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Serviced Offices News

A Hat-Trick of Awards for Manchester Office Team

Friday, 03 September 2010 13:19

Lynne Garlick and her team at 53 Fountain Street are celebrating a triple-whammy in Abbey Business Centres UK-Wide 'Best of the Best' Awards 2010.

Each year the UK-wide serviced office operator invites clients and staff to nominate members of the Abbey team who have 'gone above and beyond the call of duty'.

This year the Manchester office team swept the board - bagging first place in 3 out of the 6 categories.

Former Sorting Office to Make Way for New Hotel and Offices in Stockport

Thursday, 02 September 2010 10:45

External Photograph of The Royal Mail sorting office in Stockport

The Royal Mail sorting office on Wellington Road South in Stockport, which was vacated by the company earlier this year, has been acquired by The Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund. It is set to be demolished and replaced with a new hotel and more office space in Stockport.

Adjacent to Stockport Train Station and on a prime position on the A6, the sorting office has looked neglected since the departure of Royal Mail so this is a great opportunity for Stockport to improve a hugely important area of the town.

CBRE Appointed on Linley House

Thursday, 02 September 2010 08:32

The Manchester office of property agents CB Richard Ellis have been appointed as property manager at Linley House, an office building in Manchester city centre, by landlord United Utilities.

Located just off Portland Street, Linley House provides 86,000 sq ft of Manchester office space and has recently undergone a significant refurbishment at an estimated cost of £3.5m, which included creating a new reception, replacing all external cladding, and a remodelling of eight floors. CBRE will undertake a full property and asset management role.

Manchester Office Market is "Challenging"

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 09:29

Commercial real estate brokers, Cushman & Wakefield, have come out to say that the office lettings market in Manchester remains "challenging", with take up down 28 per cent between Q1 and Q2 2010.

Their summary, as reported by Insider today, seems somewhat less optimistic than the joint statement from the Manchester Agents Forums, which highlighted the improvement between the first half of 2009 compared to 2010 (read it on Place North West). However, on the positive side they did report an overall uplift in demand for offices in Manchester in Q2 of over 80 per cent so there must be some large requirements in the market.

Again, there has been concern expressed about the lack of Grade A office space in Manchester with availability decreasing and no speculative space under construction.

Prime rents for Manchester offices are unchanged at £28.50 per sq ft, still down on figures pre recession, but lack of supply is clearly helping keep rates up.

While certainly not an official study, Offices Up North are seeing an improving market for serviced office space in Manchester with August proving to be the busiest month in terms of lettings so far this year.

Salmon Defends BBC Move Up North

Saturday, 28 August 2010 09:04

Peter Salmon, director of BBC North and the man leading the BBC's move to Salford has spoken to the Manchester Evening News to hit out against a 'pathetic' slur campaign against the North.

A number of newspapers have rolled out the cliches in recent months in the run up to the move to new offices at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, not least the London Evening Standard who published this article last month.

While tongue in cheek comments are to be expected in the North vs South debate, which isn't one sided and will no doubt continue for years to come, Salmon is worried that the current round of public mud slinging "might stick at the north, which I think is unforgivable".

Offices Up North were in Salford Quays again yesterday visiting offices in the Quays and around MediaCityUK, which is really beginning to look like it will be a thriving place to work. We're sure those who do make the move will be pleasantly surprised by Salford, Manchester and the North. If not, well London is only 2 hours away by train these days.

New Liverpool Office Building Tops Out

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 14:30

A new mixed used scheme in central Liverpool reached another milestone today with the topping-out ceremony for the 8 storey No. 4 St Paul's Square.

St Paul's Square offers apartments, retail, and new Liverpool office space right in the centre of the business district close to Moorfields Station and adjacent to the serviced offices in The Plaza. It has been described as "one of the most significant new office-led schemes in Liverpool city centre for a decade" by Max Steinberg of Liverpool Vision.

Buildings No 1 and 5 have already been let, which is a combined total of over 250,000 sq ft, so the scheme has already made a mark on the Liverpool office scene.

St Paul's Square is being developed by English Cities Fun and built by contractor Shepherd Construction.

First Bradford Serviced Offices Added

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 10:48

External Photograph of Malik House in Bradford

We visited Bradford a couple of weeks to have a look around a couple of offices over there and are delighted to now have the first of those Bradford serviced offices up on our website.

Malik House at 29 Manor Row only opened this month and is a wonderful Grade II listed building with plenty of character. The offices have been restored and modernised so you have the charm of an old building but with all the facilities of a modern business.

'MHQ-The Cafe' is a great addition on the ground floor, providing a place to grab lunch or perhaps a coffee for an informal meeting. It will no doubt prove to be a great place to network.

The list of serviced offices in Bradford will be expanding over the coming weeks, hopefully to include a great little business centre opposite the National Media Museum.