Granite city takes the Gold!!

Knight Frank have produced their quarterly round up of the office marketplace (ROMP) and Aberdeen takes top spot with over 500,000ft² of deals undertaken in Q2, only just short of the total for last year!  The Aberdeen office market has been looking very strong of late and the take up has been increasing steadily since around 2009 an achievement in itself.

With some recent interest in the Aberdeen marketplace ourselves, it will make for interesting viewing to see if this trend will continue and, if so, how will it be serviced?

James Alexander Consultants are expert in assessing your portfolio and, with you, determining a strategy to develop the correct balance of assets, their relevance and performance for you.  We develop, plan and implement the strategy, leaving you to focus on core activity and opportunity.

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

New Working Practices:

We may have said this before, but after staff costs, the cost of the occupied estate is the next biggest expense for any organisation.

The adoption of new working practices can provide organisations with the opportunity to reduce space related overheads, as well as provide staff with options on how their work life is organised.  The opportunities to reduce the cost overhead involved in accommodation for operations are many and varied.  Their suitability for deployment is, amongst other things, dependent upon the individual circumstances of each organisation, these are not one size fits all solutions.

• Footprint:  keeping in mind the essential means of escape routes consider whether the personal footprint could be reduced.  It is recommended that 11m³ per person is achieved, but the reduction of the furniture footprint (smaller workstations) is one way which could help. 

• Working away from the Office:  technological development now means that providing essential staff with the means for mobile communication is within reach of all organisations. This does not work for all job functions and should not be taken as a wholesale opportunity to close the office, but those who are out of the office more than they are in do not, generally, need workstations.

• Technology: developments also mean that less equipment is required to provide desk top solutions for staff, coupled to a reduction in workstation size leads to smaller footprint.  Printing and photocopying devices are now available with much smarter interfaces and options.

• Maximise: have you ever wondered why the meeting and conference rooms are empty for most of the time?  Rethink the strategy and maximise usage, software packages exist to help with this.

• Open Plan:  it’s not new to suggest going down the open plan route, but think about doing away with personal offices.  Research has shown that by careful space planning, suitable provision of meeting rooms, spaces and break out areas the need for personal offices is significantly diminished.

James Alexander Consultants can help you find your way through to the best solution to your accommodation needs.

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

Top 5 Relocation Tips:

Moving the business to new location or locations is a process best undertaken with a great deal of planning and forethought.  Commercial relocation is so much more than moving your house, its obvious isn’t it, but you would be surprised how many organisations approach this activity full of confidence due to someone having moved their own home last year, only to fail in spectacular fashion, costing the business dearly.

Here are my top 5 tips for your relocation project:

• Team:  Pull together your in house and professional team early on.  The fundamental requirement for the project team is to have delegated authority to make project decisions.  You will undoubtedly have a project Board with the overall Company authority, but the ability for the Project team to act within bounds is paramount. 

• Programme & Timing:  Your relocation project will almost certainly culminate in one or more moves over a series of weekends or a holiday period.  Planning for your project can start at either end of the scale.  Either working back from a mission critical end date, perhaps the expiration of the existing lease period, or working from the start, based on the longest lead time elements and the date you determine to launch the project.  Either way you cannot start the overall planning too soon.  Informal planning will have been taking place for some while but this needs to be pulled together at the earliest opportunity so that all aspects can be captured and detailed.

• Communication:  Early on in the project you will need to determine your communication strategy with staff and stakeholders.  As a source of rumour and misinformation, there are few better catalysts than a relocation project to stoke the fires!  Planning and implementing an integrated communication plan will greatly assist the project, both in terms of staff satisfaction and also in terms of buy in and co-operation.

• IT and Communications:  Make sure your IT and communications teams are fully engaged from the start.  We have seen projects that have started off in fine form, bringing the communications teams in at a later date, only to find there are practical technical matters that have been overlooked and the project suffers delays and cost overruns.

• Have a clear out!:  Develop time in the programme to encourage staff to have a good clear out of filing cabinets, old machinery, cupboards, loose boxes, equipment, records, files, obsolete bits and bobs and the many other things that will cost money to move, cost money to house and then cost money to move next time!  There will be opportunities to recycle, sell, donate, dispose and, in the process, contribute to the organisations corporate social responsibility agenda.

James Alexander Consultants can help you with your relocation project.

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

It’s Flexible Working Week!

It’s been Flexible Working Week this week and that hasn’t meant you can choose whether to work or not (hard luck!) but this week acknowledges that the office based working week of today is able to be so much more adaptable than ever before.

It is the technological advances that have been made which have enabled the office to come with you wherever you may be.  Mobile devices are pocket sized and, with a generous sprinkling of Apps, can enable work documents and information to be with you wherever you are and to bring the ability to receive and send communications in any number of forms;  eMail, texts, social media, Internet, Intranet all available to put to use.  However, these can only be effective if there are a number of non technological elements brought into play.  These revolve around organisational will and processes.  If the tools are on place, but the supporting structure is not there, things are not going to go well.

www.londonlovesbusiness.com in association with Microsoft has produced a guide to effective, flexible working (download it here: http://bit.ly/JmeaA3 )

To the organisation there exists the opportunity to increase productivity from an existing resource but there are additional advantages to both the workforce and the organisation:

·         It is estimated that 83% of companies are already offering some form of flexible working arrangement to staff.

·         Collaborative working has become easier and more accessible

·         Flexible working can lead to more flexible working hours, no need to be tied to the usual 9-5.

·         New working practices are developed for efficiency and a faster take up by staff.

·         Staff wellbeing increases, with a more equitable work life balance.

·         Reductions in travel in terms of time and cost are significant benefits to the employee, the company, and the planet.

The successful introduction of new working practices that allow for more flexible working patterns rely on a number of factors working in concert.  The employer has to provide the right tools, environment and encouragement, the employee has to adapt and develop new disciplines of their own.  Most will embrace the opportunities, some may need more encouragement but the potential exists to have a significant impact on the company as well as the individual.

R is for...

Relocation:

Back on firmer ground, well at least we have a topic, phew!

Moving the business to new location or locations is a process best undertaken with a great deal of planning and forethought.  Commercial relocation is so much more than moving your house, its obvious isn’t it, but you would be surprised how many organisations approach this activity full of confidence due to someone having moved their own home last year, only to fail in spectacular fashion, costing the business dearly.

Here are my top 5 tips for your relocation project:

• Team:  Pull together your in house and professional team early on.  The fundamental requirement for the project team is to have delegated authority to make project decisions.  You will undoubtedly have a project Board with the overall Company authority, but the ability for the Project team to act within bounds is paramount. 

• Programme & Timing:  Your relocation project will almost certainly culminate in one or more moves over a series of weekends or a holiday period.  Planning for your project can start at either end of the scale.  Either working back from a mission critical end date, perhaps the expiration of the existing lease period, or working from the start, based on the longest lead time elements and the date you determine to launch the project.  Either way you cannot start the overall planning too soon.  Informal planning will have been taking place for some while but this needs to be pulled together at the earliest opportunity so that all aspects can be captured and detailed.

• Communication:  Early on in the project you will need to determine your communication strategy with staff and stakeholders.  As a source of rumour and misinformation, there are few better catalysts than a relocation project to stoke the fires!  Planning and implementing an integrated communication plan will greatly assist the project, both in terms of staff satisfaction and also in terms of buy in and co-operation.

• IT and Communications:  Make sure your IT and communications teams are fully engaged from the start.  We have seen projects that have started off in fine form, bringing the communications teams in at a later date, only to find there are practical technical matters that have been overlooked and the project suffers delays and cost overruns.

• Have a clear out!:  Develop time in the programme to encourage staff to have a good clear out of filing cabinets, old machinery, cupboards, loose boxes, equipment, records, files, obsolete bits and bobs and the many other things that will cost money to move, cost money to house and then cost money to move next time!  There will be opportunities to recycle, sell, donate, dispose and, in the process, contribute to the organisations corporate social responsibility agenda.

James Alexander Consultants can help you with your relocation project.

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

N is for...

New Working Practices:

We may have said this before, but after staff costs, the cost of the occupied estate is the next biggest expense for any organisation.

The adoption of new working practices can provide organisations with the opportunity to reduce space related overheads, as well as provide staff with options on how their work life is organised.  The opportunities to reduce the cost overhead involved in accommodation for operations are many and varied.  Their suitability for deployment is, amongst other things, dependent upon the individual circumstances of each organisation, these are not one size fits all solutions.

• Footprint:  keeping in mind the essential means of escape routes consider whether the personal footprint could be reduced.  It is recommended that 11m³ per person is achieved, but the reduction of the furniture footprint (smaller workstations) is one way which could help. 

• Working away from the Office:  technological development now means that providing essential staff with the means for mobile communication is within reach of all organisations. This does not work for all job functions and should not be taken as a wholesale opportunity to close the office, but those who are out of the office more than they are in do not, generally, need workstations.

• Technology: developments also mean that less equipment is required to provide desk top solutions for staff, coupled to a reduction in workstation size leads to smaller footprint.  Printing and photocopying devices are now available with much smarter interfaces and options.

• Maximise: have you ever wondered why the meeting and conference rooms are empty for most of the time?  Rethink the strategy and maximise usage, software packages exist to help with this.

• Open Plan:  it’s not new to suggest going down the open plan route, but think about doing away with personal offices.  Research has shown that by careful space planning, suitable provision of meeting rooms, spaces and break out areas the need for personal offices is significantly diminished.

James Alexander Consultants can help you find your way through to the best solution to your accommodation needs.

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

I is for...

Innovation:

Changing times call for ever more thoughtful approaches to your asset management challenges.  The current marketplace within commercial property is even more volatile than usual, and, whilst geography plays its part, the general view of the marketplace is that conditions are hard and likely to be so for the forthcoming time.

Spending time in careful consideration of the challenge this places on your business with regard to your built assets and liabilities is therefore well worth it.  In a previous post we have talked about the place within your business the build estate holds and the opportunity for the review and assessment of the estate in the light of this.

Detailed knowledge of your real estate liabilities will enable you to clearly plan ahead and, in conjunction with you business requirements, determine whether there are any opportunities to do things differently.

There may be scope to reorganise finances through the asset and balance sheet, to renegotiate terms with your landlord or reorganise loans on freehold occupancy.  Assessment of the utilised estate and how it could be improved, could allow for sub-letting (should the terms of the lease allow).  Group companies can potentially co-locate to reduce costs and vacating premises can save costs, even if the lease is still in force, with running and occupancy costs reduced to near nil and the potential for rates relief.

James Alexander Consultants are expert in assessing your portfolio and, with you, determining a strategy to develop the correct balance of assets, their relevance and performance for you.  We develop, plan and implement the strategy, leaving you to focus on core activity and opportunity.

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

E is for...

Environmental:

This A to Z Challenge is not an easy task, still…..!

Fittingly, as a hose pipe ban is imposed across many areas in the south of the country today and dire warning for the summer (?!) of impending drought like conditions, it is reasonable that our thoughts might turn to the environmental aspects of the built estate.

There are now numerous regulatory instruments requiring high standards in building design and construction, affecting the environmental and sustainable credentials of a building’s performance.  From the insulting capabilities of external walls and cladding to the type of heating ventilation and air conditioning system performance, the operational aspects of running a building are at the very top of the agenda when designing a new building.

Much of the built commercial estate in the UK dates from times before concerns over the impact on the environment of buildings were uppermost in any architects’ minds.  Design and aesthetics were the watchwords, although I think these may have become forgotten during parts of the 1960’s and through much if the last century this was the way in which buildings were conceived and constructed, with little thought to their impact on the environment.

The green agenda is well and truly to the fore and the Government is keen to maintain its planet saving credential by pushing more and more stringent measures onto the commercial and domestic markets for development and also some aspects of refurbishment.  Of course, all of these measures come at a cost which is borne, ultimately by the consumer.  The drive to become “green” has seen a worldwide movement to monitor, measure and assess commercial building performance and standards in design and construction.  The UK has the Building Research Establishment’s BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) system in place and a rating system is applied by an inspection and monitoring process for new building design.

James Alexander Consultants are expert in assessing your portfolio and, with you, determining a strategy to develop the correct balance of assets, their relevance and performance for you.  We develop, plan and implement the strategy, leaving you to focus on core activity and opportunity.

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

Take stock and review

The commercial property sector is to come under further pressure during 2012 in the light of the current economic climate and the uncertain times ahead for the Euro Zone.  Both rental and capital values started to show sign of weakening during the Q4 last year and are expected to continue to decline during 2012 as the continuing uncertainty over the future of the British recovery continues.  Tough market conditions in the retail sector have led to have affected high streets across the country.  Even the usually resilient London market is starting to show significant stress with rental levels and capital values starting to decline as the number of potential transactions slows.

However, all is not lost!  With the decline in value for the landlord comes the increase in opportunity for the tenant.  Now is the ideal time to undertake a comprehensive review of all your lease and occupancy arrangements.

• Are you able to exercise any lease breaks?
• Are any leases up for rent review?
• Are you holding over?
• Have your business needs changed?
• Is your occupancy at the optimum?
• Could you place any non essential requirements in better value accommodation?
• Is there an opportunity to outsource activities?

Every cloud has a silver lining, see what lies behind this one for your business.

Innovation@jaltd.co.uk