UK Office Market Cautious But Strong

september 22, 2010

UK offices and commercial property is looking strong according to a a property index, although caution on recovery is still being urged.

The King Sturge Property Week Index, run by the London office-based company, measures the amount that can be lent or borrowed on UK commercial property by reference to prevailing investment yields and interest rates. The latest Index has been recalculated as at June 2010 and is illustrated below.

Given that the maximum that can be borrowed in the current market for a well let investment property is at a 65-70 per cent loan to value ratio, the Index continues to demonstrate sustainable conditions in the senior debt market for both lenders and borrowers. But these need to be viewed with a note of caution as market forecasts for future interest rate predictions are upwards, which would lead to further reductions in the Index.

In the light of a more positive property and economic outlook as confidence returns, investment yields in prime sectors have dropped dramatically while any movement in the secondary sectors remains to be seen. Interest rates pressures are for increases, if not in 2010 then in 2011. These factors should make it more difficult to secure debt finance for new acquisitions or for the mountain of refinancings scheduled in the next three years as revealed in the De Montfort University’s research on the UK Commercial Property Lending Market for 2009.

The Index, first published in 1999, is calculated by reference to the All Property Initial Yield as measured by IPD and compared with prevailing 5 year interest rates, to show the amount that could be hypothetically lent or borrowed, assuming a requirement that the amount lent will support a specific income to interest cover as supported by data drawn from De Montfort University’s research into the UK Commercial Property Lending Market.

Virtual Office Faxing Just Got Better

september 22, 2010

Virtual Office faxing is developing with the addition of new plug and play technology for IP fax services.

Milton Keynes office based Aculab, a leading provider of enabling technology for the global communications market, announced the general availability of V2.20 software for its ApplianX IP Gateway - a resilient, single-purpose, plug-and-play device designed for both enterprise and service provider environments. As part of this enhancement, the ApplianX IP Gateway includes a number of new features, such as support for full T.38 fax interoperability, enabling a total fax solution within an IP environment.

"We are very pleased to offer full T.38 fax support within the V2.20 software release," said Tim Joint, Commercial Manager for the ApplianX product range. "We are seeing renewed interest in fax communications across many sectors, particularly in areas such as financial services and health care. Our support of T.38 fax eliminates the need for analog fax machines and their associated ports on the PBX, thus providing a fax service to all employees regardless of location, as well as supporting modern IP fax servers.

The ApplianX IP Gateway can be configured for a maximum number of simultaneous fax calls to maintain call quality and prevent faxes from blocking both incoming and outgoing voice calls. In addition to T.38 fax support, V2.20 software also includes a number of other features, including T1 hookflash transfer and improved diversion information availability.

Highly regarded for its ease of use and low administrative costs, the ApplianX IP Gateway supports a wide range of international protocols, making the device suitable for worldwide deployment in both enterprise and service provider networks. A number of leading solution providers, including Avaya and Cisco, have certified the ApplianX IP Gateway for integration with legacy TDM-based PBXs. The ApplianX IP Gateway is available from approved resellers throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

Green Office Market To Grow Fourfold Sparks Cambridge Into Action

september 21, 2010

Cambridge Enterprise, the University of Cambridge’s commercialisation office, and the Carbon Trust today announced the launch of Eight19 Limited, a new solar energy company which will develop and manufacture high performance, lower cost plastic solar cells for high-growth volume markets.

The market for organic solar cells has the potential to reach $500 million by 2015 as the rapid expansion of green build offices in the UK continues. It could grow four fold to $2 billion by 2020 (Nanomarkets, 2009) driven by applications such as building-integrated photovoltaics, and could save up to 900 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050 – some 1.5 times the UK’s current annual emissions.

Spun-out from the Carbon Trust’s Cambridge University-TTP Advanced Photovoltaic Research Accelerator, this latest commercial office venture phase will focus efforts on developing product prototypes, backed by a £4.5m investment from the Carbon Trust and leading international specialty chemicals company Rhodia.

Eight19, so called as it takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds for light to travel from the sun to the earth, has been created in partnership with Professor Sir Richard Friend, Professor Henning Sirringhaus and Professor Neil Greenham of Cambridge’s internationally renowned Cavendish Laboratory, and technology development company TTP.

With improvements in efficiency and lifetime, breakthroughs in organic photovoltaic technology could provide solar power at a price substantially lower than that offered by 1st and 2nd generation technologies for certain applications, which could open up new markets for solar.
Eight19’s focus on the low cost potential of solar cells made with semiconducting plastics (also known as organic photovoltaics, or OPV) is built on the Cavendish Laboratory’s capability to develop techniques for fabricating large scale plastic electronic devices on flexible materials using roll-to-roll processes. The company will continue to be actively engaged with the Cavendish and its innovative research output.

Global Engineering Company Buys UK Competitor To Rapidly Expand Global Office Network

september 19, 2010

A global engineering company has completed the purchase of another major UK based company putting it into the top ten British engineering companies with an large expansion of global offices.

URS Corporation, an engineering, construction and technical services firm, completed its acquisition of Scott Wilson Group. The buyout is a major move for the UK company which has major contracts include the Crossrail Project and Thames Tideway Tunnel. URS is also the lead partner in the Nuclear Management Partners consortium, which is responsible for managing and operating decommissioning activities at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria.

The closing of the acquisition follows approval of the transaction by Scott Wilson's shareholders, subsequent court approval in the UK, and regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions. The addition of Scott Wilson expands URS' international presence by adding a network of 80 offices around the world, including offices in key regional centres such as London, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Warsaw and Dubai, and more than 5,500 employees. In the company's 2010 fiscal year, Scott Wilson had revenues of approximately GBP 340m and net income of GBP 13.6m.

"The acquisition of Scott Wilson opens the door to numerous new opportunities for URS in major international infrastructure markets," said Martin Koffel, chairman of URS. "URS now is among the top ten UK engineering firms by revenue, with capabilities in critical infrastructure markets, including transit, high speed rail, roads and bridges, airports, and ports and harbours. We also have expanded our capabilities in other key geographies outside of the UK and Continental Europe, such as China and India, two of the fastest growing economies in the world. With Scott Wilson's technical depth and talented team of professionals around the globe, URS is well positioned to support public and private sector clients worldwide on their largest and most complex infrastructure assignments."

Hugh Blackwood, former group chief executive of Scott Wilson, has joined URS as a vice president, international operations. He will oversee from London URS' Infrastructure & Environment business for the UK, Ireland, Europe, Middle East, India and China.

Mr. Blackwood commented: "From today, Scott Wilson becomes part of URS Corporation. We are looking forward to providing our clients with access to a larger global footprint and the ability to meet their needs across a wider range of services and sectors, including the nuclear power market, which is a key strength for URS. Our employees will be able to participate in larger and more complex projects, as well as benefit from further investment in new areas of expertise."

UK Office Business Park Sale Builds Confidence In The Midlands

september 07, 2010

The sale of a major UK office business park in the Midlands is building confidence about recovery and reduced recession in the region.

Leading Midland developer Stoford and La Salle Investment Management have completed the first freehold sale of a speculative warehouse unit at Vale Park West in Evesham.

Dan Gallagher, Stoford Director, said: “We are delighted to have attracted such a prestigious worldwide name as Matcon to Vale Park West with a freehold sale.

“It shows that speculative sales of high-specification office and warehouse units in strategic locations have now joined pre-lets in leading the UK office and commercial property market out of recession.”

Matcon, which produces powder handling systems for process companies worldwide, has bought the 30,000 sq ft unit, the largest of three available on site at the 40-acre business park, as its new office headquarters and assembly plant.

The company will be converting 12,000 sq ft of the high-specification facility to additional offices to enable its 86 UK staff previously occupying offices in Gloucestershire.

The unit, which comes with a self contained yard and car park area, will give Matcon an additional 25 per cent of office and warehouse space to help meet the 30-year-old company’s expansion plans.

Luxury flooring specialist Karndean International became the first occupant at Vale Park West after agreeing a pre-let on a 75,000 sq ft unit and Stoford is now receiving considerable interest in two other units of 24,500 and 18,000 sq ft.

Vale Park West, which enjoys direct access off the A46 Evesham bypass and is just ten miles from Junction 5 of the M5, has outline planning consent for production, warehouse and office buildings available on a freehold or leasehold basis.

Charles Lee, Managing Director of Matcon, said: “Moving to Vale Park West is a very welcome milestone for us in our 30th anniversary year. The new premises and the surrounding environment will enable us to present a modern, professional world-class image to our global customers, in keeping with our overall business profile.  

“Furthermore, the consolidation of our offices and assembly operations, coupled with a better road network and easier access to staff and support services, will enable us to work more effectively, bringing with it considerable efficiency gains.”

Andrew Bolitho, LaSalle Investment Management Director, said: “This investment by Matcon confirms the strength of this location and we look forward to building on this success.”

Virtual Office To Revolutionise Corporate Real Estate Says Major Firm

october 31, 2010

A major commercial office and real estate firm has said virtual offices will revolutionise the way the industry works.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle,'s London offices, an imminent and fundamental shift in computing will impact corporate real estate by reducing demand for actual office space and driving workplace change by using virtual office working.

David Willcocks, director in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Data Centres Group, said cloud computing “is helping companies improve IT capabilities while driving down costs and energy consumption.”

“Most cloud services are scalable, enabling a pay-as-you-go system for users. This means that users with a sudden need for greater capacity can simply increase the level of their cloud service instead of investing in more hardware and software and expanding in-house data centres.”

Jones Lang LaSalle have issued a Data Centre Perspectives paper highlighting the steps that CRE (Corporate Real Estate) executives can take to prepare for the cloud computing wave. They include
details about partnering with IT teams to create greater cost savings and work to understand how the IT team’s decision aligns with the business and impacts the corporate real estate strategy.
Considering how cloud computing can actually speed the access to information and enable and increase mobility for employees.

Jones Lang LaSalle also say reflecting on the type of cloud the organisation should employ – varieties of cloud computing range from public services that anyone can access to private clouds that offer customised applications, increased security and reliability to users is a major step.

David Willcocks concluded: “It is imperative for CRE teams to keep informed of shifts in technology and collaborate with their IT partners to understand the implications and realise the opportunities for real estate. In the long run, it will help position you as a strategic partner and demonstrate real value to your organisation.”

Office Company Gives Away Harrods Shopping Spree

october 28, 2010

Users of an executive UK office service are being given a free shopping spree at Harrods, the worlds most famous department store in Knightsbridge, London.

Customers of Executive Offices Group, based in Westminster offices, are being given Harrods Gift Vouchers for bookings its UK and London office meeting rooms made before 31st of December 2010. Customers making a full day booking will be entitled to a £50 Harrods gift voucher while a £25 gift voucher will be given for a half day booking.

The Harrods voucher can be spent across 330 departments in the Harrods Knightsbridge store and online at harrods.com, towards a world of luxury goods as well as being used as payment in any of the store's 28 restaurants, cafés and eateries or even its in-house spa and grooming establishments.

Emily Smith, Marketing Director of Executive Offices Group said of the offer: “We’re very proud of the high standards of our meeting room facilities and this offer is our way of saying thank you to any customers who book one before the end of the year. The Harrods voucher makes a great gift, especially with Christmas coming up, and we’re pleased we are able to offer this to our customers.”

Executive Offices Group offers high quality UK & London meeting rooms from 36 unbranded business centre locations, primarily in London but also with offices in Cambridge, Leeds and Bristol, across a range of period and contemporary properties.

Virtual Office File Sharing Portal Launched

october 24, 2010

A new virtual office portal that allows businesses to share files securely online has been launched by a Nuneaton office-based firm.

eoffice2go is a brand new, cutting-edge online portal, which enables businesses to share files and folders safely online with clients and staff. The software allows all members of an office team to have access to the latest project files, company news and important announcements.

The simple and stylish virtual office is quick and easy to use thanks to the intuitive user interface. Uploaded documents are instantly “locked” making sure they are secure and are reassuringly backed-up remotely. The logins use safe SSL encryption & minimum password requirements are firmly in place.

Dreamscape Design, a software development company based in offices near Birmingham, says eoffice2go software is set to revolutionise the speed in which businesses.

Neville Langston, Managing Director of the software developers, Dreamscape Design Ltd, said: “This is a massive step forward for businesses everywhere, especially those with workers who work remotely and who are sometimes therefore ‘let out of the loop’.”

He continued “This online portal provides businesses with a simplified alternative to what is already out there, which tends to be complex and can require hours of training. What makes eoffice2go so effective is that it can be integrated into your business simply and efficiently with minimum fuss.

Dreamscape Design will be exclusively launching the product at the Airline & Aerospace MRO & Operations IT Conference in Singapore on the 26th & 27th October 2010.

UK Company Seeks America's Worst Virtual Office

october 24, 2010

A competition has been launched to find the scariest virtual office setup in America by a UK virtual office company.

Powwownow, the UKs fastest growing virtual office conference call provider, has announced the “Scariest Home Office” contest to help home office workers and telecommuters make the most of their working setups. Between October 20 and October 29, US office-based virtual office workers can send in a photo of their scary office for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Office Depot.

“Telecommuting and virtual work is on the rise, as evidenced by increased adoption of our free conference calling service, but we know that often, home offices are cobbled together with grandma’s old furniture and children’s school art,” said Andrew Pearce, CEO of Powwownow. “We think a home office should be just as professional as their in-office counterparts – so this is our way of helping. Send us your worst examples of home office nightmares, and if the voters agree, we will have you on your way to a better work space - on us.”

Participants are being asked to post their photo on a blog, and circulate it using social networking sites. The winner of the competition be will determined through a combination of the social media community’s “Likes” and “Tweets” as well as official ruling by Powwownow’s executive judge’s panel.

Powwownow are using the competition to boost their US client base. The company, with UK offices in Richmond, Surrey now operates in 15 countries worldwide including the US and major European markets. Lunched in 2004 it recently acquired web conferencing and business collaboration providers Yuuguu. Turnover for 2010 is predicted to reach £10m.

First Industry Standard For UK Office Sustainability

october 21, 2010

Leading UK office and commercial property organisations have launched the first industry-wide guide on how to measure and report on the sustainability of buildings.

A report by the Green Property Alliance gives investors and tenants the first ever set of industry-agreed metrics that can be used to measure and compare energy use and its associated greenhouse gas emissions. It also give ways of measuring water use and waste generation in commercial buildings.

The report is a call for clarity, intended to encourage property owners and occupiers, advisors, sustainability framework providers and government, to converge around a common language of measurement and reporting that is seen as vital to driving greater sustainability from commercial and non-domestic buildings, which account for almost one-fifth of UK carbon emissions.

Progress is currently hamstrung by the lack of consistency in which the way in which the sustainability performance of buildings is measured. Research from the Green Property Alliance suggests there are over 100 different measures of sustainability currently used in the UK.

The report will also be fed into measurement guidelines being drawn up by the London office-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which could in future help determine the relationship between sustainability performance and value.

The Green Property Alliance, an offshoot of the Property Industry Alliance, comprises the Better Buildings Partnership, British Council for Offices, British Council of Shopping Centres, British Property Federation, British Retail Consortium, CoreNet, Investment Property Forum, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and UK Green Building Council. Each organisation has endorsed the use of these common metrics by its members, which comprise the bulk of leading companies and practitioners involved in developing and investing in commercial property, and a significant tranche of the occupier community.

Paul Edwards, Head of Sustainability at Hammerson, the UK and France office-based property company, said: “Accurate, meaningful measurement of sustainability impacts is vital if its performance is to be effectively managed.  A vast array of sustainability tools and frameworks are available to the industry with subtle variation between each. The publication of today’s report will hopefully encourage convergence in the basic building blocks of the main frameworks the industry uses so that buildings can be compared no matter which framework they use.  We hope it will also provide some simple guidance to organisations who have yet to report, and that it will encourage them to do so.”

Comprehensive Spending Review Means No New UK Offices

october 21, 2010

Wednesday's Comprehensive Spending Review will mean UK offices will see more refurbishment on older office complexes rather than new investment as public spending cuts perch on the horizon. The prediction comes from top commercial property firm Jones Lang LaSalle's London office.

While the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee kept the base rate on hold at 0.50 per cent in October, this months real market-moving insight will come from the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). In light of the Housing minister’s comments around the ‘very harsh realities’ for the housing sector all eyes will be on the announcement, expected on 20th October.

Stephanie McMahon, director of UK research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said:
“The current public spending review and the knock on effect to private spending will do little to assuage fears that the recovery may be stalling. Occupier activity across all sectors remains patchy with polarised retailer activity and office tenants being driven by consolidation and a need to churn the occupied portfolio or upgrade the quality of space.

With no single sector likely to drive growth and a lack of expansion on the corporate agenda, take-up is expected to be broadly in line with long term averages. Lack of quality space continues to be a trend across many markets and a significant return to speculative development is unlikely in the medium term. With most investors still highly risk averse and speculative development finance still absent, the repositioning of Grade B space to Grade A via refurbishment remains an alternative lower cost and lower risk option.”

Virtual Flood Modeling Helps Build Insurance Market in Latin America

october 17, 2010

New virtual modelling of flood risks has opened up a large insurance market in Latin America.

Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, has extended its lead in Latin American flood risk with the release of detailed risk estimates and large event scenarios for key cities including Sao Paulo, Santiago and Bogota. The models, developed by the Willis Research Network (WRN), will help clients to optimise their related portfolios and manage their downsides for flood risk. The tools developed by the organisation, which has offices in Minneapolis and Singapore, might also be used to consider the potential impact of climate change.

Incorporating multiple sources of flood risk and based on advanced modelling techniques and analysis undertaken by WRN member Ambiental, a leading UK-based flood risk assessment consultancy based in London offices.

The flood models provide South American insurance and reinsurance firms, as well as local governmental organisations, with new information that helps to identify and manage their exposure to flash floods caused by heavy rains and riverine overflow. Related results will be available for individual companies as well as the market as a whole and will have implications on planning, reinsurance and risk mitigation.

Dr. Justin Butler, managing director of Ambiental said: "The CAT modelling companies haven't yet focused on Latin America and the lack of tools has made it extremely difficult for insurers to evaluate flood risk. We've now gone some way to solving the problem with simple prototype flood models which can be expanded as more data is collected."

Race Car Takes On Office Printer In Speed Test

october 08, 2010

A London office-based advertising company has set up a ridiculous but fun test to show the speed of a new Epson office printer.

In partnership with Top Gear director, Phil Churchward, and Rogue Films, based in West End offices, advertising company Albion devised and filmed a race which say the printer put inside one of the world’s fastest accelerating cars – an Ariel Atom (0 to 60mph in 2.7 seconds) –  creating a fully customised  ‘inkjet car’.

The new range of Epson inkjet printers offer not only the high quality printing and versatility normally associated with Epson inkjet printers, but also the fast printing capabilities of a laser printer, with claimed print speeds of up to 38 pages per minute.

Engineers from Epson and Ariel worked together to form a unique partnership, and then raced the printer against the car around Rockingham race track in the UK to see whether the Epson printer could print a map of the track faster than the car could drive it.

Jason Goodman, CEO, Albion, said, “The Engineered for Speed campaign has been created to engage the small business audience at both a rational and emotional level; we knew that a traditional B2B campaign just wouldn’t do that, so set out to create a unique way to showcase both the speed of the printer and the level of engineering that goes into each and every Epson product.”

Rob Clark, Executive Director of Marketing, Epson Europe, said: “Our business credentials span over 40 years - providing a range of technology, services and products to businesses of all sizes.  For small businesses, it is important for us to engage with them on a more personal and informal level, as well as on a business-to-business one, which is why we wanted to inject some fun into this campaign.

You can see the race on YouTube HERE.

Free Cisco Voice Over IP Phones For US Offices

october 08, 2010

One of America's largest end-to-end communications networks has unveiled its limited-time free Cisco IP phone.

New business customers who purchase unlimited or global calling plans and have a minimum of five lines will receive IP phones featuring a high-resolution graphic display for each employee. The program is part of the second phase of MegaPath’s post-merger integration, offering common products, pricing and promotions across all three company websites. The company has offices across California, Texas and Washington and has helped 85,000 businesses of all sizes to use virtual office technology to easily and securely communicate between their headquarters, employees and business partners.

Forecasts from ABI Research1 show that the VoIP market is set to double in size in the next five years, exceeding $20 billion by the year 2015. By offering free phones, MegaPath says it is removing the last barrier to VoIP adoption – upfront costs. Speakeasy successfully implemented a similar promotional program earlier this year, which resulted in an increase in new customer inquiries by more than 40 per cent.

“MegaPath’s free IP phone promotion showcases the newest Cisco SPA phones designed for growing, tech-savvy businesses,” said Bruce Chatterley, president of business markets at MegaPath. “With this offering, MegaPath is providing organisations with a free business-class phone for each of their employees and unlimited calling at a small business-friendly monthly price with no upfront costs.”

MegaPath has a long-standing relationship with Cisco, as the company has been providing Cisco-powered MPLS nationwide network-based solutions for more than 10 years. MegaPath is a Cisco Master Managed Service Provider (MSP) with voice and VPN certifications and small business specialists.

Brighton And Hove Office Business District Debate

october 07, 2010

Brighton and Hove could develop an American-style ‘downtown’ office business district, changing the face of the city with an area of high rise office buildings, green spaces, parking and a state of the art business infrastructure.

This is a controversial vision which will be proposed and hotly disputed next Wednesday at the Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce Debate to be held at City College, Brighton.

The debate is part of the Chamber of Commerce week celebrating ‘Business by the Sea’ and is also the first in a series of regular debates to be held around the city on local issues and strategies.

Speaking in favour of a dedicated business district will be Oliver Asha, head of the Commercial Property Department at law firm Acumen Business Law, which has offices in Hove and West Sussex. Opposing the idea will be Pete Jenkins who runs the virtual office hosted software specialist e-Advantage Solutions and is Chamber vice-president. In traditional debating style, following the initial proposition and opposition, the subject will be thrown open to the floor of the room for speeches for and against ... though, in a typically Brightonian way, the voting process will be anything but traditional. All will be clear on the night.

Chairing the debate will be Rob Shepherd, of the press release agency Press Dispensary, who says: “Brighton is becoming a remarkable business city, weathering the financial crisis well, coming out of it early and forging a world-class reputation in the online, creative and gaming industries. So there’s a powerful argument in favour of a world-class, dedicated business district to match. But on the other hand, perhaps the city owes its success to its bohemian, low-rise quirkiness which could be destroyed by an American style downtown. It’s going to be a fascinating debate.”

UK Virtual Office Security Tools To Be Available At Carphone Warehouse

october 07, 2010

UK offices can look forward to new vitual office protection tools available on the highstreet.

A Californian company that specialises in protecting virtual office data of small offices is to launch in the UK with products in the Carphone Warehouse.

Spare Backup has announced that the Carphone Warehouse has launched its Geek Squad Max Computing and Max Mobile protection programs bundled with Spare Backup's co-branded My-Hub backup and cloud computing services along with Spare Mobile. Spare Backup is the first totally automated online backup service that intelligently selects, secures and stores files without any user intervention.

The company, headquartered in office in Palm Desert, California, anticipates this UK launch generating up to $100,000 per month. It will provide co-branded storage services included in the bundle to the Geek Squad customers who subscribe to the paid insurance programs. Spare Backup is launching several similar programs with various distribution partners throughout the current quarter.

"We have worked very hard to position our company for a rapid expansion and are excited to be included in the Geek Squad Europe's Max protection programs that have launched in the U.K. We anticipate launching a number of additional programs through various channels which we believe will create a solid revenue base for our company enabling us to experience sustainable expansion for the foreseeable future. Over the past few quarters our team has worked hard to deliver what we believe is 'best in class' services that not only focus on the PC, but also multiple mobile platforms," said CEO Cery Perle.

The Apprentice TV Hopefuls Land Other Careers Upon Failure

november 28, 2010

Hopefuls who don't make it on to TV show The Apprentice still increase their chance of employment according to one auditioning British soldier who has found his role in a UK office estate agent manager.

Ben Burge is relishing his new role as sales manager at Harrison Murray’s Hunsbury branch in Northamptonshire. The company is an independent residential estate agents with 18 offices in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire.

Ben has joined the independent estate agents and valuers fresh from auditioning for TV’s The Apprentice, Lord Alan Sugar’s search to find his next protégé. Having successfully made it through the application stage, Ben was one of the final 3,000 hopefuls to go through to the third round of auditions before his experience came to an end. However, he is now putting all his drive, determination and enthusiasm into heading up Harrison Murray’s Hunsbury team.

Ben ,33, who previously served in the British Armed Forces, said: “Having spent around three years in the Royal Signals, I am able to use my discipline and attention to detail in my estate agency role. I have also spent some time as a property developer which has fuelled my interest in the industry.

Ben started his estate agency career in 1996 after leaving the army for a new challenge. He has spent the past 14 years either selling or developing property within Northamptonshire, where he has gained vast knowledge in this field.

Harrison Murray director Su Snaith said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Ben to the team and add to the continued success of Harrison Murray throughout the county.”

Dockland Office Workers Offered Deal On New Residential Properties

november 28, 2010

Docklands office workers are being offered a new development of apartments at Lanterns Court.

London-wide lettings specialist Young London, based in Central London offices in Waterloo, is offering a selection of suites and 1 bed apartments at Lanterns Court, E14. Interest in the development has been gaining momentum over the past three months and Young London has seen a high level of tenant enquiries at the development; increasing further as completion comes to fruition. Demand has been so strong that Young London has already secured tenants for a number of apartments in the development, with more eager to rent as soon as units become available.

The scheme features 639 suites, one, two and three bed apartments and penthouses across a number of blocks including a 17 storey tower at the development’s centre. Located in the Millharbour area of the Docklands, Lanterns Court is just a stone’s throw from the commercial and business centre of Canary Wharf and adds an impressive new landmark to the Docklands landscape.

The company says Lanterns Court “offers quality, comfort and convenience in equal measure which, combined with a fantastic location, equates to the perfect city pad for hardworking professionals.”

With such close proximity to Canary Wharf, Lanterns Court is just a short 10 minute walk away from the bustling hub of popular bars, restaurants and outdoor eateries that one of the world’s most prominent business districts has to offer. The area caters well for residents as well as those working in the area and beneath the office blocks there are four shopping centres with every facility that you could need including supermarkets, high street names, specialist boutique retailers and a wide selection of bars, cafes and restaurants.

First UK Bank To Open in 100 Year Looks To US Virtual Office Technology

november 27, 2010

UK banking could be set for a revolution as the first full service bank to enter the UK retail banking market in more than 100 years is to open UK offices and branches seven days a week with extended hours. The competition is updating the traditional banking hours to fit with the UK's 24-hour home working and virtual office culture.

Metro Bank opened its first branch in London's Holborn back in June and is to open 12 more in Greater London over the next two year. The American import has opened its central London office headquarters on Southampton Row in Holborn offices.

The company's internet banking, however will not be using all UK technology. The bank have announce California office-based ActivIdentity 4TRESS Authentication Server to secure access to the bank's Temenos T24 core banking solution.

The Silicon Valley based company says its platform significantly reduces the cost and complexity of deploying strong authentication with the bank's online banking platform, based on Temenos' ARC Internet. ActivIdentity provided the 4TRESS Authentication Server plus professional services to help Metro Bank go live with the solution. ActivIdentity 4TRESS Authentication Server lets organizations, like Metro Bank, respond quickly to new online attacks, evolving business requirements and changing customer needs. With this versatile authentication solution, Metro Bank gains the flexibility to meet security requirements for a wide range of deployment, end-user, and device options that are scalable to millions of users.

"We're pleased to provide the secure access for Temenos' ARC Internet system for Metro Bank and its customers," said Karl Weintz, senior vice president of corporate development and strategy, ActivIdentity. "The 4TRESS Authentication Server is an ideal security solution for flexible customer authentication capabilities for the ARC-IB component. It provides Metro Bank's customers with a highly secure infrastructure that doesn't sacrifice convenience or ease of use for their banking needs."

Virtual Big Business Goes Head To Head In New App

november 21, 2010

Virtual office big business battles to get local network advertising systems in place.

Hob-Knob... no not the British biscuit brand, but a Florida-office based web developer company, is to launch, in direct competition with Facebook, what it calls the next generation in geolocation web services.

Hob-Knob’s new geolocation mobile app is based on its proprietary Wi-Fi direct connect virtual network. It locates where you are and directly connects you to local businesses and services, offering live audio and video chat and social networking.

Hob-Knob, a new start-up company based in offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has received several inquiries following Facebook’s recent announcement of its “Deals” , a similar app to Hob-Knob’s.

Hob-Knob claims Facebook's move came of hot off the heels of a Hob-Knob patent for its app filed a month ago.

Gary Elzweig, chief executive officer of Hob-Knob noted, “At Hob-Knob, we remain very excited about our official launch anticipated for later this month. Our local based social networking technology is all about connecting people with each other on a local platform through a Wi-Fi direct connect virtual network with free audio and video chat, while also allowing merchants to push promotions directly to potential customers that are physically nearby without the user having to check-in with any specific retailer to receive promotions. We certainly know that Hob-Knob is on the right track when a company such as Facebook unveils a similar type of service on the heels of our provisional patent application, which was filed the with the US Patent office on September 29, 2010.”

Melissa Sabarese, Hob-Knob’s president said, “While Facebook’s “Deals” business model may appear on the surface to be similar to Hob-Knob’s app, we believe Hob-Knob has greater potential uses, benefits and versatility. For starters, our service is based on our next generation geolocation technology and our proprietary Wi-Fi direct connect virtual network. Also, Facebook’s “Deals” appears to just help businesses advertise and sell things to people that are nearby – it appears to lack our true locate, connect and hook-up features. In our opinion, “Deals”, as its name suggests, is simply about push promotions from merchants, more advertising and selling, whereas Hob-Knob is all about community, social networking and facilitating physical connections in our ever increasing digital world.”

40,000 to attend virtual office banking conference

november 21, 2010

A Californian bank is to hook up with 40,000 people to an investment and technology conference via virtual office.

Bridge Bank, a full service professional business bank headquartered in California offices in Silicon Valley, is participating in the first Annual Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic Conference. The two-and-a-half-day event is being held November 3-5 at George Mason University, Virginia, is to focus on political and technological developments impacting on global investment.

It is estimated that 200 entrepreneurs, institutional investors, venture capitalists, investment bankers, research analysts, corporate buyers and service providers will attend this initial conference. The most influential members of the financial and technology media and blogging community will also be on hand to moderate debates and cover the conference and it will be webcast to over 40,000 people world-wide.

This event joins those already held in Silicon Valley and at Harvard University. Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic is a two-and-a-half-day gathering that highlights the significant economic, political and technology trends impacting the global growth investor. The attendees for Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic will enjoy keynote presentations and panel debates by influential institutional investors, venture capitalists, corporate buyers, investment bankers, and research analysts from the Eastern United States. Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic will also include CEO Showcases with qualified companies seeking investment capital or potential acquirers.

"The Mid-Atlantic Region is a key part of our practice and we appreciate AlwaysOn providing us with an opportunity to meet and work with new potential clients and partners," said Paul Gibson, senior vice president of Bridge Bank's Technology Banking East Coast Office. "As with the other conferences, Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic will also provide our existing clients with an opportunity to showcase themselves and work with other companies and investors."

US Virtual Offices Can Compare Virtual Phone Systems

november 21, 2010

Virtual offices can now compare virtual phone systems with a company's new website.

PBXCompare.com, a company based in Austin offices in Texas, is rapidly gaining the attention of offices in the US as one of the most beneficial ways to save money while expanding upon business potential. It gives the companies range of phone systems in an easily comparable format.

A virtual phone system has the ability to enhance the functionality of a business by opening up the door to communication between employees and the clientele base of the business by redirecting incoming calls.

The cost-effective features of the PBX virtual phone system are making it simple for consumers and businesses alike to benefit from a virtual phone number, the redirecting of calls from your office to home phones, mobile phones, or other office phones, online voicemail, online call logs, and dial-by-name directories.

Giving businesses a flexible spectrum of plans to choose from is just one more stand-alone feature that has drawn attention to the exceptional services of this company. The basic virtual phone service plan comes with a 30 day free trial and costs only $9.99 per month. Such low rates for excellent services are hard to compete with. Included in that $9.99 fee, businesses will have the potential to use 5 extensions, 100 minutes of inbound minutes, a free local number with a plan, call forwarding, call holding, call transferring, call screening, voicemail, message alerts, web management, plus more. It is no wonder why even the most simple plan is giving people more bang for their buck than they have ever seen in the past. For additional features including increased extensions and more inbound minutes, you can upgrade your plan to a mid-level plan, or a corporate plan for just a minor additional out of pocket cost.

PBXCompare.com stands out on the market because of the well rounded, innovative ways in which they allow businesses to prosper for just a minimal monthly cost. Depending on the size of your business, they have given you a plethora of options to utilize as far as different features are concerned. People undeniably like the ability to customize their virtual phone system and PBXCompare.com has created the perfect balance between top of the line quality and affordability. With so much to offer to business owners, these new tools are making a PBX virtual phone service into a contemporary trend.

Virtual Office Workers Revealing Facts

november 19, 2010

A virtual office company has given revealing details about how remote office workers.

London office-based firm Virtual Office Group's internal records indicate that the predominant industries and professions which avail themselves of these options are consultancies, recruitment and human resources, financial services, and property advisers. The average age of the virtual clients is 49 but ages range from 27 to 72 years, and the typical number of employees per client is just over two members of staff. Over a decade ago, the number of female clients made up only 13 per cent of the total clientele but in the last five years this has risen dramatically with over 30 per cent of business today now comprising professional women.

Factors influencing the burgeoning virtual workforce include increased use of the internet and broadband, increased desire for more subjective and flexible working conditions providing healthier life/work balance, reduced operating costs and increased energy savings, less commuting and an interest from the ‘grey pound’ market to continue working and earning in semi-retirement. Increased use of social media providing an e-networking basis from which to source business opportunities has also contributed.

More business services and better technology supporting home and mobile workers
Comments VOG chairman, Richard Nissen.

“The consistency and excellence of our facilities and services are the reasons many of our clients give for their continued loyalty – 50 per cent of the group’s clients have been with the company for over five years, a further 15 per cent for over ten years, and 12 have made their professional home virtual for over 15 years. The longevity and motivation of our staff and management is a major factor – it’s gratifying to note that 70 per cent of our management have been with the group for ten years or more.”

The firm has opened a new virtual office solution has opened in London's West End.
180 Piccadilly has meant a conversion to two floors of the new building. The group has been expanding, and in July this year, the VOG welcomed its 10,000th client since commencing operation in 1992 and its 2,000th virtual office services customer.

Virtual Office IT Firm Launches New Cloud Technology

november 11, 2010

Riverbed Technology, the company which provides virtual office technology, has launched two new cloud solutions publicly via a webcast cloud launch event from offices in New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and London.

Its new Riverbed Cloud Steelhead was launched yesterday. By overcoming application and network performance problems, Cloud Steelhead instances accelerate the process of migrating data and applications to the public cloud, and accelerate access to that data and those applications from anywhere. Cloud Steelhead v1.0 will initially integrate with Amazon EC2 and Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC). To ensure seamless cloud integration, Cloud Steelhead instances will offer the "Steelhead(R) Discovery Agent" that offers a new form of transparent cloud interception, which ensures that WAN optimization can be used in highly automated, virtualized environments where the physical location of the customer's server might change at any time.

Secondly, the new Riverbed Whitewater appliance, a cloud storage accelerator targeting backup and select archive workloads, provides a simple, efficient way to offsite data to cloud storage environments powered by EMC(R) Atmos(R), AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service(SM), and Amazon S3.

The San Franisco office-based company says more than 8,700 enterprises worldwide depend on Riverbed to understand, optimize and consolidate their IT infrastructure.

"IT organisations at globally connected enterprises are charged with delivering highly efficient and secure IT, while still providing a rich experience to end users at the edge," said Eric Wolford, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Riverbed. "Private and public clouds offer the promise of efficiency and flexibility, but come with performance barriers caused by the distance between users and their data. Riverbed helps deliver flexible, accelerated performance without requiring IT organizations to make changes to their current architecture. And, as new vendors and approaches are adopted, Riverbed will be there to deliver the performance that enterprises require in simple, easy to deploy and manage solutions."

London's West End Offices Still Most Expensive While Office Rates Fall Globally

november 11, 2010

London's West End offices continues to be the world's most expensive market, according to CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE), while occupancy costs are declining globally.

The company's global research and consulting's semi-annual Global Office Rents survey said offices in Hong Kong's Central Business District continued in second place and also recorded the fastest year-over-year occupancy cost rise with a 34.2 per cent increase. Tokyo offices based at Inner Central remained the third most expensive market for office space. Mumbai held its fourth place position on the list while Moscow remains fifth in the CBRE rankings, which track occupancy costs for prime office space in 175 cities around the globe.

"Major markets in emerging economies feature prominently at the top of the list of most expensive office costs as measured in dollars per square foot," said Dr. Raymond Torto, CBRE's global chief economist. "This pattern developed just a few years ago and it is more pronounced today."

The survey found that on a year-over-year basis, occupancy costs are beginning to find their cyclical lows worldwide. Ninety-nine of these markets, a majority, experienced decline with 19 still registering double-digit percentage-point drops over the past 12 months. However, 61 markets saw occupancy costs rise for the year. Occupancy costs in fifteen markets were unchanged during that time period. The year-over-year change in office occupancy costs for the 175 markets monitored revealed a drop of only 1.3% worldwide.

Among the markets exhibiting the most significant gains were global gateway markets such as Hong Kong (Central CBD), London City and Sao Paulo. Gateway markets that posted more moderate gains included Paris, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.

Scottish Bank Posts Strong Financial Results

november 06, 2010

A Scottish bank has reported strong financial results despite the uncertain banking world and UK economy.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, which is headquartered in Scotland offices in Ayrshire, South west of Glasgow. achieved a substantial recovery in profitability in the year, with pre-tax cash earnings growth of 53 per cent to £164 million (from £107m). The bank is owned by the National Australia Bank Group, which is headquartered in Melbourne offices, Australia.

This significant improvement in profitability was achieved while balancing profit with increased security. The bank has continued to strengthen and reshape its balance sheet in preparation for the UK economy returning to more stable conditions.

Liquidity levels further strengthened and, as at 30 September 2010, Clydesdale Bank held a substantial portfolio of liquid assets totalling £10.1 billion (from £8.7bn in September 2009) – a four-fold increase in three years.

Double-digit deposit growth continued despite intense market competition. Average retail customer deposits grew by 11 per cent or £2.3 billion to £23.1 billion – more than double the UK industry average growth rate. Deposit growth across iFS (Integrated Financial Services - Clydesdale /Yorkshire Bank’s business banking division) was 13 per cent with the retail network delivering 8 per cent. This growth has helped to further strengthen the Banks’ funding position with longer term wholesale funding, retail deposits and longer term funding now covering 105 per cent of lending.

Capital ratios were further improved during the period. An additional £310 million of ordinary share capital was injected into Clydesdale Bank, further strengthening an already robust capital base. At 30 September 2010, the Tier 1 capital ratio was 9 per cent (up from 8.2 per cent at September 2009).

UK Office Market Decline Says RICS

november 06, 2010

Demand for commercial property continues to decline, with the UK office sector seeing the largest falls, says the latest RICS Commercial Market Survey.

After a positive start to the year, occupier demand fell for the second consecutive quarter in Q3 2010, although the net balance was slightly less negative at -7 compared to -9 in Q2.

Demand for office space showed the greatest decline, falling to -14, after growing to +19 at the beginning of 2010. Chartered surveyors report that concerns over the economy have prompted a more cautious attitude from firms when making investment decisions, which is impacting heavily on the market.

Supply to the market continued to increase at roughly the same pace as previous three months. The biggest rises occurred in the Midlands and the North, while available space broadly stabilised in London offices and those in the South West.

Office space increased at the greatest pace; with 23 per cent more chartered surveyors reporting a rise than a fall in availability. By way of contrast, the amount of retail space fell in the South West and South East for the first time since 2005, perhaps signaling an improvement in the retail market there.

Surveyors’ expectations for increased supply and weaker demand impacted on their outlook for rental growth, with 16 per cent more anticipating rents falling rather than rising over the next three months. Expectations for Central London office rents stabilised after increasing in Q2, while industrial rents in the capital also broadly stabilised.

Elsewhere however, rental expectations dropped across the office, retail and industrial sectors. Development starts for Central London offices increased for the first time since the crisis, albeit at a relatively slow pace. This is reflected by new large scale developments such as the 37-storey ‘Walkie Talkie’ skyscraper adding City of London offices and showing some confidence may be returning to this sector of the market.

However, the picture is not as positive across the rest of England and Wales where starts continue to decline in all other sectors and regions. Development activity in the London retail sector was also particularly weak.

Investment purchases in property also declined over the past three months, with 12 per cent more surveyors reporting a fall than rise in purchases of commercial real estate. Significantly, softer investment demand for office and industrial real estate saw capital values fall back for the second consecutive quarter, with only London seeing rises in values.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “We are seeing a mixed picture for the commercial property sector across England and Wales. The year started positively, but worries over the impact of spending cuts and the sustainability of the economic recovery appear to be creating an air of caution, which is impacting on the commercial property sector.

Nevertheless, providing the private sector does begin to fill left by a smaller state and the inflation picture does not justify a sharp uplift in interest rates, the likelihood is that the commercial property market will avoid a meaningful relapse into recession.”

Walkie Talkie Skyscraper Ploughs Ahead In Huge New Central London Office Development

november 06, 2010

Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group are ploughing ahead with the Central London office development of 20 Fenchurch Street into the Walkie Talkie Skyscraper

The existing property, currently a cleared site with some ancillary retail neighbouring holdings, has been sold by Land Securities to the Partnership at a price of £90.2m, in line with the March 2010 valuation.
Planning consent for the proposed 37 storey building was granted in October 2009. It will provide approximately 690,000 sq ft of Canary Warf office space in floor plate sizes of 14,000 sq ft to 28,000 sq ft with a skygarden on the top three floors. It is one of the largest developments in the UK office market since the recession.

The Partnership will construct the project under a staged programme at an anticipated total development cost of £500m. To enable a condensed programme, construction of the substructure of the building and detailed design of the superstructure will start immediately. Completion to the ground floor level is planned for February 2012. Construction of the superstructure will follow, with completion of the project anticipated in the second quarter of 2014.

Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group have been appointed as joint Development Managers and both are responsible for the leasing, with Land Securities taking the lead. Canary Wharf Contractors Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canary Wharf Group, has been appointed as Construction Manager.
Robert Noel, Managing Director of Land Securities’ London Portfolio, said: “Earlier this year we announced our intention to carry out this project in joint venture and we are delighted to have teamed up with Canary Wharf Group to do so. The joint venture brings together two substantial companies with complementary skills in the conception and delivery of large schemes in London. The transaction allows us to take forward other projects within our substantial development pipeline in London so that we offer a range of building types and sizes in a range of locations across the capital.”

George Iacobescu, Chief Executive Officer of Canary Wharf Group, said: “We are looking forward to this opportunity to apply our extensive experience as a developer of large, high specification and bespoke office buildings for a diverse range of clients. We are also delighted that on this occasion we will be working alongside Land Securities with its own impressive pedigree and track record. This joint venture project will provide further evidence of our approach to the development and construction of very high quality buildings in London.”

Award Winning City of London Office And Shopping Development To Restore Cheapside

november 06, 2010

A new City of London office and shopping development offers approximately 330,000 sq feet of prestigious office space and 220,000 sq feet of retail space of shops, cafés and restaurants – restoring Cheapside to its rightful place as one of London's great commercial thoroughfares.

One New Change, saw a successful opening day on October 29 with just under 20,000 customers visiting from midday. Its developmer, Land Securities, says the centre is set to transform the City of London as it combines a custom-built retail offer with world-class office space for the first time.

At the time of the opening, all but one of the retail outlets were let demonstrating the confidence in the attractive location. Some 47 shops and restaurants, which opened on the first day, reported excellent trading exceeding estimated targets. The remaining outlets (60 in total) are due to open in the next few months.
The development cost is £540m and spans 550,000 sq feet over eight floors, and with this scheme, Land Securities has created the largest consolidated retail and office space in the City.

The City mall on Cheapside with its unique location next to St Paul’s will house around 3,000 Central London office workers when fully let as well as offering seven-day retail and leisure further boosting the development’s appeal to local workers, residents and tourists. To date already over a third of the office space has been let.

The iconic building with roof terrace, designed by architect Jean Nouvel has stunning views of St Paul’s. The modernist development has over 6,000 floor-to-ceiling glass panes flooding the floors with natural light. Even before its opening, One New Change scooped the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Award for mixed-use – the first time a UK office development has won since 30 St Mary’s Axe (The Gherkin) in 2005.

Robert Noel, Managing Director of Land Securities London Portfolio said: “One New Change has been designed in sympathy with its rich architectural surroundings. The City mall brings high-street brands, independent shops and unique concept restaurants to the City to complement its museums, art galleries and breath-taking architecture.”

Business Startup Show On Today - Drop In

may 21, 2010

One of the largest exhibitions for SMEs, Business Startup 2010, is on at the ExCel centre in London today. It is now in its eleventh successful year, and pulls together dozens of exhibitors including from the office world and virtual office market as well as banking, financial advisors, business support and company formation experts.

Over the decade, its organisors have researched literally thousands of companies that offer services to anyone starting, developing or expanding a business, and bring them together under one roof to help entrepreneurs source the information, advice and services needed to run a successful business.

This year comes with a Dragon's Den twist, featuring the TV programme's now famous Richard Farleigh, as well of some of the online series' top dragons. They are all around the show, but will be offering special talks and workshops. One will be given by one of the programme's most memorable entrepreneurs, Levi Roots, who sang his way into £50,000 cash on Dragon's Den to invest in his Reggae Reggae Sauce. It's become a a national sellout.

Julie Meyer, star of BBC's Dragons' Den Online, will give an overview of how the UK has become an "entrepreneur country" after her most recent startup. Julie founded Entrepreneur Country which is dedicated community for leading and emerging entrepreneurs, investors, the media and corporate partners who service the start-up industry across the UK and Europe. She says the show is invaluable.

“The Business Startup show is invaluable to anyone starting or growing a business, particularly in terms of the advice and information available. I feel entrepreneurs like myself, who have hands-on experience of what it takes to start a business, really need to pass this knowledge on to others starting out. I'm always excited to speak at this event and meet some of the UK's up and coming entrepreneurial talent."

UK Police Forces To Get Secure Virtual Office

may 16, 2010

The UK's police forces will have a American virtual office security system. The National Policing Improving Agency (NPIA) has procured 250,000 licenses of ActivIdentity's ActivID Card Management System to issue digital credentials to members of the UK's police forces.

US firm ActivIdentity, which has head offices in Silicon Valley, California, has been selected as a key component of the NPIA Identity and Access Management (IAM) framework, which Siemens Enterprise Communications owns and operates. The implementation of this solution brings all UK police forces one step closer to achieving a single IT environment driven by the NPIA's Information Systems Improvement Strategy (ISIS), being run from its head offices in central London's Victoria Street.

The ActivID system allows NPIA and associated police forces to issue and manage digital credentials on smart cards and securely update applications and credentials. The ActivIdentity ActivClient security software will enable all of the country's police agencies to secure workstations with smart cards while enforcing strong authentication for desktop access, network login, and remote access to the new Central Service infrastructure, focusing on the Police National Database (PND) as the first national application.

"NPIA's decision to procure an end-to-end identity and access solution via Siemens Enterprise Communications' framework demonstrates their forward-looking commitment to ensuring that the right people get access to confidential and potentially critical case information," said Craig Pollard, head of the criminal justice sector at Siemens Enterprise Communications. "Together with ActivIdentity we are continuing to extend our market share in the UK law enforcement sector by delivering innovative solutions that offer value for money."

Once in place, this new infrastructure will provide a national Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and federated authentication model, which will promote confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity across all UK police forces. Individual police forces may re-use their smart card deployments to deliver equally secure confidentiality, integrity and authenticity services locally or regionally through collaborative working practices encouraged by the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Freelancing Out Of A Fractional Office Space Soho

may 05, 2011

The buzz is all about cloud computing. You're only a digital post box away from setting up your own business. The logistics and the legalities have been streamlined tremendously. Today, you can incorporate online in a few minutes. And if you need an office-front to use to meet and greet clients and customers, then you can quite easily, quite quickly secure some office space Soho on the web. It's super easy, literally clicks away. This frees you up to focus on the business at hand, but this also means that you can leverage yourself much, much better.

Literally, you can be a one-man-show. You don't need a support staff (not in house anyway). All you have to do is figure out what things you need, being a particular entity. Say you're a freelance writer, and you have a number of clients and projects that you're working with, and all you really need is somebody to make sure that you're setting aside enough for taxes at the end of the fiscal year. That's a big thing, and thankfully, a lot of these office space services firms can help you with regards to that. So taxes are one thing, but answering phone calls in the middle of the night, in order to court international clients abroad is another. That's where niche London virtual office service centers come into play. With these service centers, you can have round the clock services running, even while you're sleeping. Never before has it been possible to do business quite like this.

London Office Market First To Bounce Back

march 11, 2010

The London office market was hit hard and early by the global financial crisis, but it has been one of the first to bounce back in comparison with other leading financial centres, according to research from the leading commercial property consultant, CB Richard Ellis.

Their 'How Did They Fare?' report found London’s property market responded most rapidly to the onset of the crisis and has been the first to see rents turning back up. London and Hong Kong saw much stronger improvement in investment volumes and values. In London this was driven largely by overseas investors enhanced by Sterling’s depreciation. This is all despite London and New York offices saw a greater and earlier direct impact from contraction of demand in banking in finance when compared with cities in Asia. But pricing and activity was already rebounding over the second half of 2009, due to strong demand from overseas investors. Rental stabilisation was evident as early as the third quarter of 2009 in London

Comparing office markets in London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo – four top-ranking international financial centres (IFCs), the report noted that 
London’s office investment market was an early casualty of the credit crunch, with values and turnover dropping sharply from late 2007. Dr Peter Damesick, Head of UK Research for CB Richard Ellis, said: “Our report reveals key differences between these four IFCs in terms of the effects of the crisis and the trends that have emerged as signs of recovery have appeared.”


The report also found Tokyo’s market was hesitant in signs of recovery over the second half of 2009, while in both London and Manhattan there was a significant pick-up in office demand as financial market conditions improved. 
But Hong Kong has had an even larger rebound in office values in 2009 to near pre-crisis levels. Meanwhile New York's capital values were the worst affected with a drop of around 55%.


Top London Offices Win Green Award

june 27, 2010

Top offices in London have achieved a major green credential award as the environment continues to raise the profile well-known companies.

Jones Lang LaSalle's offices in the West End's Hanover Square, Aon's office in The City, Hays Plc in Euston, with other winners including Arsenal FC, Twickenham RFU, ING Wholesale Banking have all won a gold award at the Green 500 Better Buildings Partnership Awards Ceremony.

Sponsored by the Mayor of London and aims to recognise those London organisations that have taken action to reduce their CO2 emissions. Another Gold winner this year included the National Theatre.

Current CO2 emissions in London stand at 44 million tonnes. A ‘business-as-usual’ approach would see emissions rise to 51 million tonnes by 2025. This increase goes against the UK Government’s commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050. Through Green500, businesses in London have the opportunity to play their part in achieving this challenging target.

Green500 is one of a number of London Development Agency (LDA) initiatives, including the Better Buildings Partnership, which aims to reduce the capital’s CO2 emissions amongst the City’s leading property owners. The aim of Green500 is to enlist some of London’s largest and most prestigious organisations, and mentor them through their carbon reduction commitments.

Commenting on the award win, Julie Hirigoyen, head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Energy and Sustainability team, said: “This is an excellent accolade for us and we are delighted to be playing such a vital role in helping London and indeed the UK to meet the Government’s carbon emissions targets. This award reflects the cross-team effort and success within Jones Lang LaSalle’s global ACT (A Cleaner Tomorrow) campaign.”

UK Office Construction Pulls Back Growth In New Builds Nationally

june 24, 2010

The construction of new offices in the UK continues to wan as the value of UK construction projects starting on site in the three months to May 2010 fell back to below 2006 levels as fewer public sector projects followed the General Election.

“The recent pick-up in private housing, retail, hotel and leisure projects will continue to be tempered by low levels of activity in the industrial and office sectors over the next few months,” says Allan Wilen, economics director, Glenigan.

“However conditions in the industrial and commercial property markets have improved and a more widespread strengthening in private sector activity is forecast over the next two years. In contrast Government funding cuts will restrict the flow of new public sector schemes over the medium term.”

The Glenigan Index for May was 10 per cent up on a year ago, but lower than the Index for March and April this year. “The construction industry will be looking to the private sector as government funded schemes come under increasing pressure in the coming months” commented Mr Wilen.

The Glenigan Index is published monthly by Glenigan, the leading providers of UK construction industry market intelligence. The Bournemouth office based firm monitors and tracks the monthly flow of construction projects valued from £100,000 up to £100 million starting on site each month across the UK.

Residential project starts in the three months to May showed a clear divergence between private and public funded projects. “The value of private housing project starts remained 58 per cent up on a year ago while social housing developments fell back from the surge seen in the first quarter. This pattern is forecast to continue in the coming months as housebuilders look to capitalise on gradually improving market conditions and social housing starts remain under pressure” according to Mr Wilen. The Glenigan Residential Index remained 26 per cent higher than a year ago, but fell back from the rise seen in the past two months.

Countering a weak start to the year, the Glenigan Civil Engineering Index for May was 11 per cent higher than a year ago. Civil engineering has been boosted by new utility projects including energy, waste and water projects.

There have been marked differences in regional construction trends in recent months. Mr Wilen commented “There has been a sharp divergence in project starts over recent months, with Scotland, Wales and the north of England enjoying a sharp rise in project starts compared to a year ago. In contrast, the flow of project starts has been at best flat in the south of England” according to Mr Wilen.

New Business Group To bring Offices In Chester Together

june 17, 2010

A new business networking group for Cheshire offices is to bring the area greater business opportunities and have already got its first member before even launching.

Business Network Chester, the city’s newest business networking organisation, has welcomed its first new member in the shape of Frodsham businesswoman Lisa Ludlow.

The director and co-owner of Cheshire based business transformation specialists wasted no time in making contact in a pro-active gesture the Chester Network hopes will be repeated.

“Although I can’t officially become a member until I sign on the dotted line on the launch day of June 30th, I wanted to ensure Tracy Griffiths, the head of the new network knew of my determination to be a member,” said Lisa from her Macclesfield office.

“I’ve been a long term member of the Business Network Manchester and have experienced the huge benefits that this organisation has brought to my business As well as providing a valuable support group and being a source of trusted suppliers, it has also generated a great deal of business for me.

“But above all, the Business Network has given me a whole new group of friends who I enjoy catching up with at our monthly networking meetings. I’m convinced the formula will do equally well in Chester and I want to share in its success,” she added.

Tracy Griffiths, speaking from her Chester office said: “I will be delighted to officially welcome Lisa as our first member at our launch. Her enthusiasm is more than welcome especially coming from a director of a highly successful and rather unique Cheshire business.”

New London Office For Global Online Sales Software Company

june 13, 2010

BigMachines, a global leader in on-demand sales configuration, has announced the opening of another major office location in London. The new office marks the biggest development for the company, which has headquarters base in office in Chicago, but also offices in San Mateo, California (USA), Frankfurt and Hyderabad in India.

A dramatic increase in demand for the company's products and services necessitated an additional location. The office in London is to be staffed with sales as well as project management and implementation specialists to better serve BigMachines expanding customer base in the UK. Company executives are pleased with the expansion in challenging economic times.

"We are excited about the expansion of our European operations and BigMachines continued growth in Europe even during the current economic situation", says Joachim Klein, BigMachines VP and general manager Europe.

The BigMachines global team has grown to 110 with almost 20 team members located in Europe, representing all functions of the company.

BigMachines is the global leader in on-demand sales configuration, quoting and proposal software. The software solutions are designed to boost sales across customers' channels by streamlining online processes from opportunity to order. A time-effective configuration products, generate quotes and proposals together with managed complex pricing, generate legal contracts, and manage orders has put BigMachines in a strong position in the online sales market. Their software also offers extensive reporting capabilities and easily integrates to leading CRM and ERP systems, including those from Salesforce.com, Oracle, and SAP. BigMachines has a rapidly growing customer base including global leaders such as Kodak's GCG, Siemens, Ingersoll Rand, and NTT Communications.

Central London Office Drag Stumbling UK Property Market Along

june 10, 2010

Central London offices continue to tug the UK's overall shaky property market stability according to latest research, as gains outside the capital lag.

Offices had total returns of 1.4 percent and a capital uplift of 0.9 percent. This was thanks to another relatively strong month for central London offices, their fifth consecutive month of out-performance. But offices outside central London were amongst the worst performers for May, with total returns of 0.9 percent and capital growth of 0.3 percent in both Greater London areas and offices across the United Kingdom.

There has been a general slowdown seen over the past few months, with total returns of 1.8% percent down from 2.6% percent in April. Capital values in central London grew by 1.4 percent in May.

Compared with industrial property peformance, which continued to lag in May, recordings total returns of offices look healthier than 0.9 percent and capital growth of 0.3 percent for the month. This is a continuation of their relative under-performance compared with office and retail markets, with year to date total returns trailing at 6.5 percent, compared with 9.1 percent and 10.5 percent for All Retail and All Office respectively. 



Retail performance followed the wider slowdown in May with total returns of 1.1 percent and capital growth of 0.6 percent, with shopping centres the strongest performing retail sub-sector with total returns of 1.2 percent.


The largest turnaround came in central London offices where rental values grew by 0.2 percent.


Nick Parker, economics and investment analyst for CB Richard Ellis UK, commented: “Central London offices continue to out-perform in an investment market dominated by doubts over income security. All Property values have rebounded by around 17 percent since the middle of last year, with prime assets leading the recovery. However, many investors are now increasingly cautious, feeling the property market is fully priced, hence the slowdown in transaction volumes in recent months. Despite this, the recent downward pressure on gilt yields has reinforced the positive risk premium for property, implying attractive relative pricing. Whether this leads to renewed investment momentum later in the year remains to be seen.”

Virtual Office Health And Safety Training For Big Corporates Using Phone Apps

july 22, 2010

One of the UK's newest virtual office health and safety training companies is using phone apps and streaming video to train up large corporates on the subject.

The Safety Train, which recently relocated its operations to offices in Sheffield, says the move seems to be paying off.


Jonathan Blythe, The Safety Train's business development director, explained: "The company grew from a need to provide distance learning in health and safety-related subjects - principally because it was proving difficult to arrange classroom-based courses to suit the diaries of a large number of delegates who were based throughout the UK. 



"Our answer was to form The Safety Train and provide the training via e-learning materials delivered via streaming video over the web and mobile phone apps." 


The South Yorkshire office came about after the company encountered Learning Light, a centre dedicated to treaching on the use of e-learning and learning technologies in the workplace. David Patterson, Learning Light's project director, convinced the company to make the Sheffield move.


"Indeed, David's advice and guidance on all aspects of the e-learning market as well as on our head office location has proved to be most valuable. The early signs are that this move to Sheffield is producing all that we had hoped it would in business terms," Mr Blythe added. 


Learning Light's David Patterson commented: 
"In recent years, Sheffield has established itself as the UK's e-learning capital - taking over from the Brighton area where the first e-learning companies were concentrated in the 1980s.

“Key e-learning related knowledge and skills are now well-represented among the working population in the Sheffield area - and this is helping to attract e-learning content and systems developers to set up in and around the city," he continued. 


Goldman Sachs Report Difficult Q2 2010 With UK Bankers' Bonus Taking Its Toll

july 22, 2010

The Goldman Sachs Group, the leading global investment banking, has reported a difficult second quarter of 2010.

Net revenues in investment banking were $917m, 36 per cent lower than the second quarter of 2009 and 23 per cent lower than the first quarter of 2010. Net revenues in financial advisory were $472m, 28 per cent higher than the second quarter of 2009, primarily reflecting an increase in client activity. Net revenues in the firm's underwriting business were $445m, 58 per cent lower than the second quarter of 2009.

The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

A big hit came from the banking bonuses tax in the UK. Legislation imposed a non-deductible 50 per cent tax on certain financial institutions in respect of discretionary bonuses in excess of GBP 25,000 awarded under arrangements made between December 9, 2009 and April 5, 2010 to "relevant banking employees." Operating expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 included an estimate of $600 million related to this tax.

But despite the $1.15 billion of additional expenses related to the U.K. bank payroll tax and the SEC settlement, book value per common share and tangible book value per common share increased 1 per cent during the quarter to $123.73 and $112.82, respectively.

"The market environment became more difficult during the second quarter and, as a result, client activity across our businesses declined," said Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer. "Looking ahead, we remain focused on helping our clients to raise capital, manage risk and invest for the future, which are all important to economic growth."

UK Investment Banking Firm To Develop Virtual Security Software With US Partner

july 18, 2010

A British investment banking firm with offices in New York and London is to develop virtual security tools in a new deal with a US firm.

Nicaragua Rising and Ceelox, developers of biometric security and encryption software solutions for financial institutions, have engaged investment banking firm Laidlaw & Company as a strategic partner to develop its biometric authentication and data security software products.

The Company recently retained Laidlaw to provide financial advisory and investment banking services and to provide advice on strategic transactions.

Ceelox, with offices headquartered in Tampa, Florida, was formed for the purpose of developing and marketing advanced fingerprint biometric technology and encryption software solutions. Their software solutions allow banking, healthcare and other vitual-data holding firms to allow customers secure access and storage of confidential information.

"We have the highest confidence in Laidlaw. Their history in the banking world coupled with our products and intellectual property should ensure a good fit with the substantial opportunity existing in the authentication and data security industry," stated Gerry Euston, CEO of Nicaragua Rising and Ceelox.

Executive Vice President and Head of Investment Banking for Laidlaw, Theodore Fowler commented, "The Ceelox biometric product set is an excellent fit for companies needing data, network access or on-line infrastructure security. We are pursuing multiple opportunities along these lines and believe that completing a transaction would complement the Ceelox technology as well as augment access to its addressable target market."

Laidlaw is a full-service investment banking and securities brokerage firm which provides wealth management advice for domestic and international high-net-worth and institutional clients. Its investment banking arm provides capital raising, M&A, restructuring and other financial advisory services for public and private small cap and middle market clients across a broad cross-section of industry sectors.

Virtual Office IT Support For Top UK Law Firm

july 18, 2010

A leading global UK-based law firm is outsourcing IT support to a law-specific virtual office.

Eversheds LLP, one of the largest and most progressive global corporate law firms, today announced it has selected Intelliteach, the largest legal-specific outsourced service desk company, on a pilot basis to assist with a Microsoft Office 2007 software upgrade.

This is the first Intelliteach client agreement with a UK headquartered international law firm, and adds to the service desk support which the IT firm already provides to 18 large US-based firms with UK offices.

"Eversheds has a keen focus on and reputation for innovation, and we are constantly looking for new ways to ensure we provide client service excellence on all levels. A specialist legal IT Supplier like Intelliteach is in an ideal position to deliver innovative support. We look forward to working together over the coming months," noted Paul Caris, Eversheds CIO.

According to Michael Gladwin, the firm’s head of service delivery, introducing new technologies to firm users typically results in an initial increase of service desk calls and a related learning curve. "When talking with Intelliteach, we really liked the fact that their sole focus is law firm service desk work and that they are accustomed to interacting with legal users and handling unique legal workflows. Beyond being a very likeable group, they have established clients stateside that have gone through similar technology upgrades so that provides us with a knowledge base and support benchmarks we can lever right from the outset."

"We have worked incredibly hard to earn the trust and respect of all of our clients and are very proud to include a global law firm leader such as Eversheds to our roster," stated Lance Waagner, President and CEO of Intelliteach and former large law firm CIO. "We opened our London office to better serve the needs of an increasingly global law firm community and are excited to welcome Eversheds as an ‘early adopter’. Based on our support of 80,000 law firm users and providing answers to 50,000 legal application questions every month, we feel confident about expertly supporting Eversheds and its service desk needs."

Atlanta office-based Intelliteach, which is dedicated to the law firm market, has over 110 law firm software service desk experts. The company provides 42-7 coverage via various service help desk support options, and opened a dedicated London office in December 2009.

Top London Office Based Property Consultancy Predict Office Market Gloom In UK Public Spending Cuts

july 18, 2010

Public sector cuts pose the biggest threat to commercial and office property markets according to Knight Frank’s market outlook at its London office headquarters.

In a breakfast, hosted by Knight Frank’s valuations and research teams, heads of residential and commercial research presented their property forecasts and provided market overviews.

61 per cent believed a weak economic backdrop would pose the greatest threat to a steady commercial property market recovery. It noted, however, that during 2009 45 per cent of all office transactions over 50,000 sq ft outside of London and the South East were for public sector occupiers, far higher than the audience’s estimate.

For this reason, and highlighting the Government target to reduce public sector spending by 25 per cent with a consequent loss of an estimated 610,000 public sector jobs by 2016, Knight Frank expected that, for many markets, public sector cuts would be the most significant threat to market recovery.

The company also said that 63 per cent of those questioned predicted total property returns would be between six and 10 per cent in 2010, while a fifth anticipated a higher out-turn of 10 to 15 per cent, in line with Knight Frank’s own forecast for a total return to commercial property of 14.1 per cent this year

Claire Higgins, head of commercial research, commented: “Given the circumstances, it was a good Budget for business which, in turn, is good for commercial property. However, the outcome of this autumn’s Spending Review may prove more telling – if perhaps only for those markets outside London and the South East. How will the already struggling regional markets cope with the downsizing of one of their most important occupiers, rising unemployment and falling consumer expenditure? On balance across the UK markets, a strong first half to this year in terms of capital growth will underpin a healthy return to commercial property this year of just over 14 per cent. That will then ease to an average 7 per cent per annum as we weather the fiscal turmoil and make our way closer to the end of this parliament.”

Frank Knight and its New York office-based global partner, Newmark Knight Frank, operate from 207 offices, in 43 countries

US Exporter To Set Up London Office

july 16, 2010

OBN Holdings, the Nevada office headquartered firm, has announced the formation of Kyodo UK Ltd. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary formed under the laws of the United Kingdom, will be based in offices in London.

"The formation of Kyodo UK results in a number of opportunities for OBN Holdings," stated Roger Neal Smith, OBN Holdings President and CEO. "It provides greater support for the beverage operations being developed and exported from the region. Additionally, Kyodo UK Ltd will be able to take advantage of various British government financial support and export incentives available to businesses based in the country."

Kyodo UK Ltd will be responsible for handling activities throughout the United Kingdom and European Union, and will interface with other OBN entities.

The company's Las Vegas office is involved in import/export and entertainment coordination. When acquired by OBN Holdings, Kyodo's major trading activity was buying pork products from Mexico, and selling them to distributors in Japan. Now, the company has expanded its product offerings to include wine, vitamins, Japanese sake, clothing, electronic cigarettes and bed linen. Additionally, the areas in which Kyodo is developing distribution networks include North America, the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East and Asia.

OBN Holdings is engaged in acquisition and subsequent development of businesses worldwide. The company has interests in a diverse number of industries, including entertainment, manufacturing, technology and business services. OBN is internationally diversified with offices and subsidiaries in the United States, Hong Kong and Japan. The company posted revenue of $18m for its previous fiscal year.

Virtual Office And Learning Tech Company Buyout US Competitors

july 11, 2010

A global virtual office and learning technology company has bought out two of its American competitors to increase the reach of the virtual technology giant.

Blackboard Inc. the Washington DC office based company has announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire both Elluminate, Inc. and Wimba, Inc., two of the leading providers of synchronous learning and collaboration technology to the education markets. The sale is for a total of approximately $116m.

Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online while facilitating campus commerce and security. Founded in 1997, Blackboard now has offices in Australia and across North America, Europe and Asia.

The buyouts will form Blackboard Collaborate, the newest standalone platform in the company’s family of education solutions. Blackboard, combined with the teams from Elluminate, with office in Calgary, Alberta and Wimba in its New York offices, will pursue greater innovation for integrations with open source applications and other commercial learning management systems.

“We’ve heard directly from our clients that this technology has become increasingly fundamental to the learning process for the online course experience and beyond,” said Michael L. Chasen, Blackboard President and CEO. “Collaboration technology is joining the range of solutions that our clients are leveraging to support and improve the teaching and learning experience. We expect this will grow as institutions look for cost-effective ways to encourage social learning and support learning interactions of all kinds.”

Together, Elluminate and Wimba serve more than 2,600 institutions in the US as well as other in the higher education, international and professional education markets.

Cambridge Office And Commercial Property Market Update By Experts

july 08, 2010

A Cambridge business group is hosting top experts to discuss Cambridgeshire's office and commercial property opportunities.

The next breakfast networking meeting of the Elite Cambridge Business Circle will take place at the end of July at Clydesdale Bank's offices in Cambridge.

The meeting will feature a presentation by Joelle du Lac, director of external affairs at the Cambridge Judge Business School. Ms du Lac was formerly director of development at King’s College, Cambridge, and has previously held the positions of director of alumni relations and MBA Admissions Manager at INSEAD in France.

Cambridge Judge Business School is part of the Faculty of Business & Management at the University of Cambridge. Established in 1990, Cambridge Judge Business School is an internationally recognised provider of management education. Ranked 21 in the 2010 FT Global Rankings of business schools, 11 in the 2009 Economist Intelligence Unit Global MBA Rankings, and third in the 2009 Forbes Global Rankings for one year MBA programmes, the Cambridge MBA sits alongside the best in the world.

An update about the commercial property market by Andrew Gordon and Nick Brammar of leading commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton, the central London office firm. The meeting will be rounded off by a look at the current banking climate by Stephen Horrey, partner, business development at the Clydesdale Bank Financial Solutions Centre.

The Elite Cambridge Business Circle is an association of some of the top companies in Cambridgeshire. Founded in 2009, the Elite Cambridge Business Circle celebrates and reports the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial excellence and business innovation that abounds within the county boundaries of Cambridgeshire.

Global Office Top 10 - London's West End World's Most Expensive Offices

january 28, 2010

Offices in London’s West End were the world’s most expensive in 2009, outranking cities such as Hong Kong, Paris and Dubai according to property consultant DTZ's latest Global Occupancy Costs survey.

Costing an average of $21,420 (£13,184) despite an 11% drop in occupancy costs, the West End is also projected to remain the most expensive location, with Hong Kong, Tokyo, Washington D.C. and Paris (CBD) becoming the top five in 2013. Whilst those seeking premises may have to resort to a virtual office in the West End, the London and UK office markets are looking healthy.

London City is forecast to show the strongest growth in occupancy costs in the UK over the forecast period. The average occupancy cost per workstation in the UK decreased by 8% in 2009. Bristol and London City made the biggest savings, at -13% and -12%. The only market to see cost increases was Cardiff’s 2% hike. London City is forecast to see the strongest growth in the UK over the next three years, with occupancy costs increasing by USD 3,770 to reach USD 16,520 per workstation. DTZ also agree with other commentators predicting a sharp recovery in rental growth for prime property in 2010 as recovering demand combines with a rapidly declining supply of new space. Recovery in the West End will be slower.

All UK office markets will be impacted by the property tax revaluation coming into force in April 2010. This will change the basis for calculating rental values ruling in April 2008 - at the top of the current cycle, whereas the previous basis was April 2003, when office rents were at a relatively low point. But increases will be phased in over the next five years to mitigate the impact.

DTZ say shifting market conditions as well as marked fluctuations in exchange rates against the USD caused substantial changes to the global rankings. Several new entrants entered the list of the top 10 most expensive office markets in 2009, including Zurich, Boston and Frankfurt. The 10 least expensive locations were once again dominated by Asia Pacific. Hong Kong will be catching up fast, and is expected to surpass Tokyo as the most expensive location in the Asia Pacific region.

Top 10 – Most expensive prime rents per annum (USD)

1- London (West End) ($21,420)
2- Tokyo (Central 5 Wards)
3- Washington D.C.
4- Hong Kong
5- Geneva
6- Paris (CBD)
7- New York City (Midtown)
8 - Zurich
9 - Boston
10 - Frankfurt ($14,770)

RICS Indicate Office Market Recovery

january 26, 2010

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has given its own indications that the London office market is leading economy out of recession. The amount of office space in London declined for the first time in two years says the RICS' UK Commercial Property Survey.

14 percent more chartered surveyors reported a rise in tenant demand up from eight percent in the previous quarter, the second successive rise in tenant demand and the first time that there has been an upward trend since early 2007. The increases were seen in the fourth quarter of 2009 with London office space and industrial property proving popular. The retail market has yet to show signs of recovery.

Eight percent more chartered surveyors reported a fall in available floor space in London down from a positive balance of 37 percent. This is the first time the net balance for office availability has turned negative for two years with central London witnessing the strongest upturn in activity. Office rents in the capital which stabilised for the first time in two years. Investment transactions rose across all sectors with 35 percent of chartered surveyors reporting a rise, up from seven percent in the third quarter.

RICS senior economist Oliver Gilmartin, says rent increases are needed to stabalise the early signs of recovery.
"To be sustained, the rapid rise in capital values in the London market needs to be supported by further rental increases particularly as prime yields are rapidly approaching financing costs. The reluctance of banks to lend to developers has clearly added some support to rents in London as available space is no longer rising outside the retail sector.”

London Virtual Office e-Learning Firm Explores iPad and India

january 22, 2011

A London office based e-learning company is expanding to Apple iPad as a learning platform as it opens an office in India.

Saffron Interactive, based in the central London offices in Clerkenwell, has announced Nick Simons, who returns to the company in a strategic role after two years away, will be running the virtual offices training firm's India office. Nick has spent some of that time at Blackboard, where he applied his experience in the corporate world to the social learning capability of the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment.


As part of Saffron's strategy for 2011, Nick will be leading the company's expanding technology development office in Pune, India, in the support of new e-learning media, specialising in social and mobile learning and exploring fresh platforms for e-learning such as the Apple iPad. 



”Companies are starting to recognise that employees can and should contribute towards their own learning and that of their colleagues. Consequently, they have begun to deploy the tools that facilitate this transformation in how people learn,: said Nick.”Our job is to show our clients how to design and implement effective and engaging learning experiences that make best use of these evolving technologies.”


Noorie Sazen, Saffron's managing director, said: “Saffron has always been known for innovation in e-learning, in technology as well as instructional design, and Nick's return to the company will help us to maintain our leadership position.”

“The people at Saffron are passionate about learning. We are not interested in adding to the mountain of dull, mind-numbing 'e-telling' that often masquerades as e-learning. We want your people to be inspired, to be energised, to make the right choices and to take action. This is why we are in business.”


As well as consistently producing award-winning e-learning, over the past two years we have pioneered mobile learning, social learning and blended learning. We are always exploring the possibilities offered by new technologies and methodologies to create bespoke solutions, tailor made for the organisation and the learner.

Offices To Reverse Downturn in Leeds Development

january 21, 2010

A critical planning meeting is taking place today to decide the fate of a huge development of offices in Leeds. Revised plans for the Kirkstall Forge would add 300,000 sq ft of grade A offices to the 56 acre brownfield site only three miles from Leeds City Centre.

The new proposal doubles the Leeds office space planned with the hope that commercial property will kick-start the rest of the £300m mixed use village. Planning permission was granted in 2007 for the project which includes modern homes, offices, leisure facilities, a hotel, retail, community facilities, bars and restaurants, but its been stalled by the downturn. Around £7.5m was also set aside to build a dedicated new train station.

But in a council report submitted prior to today’s meeting to members of the Council's plans panel west says: "The project has been delayed due to the economic downturn and has now been revised to move it forward.

"The main change is that the first phase will now be led by office development rather than residential and has involved the doubling of the office content in three grade A office buildings each capable of providing 100,000 sq ft.

"Proposing an office-led regeneration scheme at this stage will raise capital needed to deliver the rest of the scheme given the high capital cost in infrastructure required.”

Jonathan Kenny, Director of CEG, said in a previous statement: “The site is in a unique location and offers an unrivalled development opportunity in a secluded woodland and waterside setting. Securing approval to open a rail halt on site to connect it to Leeds City Centre in just five minutes was vital to enable the creation of a new sustainable community.”

London Offices Lead Capital As World's Largest Property Investment Market

january 13, 2011

London retained its title as the largest global property investment market for the second year running with the city’s 2010 commercial real estate turnover rising 16 per cent on 2009. Greater London saw £13.3bn invested or contracted, while Central London saw £9.9bn. The London office sector was dominant, with £8.5bn invested. The UK capital was followed by Tokyo in second place and Paris in third.

Clive Bull, head of Central London investment at Cushman & Wakefield, the global office services firm headquartered in Manhattan offices in New York, said:
“London is clearly seen as one of the safe havens of the global market, with strong interest from a still-growing range of buyers from all corners of the globe. To many private buyers - domestic and overseas - it is the combination of safety and a higher income than they can get on cash in the bank which is attracting them to London.

“While the city has traditionally been one of the first ports of call for investors looking at Europe or investing internationally for the first time, in this cycle it has also enjoyed an earlier occupational market recovery and a supply squeeze in the next couple of years points to further good rental performance ahead. This will keep investors coming and with more investment opportunities as banks work through their loan books and some profit-takers come forward, the stage is set for an even more active year in 2011 – with our current prediction being for volumes to rise to around £12bn for Central London.”

OFT Clamps Down On Unfair Online Auctions Run From Virtual Office

january 01, 2011

An unethical virtual office strategy has been clamped down on by the Office of Fair Trading for online penny auctions.

The Office of Fair Trading has secured undertakings from Scriptmatix, a software developer based in UK offices in Essex, to prevent it from promoting an artificial bid function in the penny auction software packages it supplies.

Penny auctions are a popular online shopping method where players pay a small non-refundable fee (often of just one penny) each time they place a bid on an item. The OFT believes that if used in 'live' penny auctions the artificial bid function is unlawful as it can mislead consumers into bidding against one or more fictitious 'players', so incurring costs in placing a bid and also in upping their bid.

Scriptmatix, the manufacturers and suppliers of the phpPennyAuction software package, has provided undertakings not to promote the artificial bidding functionality and to clarify that such functionality is to be used only for testing purposes in the absence of any human subscribers.
The OFT found that Scriptmatix encouraged the use of the artificial bidding via marketing on its website by using phrases such as, 'Never make a loss. You decide when your auctions finish. Price too low? Use the auto-extend feature. Not enough bidders? Use the auto-bidding feature. Making a profit has never been more easy'.

Scriptmatix has contacted the 561 UK offices, businesses and individuals that purchased phpPennyAuction informing them that the artificial bidding function should not be used on a live penny auction website and should be disabled before people are invited to participate in an auction.
The OFT will continue to monitor penny auction websites to see whether consumers are being misled by artificial bids.

Jason Freeman, Legal Director in the OFT's Consumer Group, said:
'We can see no lawful basis for the use of an artificial-bidding function on a live penny auction website. People expect to be competing only against other human participants, and the use of fake bids fundamentally undermines the integrity of the auction process.
'The internet offers many opportunities for novel and exciting businesses to flourish, and for consumers to get some great deals, but it is important that people are able to make properly informed decisions, and are not misled by technical trickery.'

UK Virtual Workforce To Hit 73 Percent

february 12, 2010

Mobile working is set to become the UK norm by the end of the year according to Voxclever, a leading provider of small business IT services. The company also says virtual office workers could account for 73 percent of the UK's workforce.

An online poll by ISP Lumison revealed 73 percent of office workers believe they would be more productive if they worked from home during disruption, while 65 percent of those who already do so claim to work longer hours. Despite this, 50 percent said their bosses remain sceptical about whether people are really working if they aren't in the office.

The recent bad weather experienced in the UK highlighted the benefits of remote and virtual office workers for many SMEs. Company directors saw how beneficial it is to have a workforce that is able to work from home or on the move when inclement weather strikes and as such. This alone is expected to dramatically increase the uptake of mobile working practices as 2010 progresses.

Scott Goodwin, CEO of Voxclever, says enormous technological developments has also set the trend to continue in 2010. “What many SME owners worry about is productivity levels dropping when staff are given access to mobile working. However, what many don't realise is that a workforce can actually be even more productive.

"Particularly in jobs where people are travelling extensively, the ability to work remotely means train journeys can be utilised to get work done and for those individuals that spend time working at client sites, their lives can be made much easier through the use of hosted networks."

West End's Best Office Development Rents Peak Floor

february 06, 2011

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers have announced that they have let the sixth floor of The Peak, their award winning 98,000 sq ft retail and London office development located in the West End. It has been let to Global Infrastructure Partners following this letting, the developer for the first time has announced an official quoting rent at £65 per sq ft.

The Peak won 'Best Office Development' at the 2009 Daily Mail UK Commercial Property Awards and was named 'West End Development of the Year' at the Offices 2010 Awards.

The ground and lower ground floors of the Victoria office complex were pre- let to Halifax on a 15-year lease in January 2008. Halifax’s branch in the ground floor of the development is already trading; a branch of HSBC will open in the second ground floor retail unit from December.

The Peak, which last month won 'West End Development of the Year' at the Offices 2010 Awards, has impressive green credentials and offers clear floor plates with excellent levels of natural light on three sides. The building also incorporates secure storage for 100 bicycles.

Designed by architects Sheppard Robson, The Peak was completed in February 2010 and officially opened by Boris Johnson. CB Richard Ellis and DTZ are the letting agents for the development; CBRE also acted for Global Infrastructure Partners.

Commenting on the letting, Peter Ferrari, Managing Director at Heron International, said:

“We are delighted that Global Infrastructure Partners has chosen The Peak as its new home and we welcome them to the development. The Peak offers exemplary office space in a first rate location, as affirmed by the two awards it has won, and there is strong interest in the remaining floors. We look forward to announcing further lettings in due course.”

The Peak is a new office building located right at the heart of Victoria, offering 79,079 sq ft of office space over eight floors, together with 19,200 sq ft of high quality retail space on the ground and lower ground floors.

Major UK Surveyors Opens New Scotland Office

february 06, 2011

Shepherd Chartered Surveyors, one of the largest chartered surveyors offices in the UK, has opened a new Glasgow South residential office in Shawlands as its programme of investment in the expansion of its branch network throughout Scotland continues apace.
 
Headed up by Martin Waite, the new office, at 196 Kilmarnock Road, is Shepherd’s thirty first in Scotland – and the first to present a ‘shop front’ inviting passers-by to drop in.
 
Commenting on the new office, Mr Waite said: “Since the introduction of the Home Report, residential surveyors have become increasingly client-facing and our new Shawlands office is our response to the changing influence of the market. In the new Home Report environment, local knowledge, speed of service and an extremely professional approach means that being close to our customers is of primary importance.
 
“Market conditions continue to be challenging but our investment in a presence in Shawlands can be seen as an indication of Shepherd’s commitment to servicing the residential market throughout the southside.”
 
Shepherd managing partner Ian Cameron expressed delight that, despite an adverse trading environment, Shepherd has continued its expansion in Scotland and, in particular, in the West of Scotland.
 
“These moves mean that Shepherd is well prepared for the thaw in both weather and economic freeze which exists at present,” he said.

Established over 125 years ago in Scotland, Shepherd delivers a valuation service throughout the UK, from a network of 31 offices throughout Scotland including Dundee offices and Glasgow and and over 75 locations in England, Wales and the Channel Islands.

Central London Office Rents To Show Continued Growth

february 06, 2011

Central London office rents will show continued strong growth over the next two years, driven by a severe imbalance between demand and the supply of quality space, according to Knight Frank.

The Baker Street office headquartered company hosted its annual Central London office market breakfast at The Dorchester, London on Saturday.

Knight Frank forecasts increased levels of demand from both lease breaks & expiries and the expansion of business sectors such as specialist financial, TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms) and renewable energy. In addition, inward investment from Asia-Pacific firms will generate demand for London office space. The imbalance between demand and supply will change the face of many districts as competition for space in core markets causes displacement of tenants.
 
A similar demand / supply imbalance in the investment market will also drive pricing through restricted available stock in the core markets and increasing overseas demand, particularly from the Far East. Knight Frank predicts the strongest performance will be from good secondary stock or refurbishment opportunities, with the timing of letting and exit holding the key to maximising value. 
 
City prime rents are forecast to increase by 9.1 per cent in 2011 to £60.00 per sq ft (up from £55.00 per sq ft in 2009), as economic growth bolsters occupier sentiment in the second half of the year. Rents are forecast to rise to £67.50 per sq ft by 2012.
 

Supply in the City fell by 15 per cent in 2010 to 10.4 m sq ft, and a further decline of 5 per cent in 2011 is forecast, taking availability down to 8.8 m sq ft
 

2011 is expected to see just 0.85 m sq ft of speculative new development delivered to the market – average take-up for new & refurbished space is 3.2 m sq ft per annum. This will create intense competition for good quality space and will tighten supply conditions into 2012.

Major US Footwear Company Move Headquarter Offices

february 03, 2011

A major designer footwear company is moving from its Maine offices in Yarmouth to Scarborough office headquarters.

Cole Haan, which sells footwear, accessories and outerwear, will move its headquarters from a custom-built property off Route 1, near the Yarmouth-Cumberland town line, to the Roundwood Business Park off Payne Road in Scarborough.

The Portland Press Herald Reported that the move does not appear part of an immediate restructuring of the company, founded in Chicago but is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nike. Rather, it is part of the company's long-term plan to transition from owned property to leased property, said Drew Sigfridson, the broker from CBRE/The Boulos Company who handled the transaction.

After more than 35 years in Yarmouth, Cole Haan will move its headquarters to Scarborough this summer. Sigfridson added that all of Cole Haan's operations in Yarmouth will move to Scarborough, involving about 110 to 120 employees.

It appears that all of the building functions in Scarborough – including offices, storage, product development and a photo studio – will be the same as, or similar to, those in Yarmouth, said Maura Ryan, marketing manager for Scarborough-based Gawron Turgeon Architects, the interior designer and architect for the project.

Cole Haan built its Yarmouth headquarters in the mid-1990s. Dallas-based Tyler Technologies bought the property for $12.7 million in 2008, according to town tax records. Tyler Technologies, which has an office in Falmouth, will use the space that Cole Haan vacates, Sigfridson said.
According to tax records, the Yarmouth headquarters has 95,640 square feet of space, with a finished upper story of 62,758 square feet and 32,882 square feet on the first floor. It's not clear how much space Cole Haan is using.

Yarmouth Town Manager Nathaniel Tupper said portions of the building have been sublet.
"Cole Haan has been withdrawing from the Yarmouth site for some time," he said.
The new headquarters will use 38,000 square feet of office space on the second and third floors of a three-story building on Ashley Drive. The building was last used as temporary space by Idexx Laboratories, before it moved some functions to its Westbrook campus.

Online Database Matches UK Companies And Offices With Government Deals

december 31, 2010

A new virtual office platform makes public company and UK office information public together with government data.

OpenCorporates is a new project that brings together the basic, essential information about companies, and government data that relates to them. Although this seems a simple task, it is something that has eluded successive governments.

According to OpenCorporates, Governments don’t store basic facts like the company numbers of their approved suppliers, of those they issue with Health & Safety notices, or of those who they pay money to, nor even what types of companies they do business with. OpenCorporates collated that information, and has also pulled in data on 3.8 million UK past and present companies, and matched the government data against those.

Over the next few months OpenCorporates will be adding company data from other countries – it already has the basic company information for Bermuda and Jersey offices – and will be combining that with further global public datasets.

Built in just two months by veterans of the UK open data scene, the site already allows a level of functionality not previously available anywhere on commercial services. The company behind the database is Chrinon Ltd, a company based in London offices in Barnet.

In addition, the service is entirely open, with the data and services being made available under the share-alike attribution Open Database License (ODbL). This license permits others to share, create, and adapt the OpenCorporates database under the same license, even commercially, bringing much this data out into the public realm for the first time.

OpenCorporates also provides an invaluable reconciliation service, compatible with the Google Refine data cleanser, which enables the government, local councils, community groups, and open data activists to match thousands of company names to actual companies in a matter of minutes.
Chris Taggart, one of the founders of Open Corporates, said, “The public, even the government, knows very little about companies, and the data they do have isn’t brought together in one place. OpenCorporates changes all that and allows the public, the government and developers to get a view of the corporate world previously only available to those large companies who could afford to subscribe to expensive proprietary databases.”

E-Learning Summit Produces Manifesto

december 31, 2010

The results of discussions by the delegates at the European virtual office e-learning summit, organised by Sheffield office based Learning Light with support from learndirect and Creativesheffield and held in Sheffield, have been published in the form of a manifesto for e-learning.


The manifesto is intended to help delegates pursue dialogue with their national governments to establish a single, independent and impartial body representing the corporate e-learning sector. 

Although developed within a European context, the manifesto focuses specifically on the corporate e-learning sector in the UK office market. Delegates to the Summit from outside the UK are encouraged to adapt the manifesto to the situation in their own countries and use this to pursue the aims stated at the Summit. 



The manifesto outlines the opportunities and challenges currently facing the e-learning sector; explains the e-learning sector's offering to 'UK plc', and sets out what the Summit delegates believe needs to happen. This includes: continued investment in the country's technical infrastructure - including access to high speed broadband for all; the adoption of system interoperability; widespread e-assessment; simplified technical and funding infrastructures; a change to UK Government procurement policy with regards to e-learning materials and systems, and support for the e-learning sector as an export driver. 



"It's significant that, unlike the video games industry which is pressing for tax breaks from the Government and the British Film Industry which is asking for public money for further investment in that sector, the corporate e-learning industry is merely asking for UK Government recognition that it exists," commented David Patterson, operations director of Learning Light, the Sheffield-based organisation which focuses on promoting the use of e-learning and learning technologies. 

"Moreover, it is seeking an acknowledgement from the Government that, as a sector, it is making a positive contribution to Britain's competitiveness in world markets and is generating export income for the UK." 



Some of the key elements of the manifesto are: 
• Share its successes and evidence the benefits that e-learning can offer. 
• Demonstrate how it improves performance by providing effective and engaging training and learning on an immense scale and in rapid time.

• Provide tool sets to support and influence the effective adoption of e-learning and provide evidence of its benefits. 


To help it do this, the industry needs:
•The Government to understand the role that corporate e-learning currently plays in enabling choice, freedom and flexibility for learners and businesses; facilitating community and communication; providing value for money and efficiency within a tight fiscal climate, and building on the rapid roll-out of superfast broadband.

• Acknowledgement from Government that the e-learning industry comprises principally innovative small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). So Government procurement policy must enable these SMEs to be given free and fair access to Government contracts. Government procurement of learning services must focus on engendering an open and innovative market.

• An export opportunity: It is vital, if UK e-learning companies are to continue to win overseas contracts, that they have the kudos of supplying the UK government. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the body which works with UK-based businesses to ensure their success in international markets, needs to recognise the potential of e-learning exports to the corporate training and learning market, as much as it does to the education market.

Global Virtual Office Solutions Company Says UK Market Important Contributor

december 24, 2010

Global Crossing, a leading global IP solutions provider, has announced UK office business is an important contributor to its profits.

For the third quarter of 2010, GCUK generated revenue of 75 million pounds and
Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) of 16 million
pounds. (OIBDA is a non-GAAP measure defined and reconciled below.) The company has global offices across North America and Europe, also has office across the UK including London and Leeds offices. It reported net cash provided by operations of 10 million pounds.

"The UK business continues to be an important contributor to our global strategy
to offer advanced IP, ethernet and data center services to customers with
multi-regional requirements," said John Legere, chief executive officer of
Global Crossing. "We are gaining traction in our efforts to expand and diversify
our base of commercial enterprise customers while broadening our valuable market
position with UK government customers."

GCUK generated revenue of 75 million pounds, a sequential decrease of 3 per cent
and a year-over-year increase of 1 per cent. The sequential decrease was
primarily due to lower sales related to short-interval demand, such as purchases
of equipment and professional services, and somewhat higher sales credits after
lower than average sales credits in the prior quarter. The year-over-year
increase was primarily due to increased sales to enterprise customers.

Gross profit was 28 million pounds for the quarter, a sequential decrease of
less than 1 million pounds and a year-over-year decrease of 1 million pounds.
The year-over-year decrease was due to a 4 million pound favorable regulatory
ruling in the year-ago period, mostly offset by sales growth and lower
depreciation and amortization.

GCUK's OIBDA for the third quarter was 16 million pounds, compared with 15
million pounds in the second quarter of 2010 and 20 million pounds in the third
quarter of 2009. The sequential increase was principally driven by a reduction
in accrued incentive compensation and sales commissions. The year-over-year
decrease was primarily due to the previously mentioned favorable regulatory
ruling in the year-ago period and higher real estate restructuring costs,
partially offset by sales growth.

GCUK recorded a net profit of 3 million pounds for the third quarter, compared
with a net loss of 3 million pounds in the second quarter of 2010 and a net loss
of 2 million pounds in the third quarter of 2009. The sequential and
year-over-year increase in net profit was primarily due to favorable foreign
exchange impacts on net U.S. dollar-denominated debt in the third quarter of
2010 compared with unfavorable foreign exchange impacts in the prior quarter and
prior year.

Nokia Files Patent Infringement Law Suits Against Apple

december 24, 2010

Nokia is filing patent infringement cases for virtual office technology used by Apple.

Nokia announced it has filed claims in the UK High Court, Dusseldorf and Mannheim District Courts in Germany and the District Court of the Hague, Netherlands, alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in many of its products sold in these countries, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

A statement from the Finland office based company in Espoo said:

"These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the US International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts," said Paul Melin, vice president, Intellectual Property at Nokia. "The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include several which enable compelling user experiences. For example, using a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone."

Nokia's filing in the UK covers four Nokia patents related to touch user interface, on-device app stores, signal noise suppression and modulator structures.
Nokia's filing in Dusseldorf, Germany covers seven Nokia patents related to touch user interface, antenna structures, messaging functionality and chipsets.
Nokia's filing in Mannheim, Germany covers five Nokia patents related to on-device app stores, caller ID, display illumination and the integration of multiple radios.
Nokia's filing in the Hague, Netherlands covers two Nokia patents related to signal noise suppression and data card functionality.

None of the asserted patents have been declared essential to any wireless communication standard.

Nokia says during the last two decades it has invested approximately EUR 40 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with around 11,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of handheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstrated by Nokia's strong patent position.

Virtual Office eLearning Company Shows Expansion

december 18, 2010

CM Group, one of the UK's largest creators of bespoke eLearning, which has become a major virtual office market, says it continues to grow and has appointed a new Senior Technologist in its main UK offices. Further recruitment in a number of areas is continuing. 


John Cumming joins CM Group as a Senior Technologist based in its main Bristol office. He has worked in software engineering for over 10 years. With additional qualifications in mechanical engineering and initial employment in chemical engineering research, he brings engineering experience and knowledge to his work on software projects. 


John has a wide range of experience in several technologies, including Web applications, distributed architectures, and desktop applications. He has applied his knowledge and experience in various roles in R&D projects, integration consultancy, and enterprise architecture. 


Previously, John helped to develop the first production system on revolutionary chip card production equipment and the first American Express chip cards. Subsequently, John joined the Music team at Nokia, working on desktop media players. He works primarily using .NET, both C# and CLI C++, as well as developing UI components by using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and XAML.


On joining CM Group John said, "CM Group is a company that I feel has the variety and potential for me to grow and develop further. Because of their close involvement with some of the major software companies in the world, I can use a lot of my skills and experience and explore some exciting new technology areas."

UK Office Workers In A Twist About Basic Office Lingo

december 18, 2010

New research has revealed UK office workers are mixed up when it comes to basic office lingo.

Reabur, a UK based HR consultancy has conducted research with 1,103 employees across the UK to discover if there are any misconceptions of workplace and HR terminology such as annual leave, time off in lieu and paternity leave.

According to the research by Reabur, which has offices in Gloucester and Bristol, 14 per cent of those asked thought the phrase ‘time off in lieu’ meant time spent in the toilet, while 4 per cent thought the term meant time off on holiday spent in a place called Lieu.

13 per cent of the respondents thought that the term ‘annual leave’ meant ‘time off for one complete year,’ compared to 6 per cent who thought the term meant time out of the office for training.

When asked the multiple-choice question ‘what do you think the term ‘blue sky thinking’ means?’ almost 1 in 10 selected ‘working outside’ as the correct answer.

The poll found that 17 per cent of the respondents thought that ‘break out area’ meant emergency exit – not a place to relax and chill out - and a further 2 per cent thought the term was an area directly outside a prison.

Of those asked by Reabur, 12 per cent believed that the term secondment was a form of award, however 8 per cent agreed that secondment was a form of training for those in the armed forces.  

When the participants were asked what the word ‘flexi-time’ means, almost 1 in 5, 19 per cent, thought it was office aerobics, whilst a further 4 per cent agreed that it was a type of watch.

Georgina Read, co-founder of Reabur, commented on the findings:

“Some of the results here are quite amusing, but it’s also shocking to see that there are still some people  who don’t know the meaning of some fairly common workplace terminology. Employees should be aware of the basic terms used within the workplace, just to ensure they understand them in case they ever come up in conversation with a colleague or manager ”

“Some of the misconceptions are understandable, however I do think it is a little silly to think that an employer would keep a record of the amount of time a person spends in the toilet. These results do prove that there is a need for employers to ensure their staff understand the meanings of office terminology, rather than just assume they know the meaning.  After all, we wouldn’t want people thinking they need to head out of the emergency exit when they’re asked to go to the ‘break out area”

World's Largest Internet Consulants' Network Opens UK Office

december 11, 2010

The world’s largest internet consultants’ network designed to boost traffic for virtual office businesses is to open a new UK office.

WSI (We Simplify the Internet) will allow small and medium sized businesses in Warrington to benefit from state-of-the art internet marketing techniques to attract more qualified website traffic and increase online customer conversion.

Headquartered in Toronto offices, Canada, WSI’s latest Cheshire office in Warrington will be run by Nick Pitcher who will provide local businesses with specialised internet marketing strategies.

Mr Pitcher commented: “We aim to educate business owners on the latest trends, best practices, tips and techniques that can help them harness the full potential of the Internet. Using specialized tools like the WSI WebScan Report to study the current efficacy of a customer’s website, we will help clients achieve top positioning for their websites in the highly competitive Internet space. This enhanced brand visibility will offer companies and organisations increased overall business profitability. The most tangible benefits to WSI clients are increased business efficiencies, targeted website traffic and more customer conversions online.”

WSI Warrington office will provide supply attractive, fully-functional e-Business solutions at an affordable price to SMEs in the North West of England. Not just a website provider, WSI offers a complete partnership, including post-implementation support and statistical reporting packages in the extensive product catalogue offered to clients.

Nick Pitcher has over 12 years’ experience in business to business consultative sales. A certified Internet Marketing professional, Nick lives in Lymm near Warrington and is passionate about helping local businesses maximise their online Return on Investment.

German Virtual Office Company Makes Its Impact In The UK

december 04, 2010

A German virtual office technology company has made its entry into the UK market.

The opening of the new UK office in London follows the acquisition of IP-PBX solutions provider pbxnsip by Snom, a provider of IP-based telephony solutions headquartered in Germany offices in Berlin. The UK division will now enter the UK market to provide solutions for all stages of the IP telephony network.

To ensure that Snom UK reaches its targets and makes a significant impact in the UK IP sector, the company has appointed Jonathan Greenwood as UK managing director. Jonathan was previously the CEO of pbxnsip, and brings with him a wealth of experience of the UK IP telecoms industry.  

“We’re all very excited about the start of Snom UK. The market for IP telephony solutions in the UK is constantly growing, and we are looking to capitalise on this growth,” says Jonathan Greenwood, Managing Director of snom UK Ltd. “With this renewed focus on the UK market, we are confident that we will be able to capitalise on our previous success in the United Kingdom.”

“The UK is a large and interesting market in which we have always had a presence, but by creating snom UK Ltd and opening an office there, we are better able to take advantage of the opportunities it presents. The IP telephony space in Britain is constantly expanding, and as a result we have significant growth plans for Snom UK Ltd over the coming year,” comments Dr Michael Knieling, CFO, Snom AG in Germany.

Europe Digital Content Giant Created Through Buyout Of UK Virtual Office Music Business

december 04, 2010

Europe now has an even larger virtual content giant after a major acquisition deal with UK's largest digital content provider. The deal includes buying one of the recently most successful virtual office music businesses.

Mobile digital media publisher American Mobile Ventures (AMV) has acquired the assets of K2 Media, owner of mobile brands such as Big Chilli, DBM and manager of What's On TV Mobile, creating one of the largest dedicated mobile content companies in Europe.

AMV is the largest UK-based digital mobile content publisher, with 62 staff. The company is a leading buyer of global mobile traffic, working with networks such as Google and InMobi, directly with global publishers, and via off-line direct-to-consumer advertising.

AMV will retain the K2 offices in Kendal, Cumbria, along with all existing staff. K2 Media founder Steve Kitchen retains a stake in the business and becomes the managing director of the newly established Chilli Music Limited.

Chilli Music is a direct to consumer mobile entertainment portal, offering fully-licensed full-track downloads and full albums for mobile devices, alongside a comprehensive range of mobile games including those from the leading games publisher Electronic Arts.
Launched in March 2010 Chilli is the fastest growing music download service for mobile in the UK, delivering over a quarter of a million downloads to date and over 50,000 track downloads expected in December alone. The label's “no subscriptions – no rip-offs” catchphrase has resonated with consumers, and is helping clean up the industry reputation for expensive and low value / low choice music subscription services.

AMV is injecting significant funding to enable Chilli to grow its UK office and business and to expand internationally. Chilli Music will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary with its own management, ensuring a sharp focus on growing the music business, but the company will take advantage of AMV’s international distribution and traffic buying capabilities.

Steve Kitchen, K2 founder and new managing director of Chilli Mobile, says, "K2 Media combined all of the best attributes of mobile media - dedicated content, focused brands, simplicity and convenience with a straightforward and trustworthy business model, which ensured consumers returned again and again, for all of their mobile content.  By taking this philosophy forward and combining it with AMV's international penetration, Chilli Mobile promises to be one of the most valuable and trusted brands in the global mobile market."

Virtual Office Technology Provider Goes From Fortune 100 To The UK

december 03, 2010

A major US data-centre company which provide virtual office and cloud computing services to Fortune 100 companies is venturing to the UK.

Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, a US office-based company headquartered in Colorado, has signed an agreement with data-centre networking provider Voltaire to be the first distributor of its products in the United Kingdom. Arrow ECS will use its network of UK offices in London, Harrogate and Nottingham to service the new arrangement.

The agreement will make Voltaire's range of lowest latency InfiniBand, 10 GbE and InfiniBand-to-Ethernet Gateway switching platforms available to the UK market.

Voltaire is a leading provider of high-performance, scale-out data-centre fabrics. Used by more than 30 per cent of the Fortune 100, and with hundreds of production deployments globally, Voltaire provides high-performance computing environments but also in mainstream enterprise cloud environments and virtualised data centres. Voltaire also is known for delivering ultra-low-latency networks for high-frequency trading to many of the world's leading exchanges, banks and hedge funds.

Voltaire's portfolio of products can help customers to overcome challenges with designing and deploying data-centre fabrics that reduce latency, increase reliability and move large volumes of data between systems and systems/storage. By collaborating with Arrow ECS, which has global offices in 26 countries, Voltaire is expected to gain a greater reach into the UK reseller community, particularly those focused on the financial-services industry where demands for low latency are strong.

"We are pleased to enter into a distribution agreement with Arrow ECS. Its well-established leadership in the UK distribution market made Arrow ECS a logical distributor of choice for our company," said Patrick Guay, executive vice president global sales and general manager for Voltaire. "Speed is increasingly a differentiator for us in the financial-services sector, as is the ability to handle increasing volumes of data. We believe that Arrow ECS has both the agility and the established relationships in place to map our leading solutions with customer requirements. We look forward to taking Voltaire solutions further into the U.K. market with the help of Arrow ECS."

London Office Fruit Delivery Service Brings Freshness To Your Desk

december 03, 2010

A London fruit company is hoping its new website will boost its London office fruit service which provides fresh produce to 200 offices across the capital.

Fruit 4 London, the UK’s leading fruit delivery company, have launched a brand new website for their fruit delivery services. The new website has been built specifically to showcase the freshness of their produce, which is carefully selected each morning from markets across the south of England.
The company claims is fruity virtual office business has taken London by storm.

The company has an ethos of delivering fruit themselves, on the same day its received from wholesalers, which they claim has meant business has been booming. Applying the same quality to the production of the website, the team have used only real images of their own fruit, as supposed to using stock images from the internet.


“We wanted to show our customers exactly what quality of fruit we deliver, and how fresh and colourful it is. Using pictures of our own fruit is the only way to do this, as we know our fruit is the best available in the country.” the company spokesperson said.

Fruit 4 London
Having fruit baskets delivered to friends and family is a service which many domestic and commercial clients are taking advantage of, particularly over the festive period. For this reason, fruit 4 London are seeing the domestic market grow just as big as their office fruit delivery service, which is focused mostly on fruit delivery London borough.


Delivering fruit to over 200 offices in London, the office fruit arrangements start from as little as £9.99 per week, offering tasty fruit which can be delivered at regular intervals during the week.

UK Offices Less Attractive To Investors In Europe According To Figures

august 29, 2010

UK office property markets are looking less attractive in comparison to their global competitors, according to new figures.

The European all-property Fair Value Index published by DTZ scored 49 in Q2 2010. With the global all property index at 62, European markets have become less attractive. Office markets are the most challenging sector, with the UK is the least attractive, and offices and other property in Germany is the most attractive country in Europe.

The index, developed by the global property services firm with 140 offices in places like Barcelona and Hamburg among all key global cities, offers investors insight into the relative attractiveness of current pricing in global commercial property markets. An index score below 50 indicates there are more markets categorised as COLD (i.e. unattractive to investors as expected returns are below risk-adjusted required returns) than HOT (i.e. attractive to investors as expected returns exceed risk-adjusted required returns). At 49, the current index score implies that European commercial property markets are on average priced at fair value.


However, the all-property score of 49 hides significant differences between sectors. Whilst pricing in several European office markets has overshot fair value with the office index standing at 35, this is not true for the retail and industrial markets where the index scores stand at 65 and 57 respectively.

The all-property index score of 49 for Q2 2010 represents a decline from 61 for Q1 2010. This implies that the number of opportunities for investors in European markets has slipped away to some extent. However, compared to the score of 24 as of Q2 2009, pricing remains much more attractive than it was a year ago.

DTZ say t”he recent decline in attractiveness is due in large part to strong yield compression on the back of investor interest and lack of product, especially for offices and in the UK. Increased risk premiums in some markets – related to financial instability associated with sovereign debt levels – has also played a role.”

The global all-property Fair Value Index score for Q2 2010 stands at 62, well ahead of the European score of 49. This implies that offices in Asia Pacific (67) and the US (89), offer more attractive investor opportunities than in Europe.

Major US Office Company Shows Strong Results

august 29, 2010

A leading US office real estate services and investment firm has reported robust second quarter 2010 revenues of $140.7 million, an increase of 11 per cent, compared with revenue of $126.8 million for the second quarter of 2009.

Grub & Ellis, headquartered in Santa Ana, California offices, the company says for the first six months of 2010, the company reported revenue of $273.2 million, an approximate 10 percent increase over revenue of $249.0 million for the comparable period of 2009.

The company reported a net loss attributable to Grubb & Ellis Company on a GAAP basis of $17.5 million, or $0.31 per common share, for the second quarter of 2010, compared with a net loss of $32.8 million, or $0.52 per common share, for the second quarter of 2009. For the first six months of 2010, the company reported a net loss attributable to Grubb & Ellis Company of $41.2 million, or $0.73 per common share, compared with a net loss of $74.3 million, or $1.17 per common share, in the first six months of 2009.

Grubb & Ellis say they have continued to execute on its strategy of increasing its owned office presence in major U.S. markets by acquiring its Las Vegas affiliate, and opening an owned brokerage sales office in Cincinnati.

In June, the company launched Grubb & Ellis Landauer Appraisal & Valuation, a national appraisal business that supports the company's strategy of expanding into complementary businesses to better serve the needs of its clients and expand its revenue base. Grubb & Ellis Landauer will be operational in September and expects to have eight to 10 offices and 100 appraisal professionals across the country by year-end.

"Grubb & Ellis continued to make meaningful progress toward our financial goals and strategic initiatives in the second quarter as reflected by the 43 percent improvement in adjusted EBITDA," said Thomas P. D'Arcy, president and chief executive officer of Grubb & Ellis. "Our Transaction Services business generated robust revenue growth again this quarter, a reflection of our recruiting success and the continued recovery of the market.

Steel Engineering Company Increasing Production Lines Via Virtual Office Technology

august 22, 2010

A leading steel engineering company is using virtual office technology to rapidly increase production lines.

Spartanics Finecut Laser Die Cutting Systems, a global company headquartered in Illinois, USA with offices across Europe, is introducing a bar codes system that automates job changeovers in seconds..

Mike Bacon, Spartanics VP, explains “bar code-driven job changeovers allow you to not only run multiple jobs very efficiently from a single roll, but also to integrate job data into a database for complete product tracking. By adding a bar code reading station to the line of Finecut Laser Die Cutting Systems users will enhance the profitability of digital die cutting solutions for their applications, and especially when multiple short runs are a significant part of the business.”

Bar code integration is the latest of the many software integration and control applications that differentiate Finecut Laser Die Cutting Systems and all Spartanics technology from competitive offerings. Other benefits of the unique software engineering that power Spartanics Finecut Laser Die Cutting Systems include: automatic optimisation of cutting sequences for fastest web speeds; smart stop systems that monitor all fault conditions; automatic cut and stitch of larger images; automatic save of all job conditions for one-step job set-ups; among other features.

Spartanics specialises in tightly integrating advanced software engineering with sophisticated handling systems to manufacture best-in-class technology for both tool-free (laser-based), steel rule die, and male/female hard tool cutting systems, screen printing systems and other equipment for fabricating products made from flat stock materials.  Its worldwide service organization uses state-of-the-art virtual service technician technology and also maintains offices and spare parts in Europe.

£183m Deal For High Grade Offices In The City Of London

august 18, 2010

A leading European real estate firm has expanded its London office portfolio with the £183m acquisition of a prime office in the City.

Hammerson, which has offices in the UK and France, has set up a joint venture with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to acquire a long leasehold interest in 10 Gresham Street, a prime office building in the City. The vendor is Union Investment, a German fund. Hammerson will have a 30 per cent interest in the joint venture and will manage the asset on its behalf. Hammerson’s total commitment is £55m.

The central London office comprises 260,000 sq ft of high quality offices, retail and ancillary accommodation over eight floors. The building was designed by Foster Partners and completed in 2003. Total rents earnings are £10.7m a year with average headline rents are £44 per sq ft.

David Atkins, chief executive of Hammerson said:
“We are very pleased to again be partnering with CPPIB. This acquisition is in line with our strategy to capitalise on attractive opportunities in the London office market. Given the existing lease profile and relatively low rental base this offers an excellent opportunity for us to increase value by using our asset management skills.”

Graeme Eadie, eenior vice-president, Real Estate Investments for CPPIB said:
"Following the creation of our successful joint venture in late 2009 to acquire a company which owns the Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow, we are delighted to be working once again with Hammerson to buy this highly attractive office investment in the City of London."

A FTSE 100 company with a real estate portfolio in the UK and France of around £5.3bn, Hammerson has investments in 16 major shopping centres and 16 retail parks as the main components of its property portfolio. The Company now owns six London office buildings.

2. The CPP Investment Board is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits on behalf of 17 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, the CPP Investment Board invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in London and Hong Kong, the CPP Investment Board is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At March 31, 2010, the CPP Fund totaled $127.6 billion. For more information about the CPP Investment Board, please visit www.cppib.ca.

New NoHo London Office Up For Grabs

august 01, 2010

MERJS, one of London's leading commercial property agencies, has been appointed as the sole agents for a prestigious central London office suite located in a prominent position north of Oxford Street, now nicknamed NoHo.

The term NoHo, used for an area in Manhattan, is now being used in London, somewhat controversially think the New Yorkers. It had been coined by British real estate agents in 2006 to create a rebrand of the Fitzrovia area.

The recently refurbished office suite on offer, consisting of approximately 1,200 square feet, is available by assignment of the existing lease expiring in May 2012.

"The suite is located on the first floor of a stunning period property," said Colin Becker, equity director of MERJS. "It consists of six offices of varying sizes, one of which is suitable for a boardroom. The suite is entirely self-contained and benefits from separate male and female WCs and a kitchenette. Businesses seeking office space in the Noho area will be very interested in this commercial property."

The office suite also benefits from a building manager, video entry phone and CCTV surveillance. Its building is located on the north side of New Cavendish Street, between the junctions of Great Portland Street and Hallam Street. The property is close to Great Portland Street and Oxford Circus Underground Stations, both within walking distance.

MERJS is one of London's leading commercial property agencies, and is actively involved in selling and letting commercial property throughout central London.

MERJS helps to identify and negotiate the most suitable office space to let for commercial tenants, including serviced office space requirements, refurbished offices in Central London, or a new commercial property development.

Get Prices For An Office Space Soho

april 18, 2011

These days, it seems like every business is concerned with cutting costs. This is no surprise since lowering expenditure will mean more profit earned. The math is simple: revenue minus costs equals profit. The challenge comes in increasing the revenue and lowering costs in order to increase the profit. Companies devote a large part of their budget to marketing in order to keep the revenue coming. The next step is to lower costs. One of the biggest expenses that a company pays for is office space. This is why they try to look for office space Soho which is reasonably low in cost. The location may not be as high end as an office space Manhattan but the savings are significant enough to justify the choice.

There are such things as good bargains, however. These may not be easy to find but they do exist. A good bargain involves finding a very good location for your business without having to pay an exorbitant price for the rent. What you need to do is to be willing to spend the time to canvass for prices. If you are looking to rent office space Chicago, spend some time scouring the classified ads to office spaces that are being rented out. Be ready to set several meetings and ocular visits. Make a list of the places whose rent is within your price range. As you visit the place, determine if the location and quality of the office are worth the price that you will be paying for it./

London Office Market Bouncing - Some Things Up, Some Things Down

april 16, 2010

Cautious words on the recovery of the London office market are spreading but the capital had its strongest first quarter results since 2001 according to latest figures released from Jones Lang LaSalle.

Occupier demand fell 18% over Q1 to 12 million sq ft despite total take-up of 3.5 million sq ft was 20% up on Q4 2009. After a 17% increase in demand over 2009, this returned the market to Q1 2009 levels. Neil Prime, Head of Markets at Jones Lang LaSalle, says the reduction is to be expected as a direct results of robust take-up eroding the demand base.

“The level of new demand has not been sufficient to replace that demand we have seen transacting. We anticipate the demand this year will continue to be driven by structural events such as lease expiries and not by business expansion. Therefore even though replacement demand has been at its lowest levels since 2008, even with modest levels of take up during the course of this year, we anticipate the continued reduction of Grade A supply and therefore we will see continued rental growth.”

Market improvements were driven by the City which recorded the largest Q1 total since 2000. The City submarket ran ahead of the 10-year average with take-up cross London, the 12 month rolling total of 9.7 million sq ft was just 5% below the average.

The well sounded gripe about lack of new London office supply was also echoes by Jones Lang LaSalle. A statement said a “the lack of speculative development underway to be delivered in the next two to three years provides a real opportunity for developers to generate out-performance, however it will be a continuing concern for those occupiers wishing to relocate. The lack of supply particularly of large units of space will, we anticipate, will lead to the return of the pre-let market.”