The development would create a new university campus and the plans outline the proposed construction of a four star hotel, a range of offices and meeting room facilities as well as research facilities for biomedical science which would be situated on the 14 acre site. On what was once called White City Television Centre a range of residential buildings have already been built to accommodate 600 students. Additional space has been created to house trainee doctors and lecturers and their families. This first stage called Imperial West is due to finish in August.

If planning permission is granted then the research unit and another 220 flats will be constructed. If Hammersmith and Fulham Council give the thumbs up for the project it is hoped that the areas will develop into a specialist centre for medical and science education attracting both staff and students.

Imperial West project director, John Anderson commented:

“Imperial West will enable the College to expand upon its success of its South Kensington site to create a second, open access academic campus that provides the physical infrastructure for world-class research and teaching, leading-edge facilities for business development and technology transfer, and create an attractive environment to live and work in. Imperial West will provide real and lasting benefits for the capital, helping to grow the London economy, and has the capacity to generate and sustain over 3,000 jobs.”

The serviced office provider has acquired the ground and first floor at the prime located premises. The deal agreed with Arab Investments Ltd, the property owners, provides i2 Offices with 16,000 sq ft of floor space.

The building is ideally situated next to Monument Tube and is just a short walk from Cornhill, Bank and Lombard Street. Emulating the set up at i2 Office Aldersgate, the new business centre will have a range of executive lounge services alongside office suites for companies with requirements of between one and fifty workstations.

The company’s CEO, Philip Grace commented:

“Gracechurch Street will be a welcome addition to our nationwide network and further strengthens our London City offer. We have seen high demand for our other centres in London, most recently with Aldersgate, filling up rapidly; we anticipate strong interest in Gracechurch Street.”

At Arab Investments, Khalid Affara went on to say:

“We’re delighted to be working with i2 Office, who are clearly innovators in the serviced office market. Their demonstrable track record and recent success at Aldersgate will I’m sure see high occupancy at 40 Gracechurch Street very quickly. We look forward to working with i2 Office on this and at other London locations.”

The building at Gracechurch Street offers in total 122,042 sq ft of retail and office space in a contemporary setting. Combining a traditional facade with innovative construction techniques the premises offers high grade modern offices in London’s centre.

Offices and meeting rooms totalling 5,955 square feet have been contracted to Direct Flights an internet travel company and iDirect, specialists in communications. The business complex will also become home to the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership’s (SEMLEP) main office. Dr Ann Limb, the organisation’s chair commented:

“Cranfield University Technology Park is the ideal place for us to locate SEMLEP’s central office. Situated in the heart of our region, we are now surrounded by innovation and are able to harness business success throughout this area into a meaningful and productive network.”

Companies already residing at the Innovation Park are looking to increase their floor space due to business growth. County Consulting, an IT company has taken up 287 sq ft of extra workspace. Another IT firm, Majenta PLM has signed up for another 5,202 sq ft at the centre. The expansion of these companies has led to full occupation of the Park’s second phase.

The park developer’s regional director, Rupert Wood spoke on behalf of St Modwen:

“Securing these further lettings clearly demonstrates the quality and accessibility of the offices and business support we offer at Cranfield University Technology Park. We look forward to welcoming our new tenants and we congratulate those who are evidently growing and succeeding in what are still very difficult economic times.”

Media Village is just one of 15 London business centres in the Avanta portfolio. It can be found in in the West End on Great Titchfield Street which is part of the Soho/Noho/Fitzrovia area of this highly sought after district. The business centre has earned its name due to the wide range of IT and media firms that are drawn here.
The area sales manager for Avanta, Sarah Ingham said:

“One of the best things about Media Village is that the centre is large, funky and decorated with bright colours which give it a diverse appeal.”

The business centre offering high quality serviced offices was previously an industrial warehouse and is occupied by various businesses from the media sector which makes the working environment an exciting and vibrant place to be. Avanta prides itself on offering a high quality of customer service seeking to constantly improve its business centres to appeal to their tenants. As a result they enjoy high occupancy levels.
Sarah went on to say:

“The entire team at Media Village are delighted to receive recognition for all the hard work they put into delivering customer service excellence. Receiving the SOS award was the perfect way to end the year and gives us a really positive outlook for 2012!”

1,520 sq ft of offices and meeting rooms have been taken by World Duty Free, the travel specialists and ICTS an international provider of security solutions has taken up 929 sq ft of workspace.

MIQ Logistics signed up for 4,000 sq ft of industrial workspace to support their transport business located in the World Freight Terminal. Another three businesses have taken offices and warehouses at Avro Way. The business development director at MAG, Stephanie Lullenger commented:

“Enquiry levels continue to remain steady and as demonstrated by this latest round of lettings we are converting a number of enquiries into transactions by providing bespoke deals and flexible terms.”

MAG Developments are drivers of the Airport City initiative for Manchester. This scheme aims to transform the area into a £650m business zone all supported with high-speed broadband and competitive business rates.

The Airport became an enterprise zone officially last year in March. The CEO at MAG, Charlie Cornish stated:

“Manchester Airport is the principal international gateway to the region and is primed for an investment of this scale, amassing over sixty acres. Our development programme will expand the world freight terminal, create new business space, attract global businesses and provide health related uses.”

According to the serviced office company’s results there are still great improvements to be made in the perception of women in business . The research in which 2,000 women took part, revealed that many women still feel highly self-conscious in the workplace. 46 percent admitted to lowering their tone of voice in order to be given greater recognition at work. Over 50 percent said that they choose to dress ‘more powerfully’ in the office with 23 percent being careful to reveal less cleavage and another 23 percent opting for a lower hemline.

With the recent release of ‘The Iron Lady’ references are already being made to Margaret Thatcher who became iconic for voice lowering and power dressing. The managing director at Business Environment, David Saul commented:

‘[Margaret Thatcher] paved the way for the likes of Richard Branson and all the other entrepreneurs out there to think big and live their dream. So as the first major female leader of our times, it’s not completely unexpected that today’s women should want to emulate her in various ways – intentionally or not.’

With businesses often being male dominated it seems natural that women should make attempts to adapt to that culture however many female business moguls question the inference that subconsciously they are modelling themselves on Maggie Thatcher.

The serviced office company has recently bought the freehold agreement for Parkway Court located on Oxford Business Park. Currently empty, the building is set to be renovated and fitted out to provide high quality serviced offices with full air conditioning. This latest business centre will launch in March this year and will provide 25 serviced offices in sizes up to 600 square feet of floor space.

Contracts have also been signed for a new business centre site in Cheltenham on the business park situated next to the local ASDA supermarket. Plans are due to be submitted to develop the site subject to approval. If all goes well Pure Offices will start building work in May this year and hope to open for business next spring.

Pure Offices pride themselves on offering a transparent service to their tenants providing high quality office space at a price that is affordable to businesses. The company have developed a pricing strategy that ensures businesses are not hit by any hidden charges keeping everything simple within a single monthly fee. In this uncertain market many businesses are opting for this form of flexible office space.

Each business centre offers a range of serviced office suites in a variety of sizes to appeal to a range of businesses so demand is expected to be high for these latest additions to the Pure Office portfolio.

This latest development is one stage in an expansion initiative which started in 2009. This project is reported to be costing several millions and this newest building is one of several that have been proposed.
At Site Operations Group Ltd (SOG), the finance director, Carol Thomas commented:

“We are delighted to be pushing ahead with a further exciting new research and development facility which will provide a base for more highly skilled jobs. It is another example of The Heath Business and Technical Park’s ethos of nurturing talent and a boost to the further development of high-tech business in Halton.”

The planned offices should be open for business early next year and SOG will be responsible for managing the facilities on site. Serviced offices and meeting room services are provided at the science and business park on Heath Road South which offers some of the most innovative amenities available to businesses within the technology and science sectors. It is expected that the additional floor space will meet with high demand and be a great boost to the Halton area.

Regus specialises in workspace solutions including serviced offices and virtual office solutions. With two business centres in Newcastle the report revealed that 31 percent of the city’s businesses are looking for freelance workers as part of their recruitment strategy. For companies looking to recruit permanent employees 28 percent are looking for remote candidates.

In the North East the Business Confidence Index has recorded a drop in optimism of 33 points since the last report in April 2011. Standing at 83 points this is lower than the average score across the UK of 87. The number of companies that report an increase in sales and profit has also decreased with a drop of 3 and 6 percent respectively.
Regus’s regional director, Greg Lunn commented:

“The Regus Business Tracker illustrates the recent reversal in the national economic outlook and its impact on local business, especially the fact that optimism has taken such a sharp downturn since April. Despite this, local firms realize that they must continue investing in growth, so freelance and remote working are becoming popular solutions to increase headcount whilst remaining agile and scalable – 27% of the employed population in the UK, are now deemed to be flexible workers, which illustrates the significant shift that has already taken place in the employment market.”

The report also found that 60 percent of office workers that did take a break between Christmas and New Year had been checking into their company emails using a mobile device and one third would have worked from home.

It was revealed that close to a third of office workers that chose to work from home found it caused ‘serious upset’ within their family unit, with partners or friends. The research also highlighted that 57 percent of city based office workers had agreed with their employers to work throughout the holiday period with many (30 percent) having to commute into work to do this.

Interestingly 40 percent of those surveyed believed that ‘very little’ work was actually carried out throughout the Christmas period. The regional director at the serviced office company Regus, Greg Lunn said of the findings:
“Our research suggests many people in Manchester are not taking full advantage of the Christmas break and, if they are also travelling into the office to work, are unnecessarily squandering precious time with their loved ones.”
Lunn went on to caution those that take time off but then spend time ‘online’ for work.

“It is ironic that the very technology that affords us flexibility and freedom from the traditional fixed office set-up also blurs the distinction between work and home life. Stress and burn-out are very real threats. Employers in Manchester must ensure that they harness the many positive aspects of today’s technology while encouraging a healthy work/life balance among staff.”