last 20 years since Britannia purchased the building.
It is expected that the council will push for Argent to develop the site following their success with their Piccadilly Place office scheme.
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Northwest says ‘Hello’ to 14 New Businesses
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has revealed that their ‘Hello Northwest’ scheme (incorporating ‘Hello Manchester’ and ‘Hello Liverpool’) has welcomed 14 new businesses to the region since January.Launched at the turn of the year in conjunction with a variety of serviced offices in the North West, the scheme offered a free workstation for 12 months to any new business moving to the region.
A few of the businesses who have taken advantage of the scheme include Milk Digital, which has taken office space at 111 Piccadilly, JB Deco who opened an office at Portland Tower, and P3ev at Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus.
Speaking on the success of the scheme, Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said:
The Hello Northwest scheme is proving to be very popular with investors and I hope that this success continues long into the future. This scheme provides investors with the opportunity to test what the region has to offer It is building on the region’s strong track record for inward investment and will help us to secure even more overseas investment for the North West.
Hello Northwest was developed in partnership between NWDA, investment agencies MIDAS and The Mersey Partnership, and numerous serviced office providers.
In return for enquiries from MIDAS and The Mersey Partnership, the serviced office providers provide the desk space for free, which can be worth anything up to £4,000.
Some Words on Why Using a Broker Works
Brokers as a whole perhaps don’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to the serviced office world (justified in some instances in our opinion!) but they are there for a reason and some can be a really great help in an office search, providing options you don’t know of and keeping points of contact to a minimum.Offices Up North is one such company. Established at the start of 2010 by John Nash, who has 6 years experience in the serviced office sector, Offices Up North visit every single property included on their website, something which is completely unique in this sector. It enables the company to put forward suitable office space to clients more accurately and eliminates the need for businesses to trawl through a huge list of properties that wouldn’t be suitable.
The company was delighted to receive the following testimonial this week, which goes to show that their methods do work:
We were recommended to try Offices Up North after a fruitless search for a suitable city centre office for our new business. Immediately John was able to point us to four possible locations that were unknown to us and we were delighted with the options that he had suggested. We soon made our choice and we were signed up within two days of contacting John. We can absolutely recommend him without hesitation.
This testimonial was received from Search Mortgage Solutions in Manchester who are now well established in their Manchester offices.
The service is completely free to use and the company never distributes your contact details to a third party without express permission.
So, if you are looking for offices to rent in the North of England then don’t discount all brokers from the outset, some can probably put you in touch with properties you’d never know of otherwise.
Manchester Office Take-Up Dips, but Could Poor Supply Push Up Pricing?
Property consultants, DTZ, released figures for the take-up of office space in Manchester for Q2, which fell to 166,000 sq ft from just over 190,000 sq ft in the first quarter. Unless it dips for a second consecutive quarter it is unlikely to concern agents too much. YTD it is still significantly higher than 2009 (247,471 sq ft in 2009 compared to 344,717 in 2010)Read the rest of this entry »