Segro shrinks

Segro continues to divest its portfolio of assets with an announcement of a further series of sales totalling a total of £159 million.

An industrial site in Crawley, a site in Munich, and four industrial estates in Runcorn, Lymedale, Pucklechurch and East Midlands airport make up the latest assets to be disposed of as part of a £1.6 billion divestment programme designed to turn round the fortunes of the company.  In the last 12 months assets values at £680million have been sold, but the current harsh climate has still seen £180 million fall from the value of the remaining portfolio.

James Alexander can help your organisation review your property and land portfolio and develop strategies for better usage and utilisation, as well as determining strategies for asset divestment, or acquisition.  Get in touch and see how we could help.  innovation@jaltd.co.uk

Home work

For many office workers today is the first day back in work since the Christmas break.  However, the prospect of an extended break is just too difficult for some to contemplate.  The standard IT and technology products and services most companies provide to staff to assist them do their jobs and stay in contact during the working week also come with additional costs.

It has become common practice for some staff to regularly check eMail and intranet services long after the working day has finished.  For some, the opportunity to catch up on a few late eMails whilst on the train home has not satisfied the desire.  The temptation to do just one final check before turning out the lights for the evening has led to an increasing number of people turning their bedrooms into secondary working spaces.  In a recently conducted survey, one in three participants admitted checking eMails, finishing reports and checking online work activity from the comfort of their bed, some spending as much as two hours a day doing so.

Apart from health risks with potential problems with posture and muscular damage from a poorly supported working position, there are also relationship perils for couples who do not establish boundaries for what is acceptable behaviour in this regard.

Of course, a downside for one group represents an opportunity for others and one bed manufacturer in the USA is marketing a bed which comes with its own power sockets and wi-fi connection!

So, if you have not faced a mountain of eMails on your return to work this morning, you have spent too much time in bed!

Reach for the Sky

The race to dominate the skyline continues apace as the tallest structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa (Khalifa Tower) in Dubai is set to be eclipsed during the first half of 2013 by the 220 storey Sky City.  Built in Changsha, in the Hunan Province of China, it will top out at 838 metres, beating the Burj Khalifa by a mere 10 metres.  Peanuts!

However, the more interesting aspect of Sky City’s development is it’s method of construction.  Constructed by Broad Sustainable Building, 95% of Sky City’s fabric features prefabricated construction techniques which will allow the construction to progress at 5 storeys a day.  Developments in off site manufacturing techniques and materials development have meant that Sky City is able to boast impressive statistics for environmental, sustainability and health and safety measures.  The financial and programme savings achievable by construction the majority of a building of this size and height at ground level cannot be underestimated.  BSB are expecting to finish this building within 90 days, an astonishing achievement, which, if previous projects are any measure of potential, will be achieved.  The video link at the bottom shows the completion of a 30 storey hotel in 15 days.

The current mantra for development and construction is that the price and unavailability of land is pushing developers upwards, rather than outwards.  To meet this increasing trend, technical construction techniques require to develop ever faster to meet the demands and technical requirements.  The Chinese appear to be spearheading these developments at present, in July, Zhang Yue, Chief Executive Officer, Broad Sustainable Building, told a Reuters magazine that he plans build at a two-kilometre high, 636-floor tower.

This will be bad news for the Kingdom Holding Company, whose Chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said in June 2012 that the 1,000-metre high tall Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will be completed by mid-2017.  That is not all, Avesta Group an Azerbaijan company, has advanced plans to build what at the time would be the tallest tower in the world, standing at 1,050 metres, surrounded by number of artificial islands and a Formula One racetrack. This project is likely to be completed between 2020 and 2025, but will it be eclipsed before it’s even built?.

View the BSB hotel development here:

http://bit.ly/Umanuu

James Alexander Consultants eMail us on innovation@jaltd.co.uk or see our contact page for our numbers.  We look forward to speaking with you.