As we look towards 2010, many will be speculating about how the serviced office market will fair in the coming year. With the economy still gripped by recession, and unemployment still increasing, there is not much for serviced office providers to be optimisitic about. One useful barometer for the state of thee industry is the performance of Regus, who are predicted to see profits fall in 2010. The irony for them is that they have INCREASED the number of workstations, but that the price per workstation has fallen due to weakening demand.
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Now as we all know the office can be a very stressful environment. Bad meetings, colleague arguments and poor business are all common denominators which can cause added stress and unnecessary tension.
Every year work-related stress and depression accounts for 11.4 million lost days a year, with 16.7% of all UK workers in 2009 regarding their job as very or extremely stressful. But there are ways in which you can easily minimise office tension without spending a fortune. (more…)
Fresh Trading (better known as Innocent Drinks) have signed up for 
office space at Derwent London’s Portobello Dock Scheme, according to Property Week.
The firm have signed up for 24,270 square feet of office space on a 10 year lease with breaks at the scheme in Ladbrook Grove. It’s believed the company, who are currently based at “Fruit Towers” on the Goldhawk Estate, are paying less than the quoting rent of £25 per square foot and has agreed to a rent-free period of 24 months. This latest letting means that Derwent London has now let 80% of the 50, 324 square feet of office space at the regeneration development on The Grand Union. (more…)
The property firm ‘Bizspace’ has spoken out about the difficulties that north-west business owners face finding new office space once the recession is over. The 2008 empty property rate relief scrappage has left property companies unwilling to invest in speculative developments up and down the country. Some companies have even demolished buildings to to avoid the taxation policy.
Bizspace operates out of the north-west region and manages more than 7 million square-feet of office space, including studio space and industrial units. (more…)
We’ll all try to do our bit for the environment, but on your way out to your christmas party, did you remember to turn off your monitor? The printer? The lights? Well, ‘Make It Cheaper’, the business price comparison company have calculated that over the 11 days that office workers are enjoying themselves with family, businesses are collectively set to lose around £110 million.
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The property firm, Bizspace, is this week suggesting that companies in the north will struggle to find office space when the recovery is in full swing. In 2008 business centre owners who have empty business centres didn’t have to pay business rates thanks to the government’s empty property rate relief initiative.
For 2009/2010 the government have scrapped the initiative stating that business centres with a value of less than 18000 a year do not have to pay business rates. This leaves business centre owners with empty properties over 18000 a year potentially considering demolition or rebranding, leaving a shortage of office space in low value areas. (more…)
Hampshire council this week have committed £25,000 towards three new office space complexes in Havant, Gosport and Fareham.
These working centres will be low cost work spaces featuring broadband access and shared access whilst aiming to have a low carbon footprint. Hampshire’s development councillor said; “These three centres will all offer high-speed broadband work stations and meeting space to businesses in south Hampshire and are hopefully the start of a countywide network.” (more…)
Edinburgh House Estates have submitted new plans for its regeneration of Heritage Quarter in Gravesend, Kent.
The £120 million scheme will include 120,000 square feet of shops, 30,000 square feet of leisure and around 400 flats. It will also include a 51 bedroom hotel and 5,000 square feet of office space. The revised plans no longer include the 32 storey river-front block of 230 flats. The council have given a deadline for 4th January for people to read and comment on the thousands of pages submitted for the plans. (more…)
Regus are running a competition to win an office for a year in Atlanta. This will run until March 31st 2010. The lucky winner will be able to enjoy all the services associated with a Regus office, such as manned reception and call handling services.”Living through this last year, it’s been particularly hard for our clients and small business owners,” said Donna Scott from the company.
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FreshMinds Research have announced they have doubled their office space take-up in Holborn, London.
The company have expanded to provide space for its growing team of research consultants and has now replaced its former meeting rooms with a series of “themed spaces”, featuring wall-sized graphics – this has allowed them to double the size of their meeting rooms. The move increases the firm’s capacity by 70%. As well as doubling the size of their meeting rooms, the company have also created new “break-out” rooms and informal work spaces to allow the company to concentrate on innovation, workshops and co-creation. (more…)
