Our work covers all aspects of the commercial sector...
Offices
The old, dull, gloomy and cluttered offices
have been washed away and in their place we have created new
workplaces that reflect the vision and aspirations of our clients.
Our unique approach delivers more than just a redesigned workplace;
the basis is an activity based layout, designed by engaging with
the work force and incorporating a range of alternative work
settings allowing the introduction of agile/flexible working which
leads to improved efficiency and productivity.
Sport & Leisure
Sport is used as a tool for delivering many
social and economic agendas, whether this is through development of
facilities, improvement of services or attracting major sporting
events. Our work covers three main areas:
Facility Development: The
challenges facing public and private sector clients are varied. In
the UK, the public sector faces challenges around maintaining an
ageing stock of facilities. Decisions on whether to maintain
existing facilities or to rationalise and develop new ones are all
the more pressing in the face of current spending cuts. Delivering
more financially sustainable facilities and services is a top
priority.
Major Events: Hosting of
major sporting events is increasingly seen as means to market a
host city or country. Event hosting is linked to wider economic
agendas and destination marketing. Many emerging economies see it
as a means to elevate their status on a global stage. However, the
highest profile events require significant investment by the hosts
in terms of bid costs, development of infrastructure required to
host the events and the costs of hosting and ultimately
underwriting the events.
Management & Procurement: Increasing numbers of local authorities
are looking to outsource the management of their leisure services
to achieve long-term contractual savings. This is something that
has become increasingly important due to recent cuts in budgets for
these services. There are immediate savings that can be made by
many authorities where facilities are currently operated ‘in
house’.
Retail
Retail is the barometer of the UK economy -
the success of our retailers and restaurateurs is directly
attributable to the amount of money we as a nation have available
to spend. As a consequence the last couple of years have been a
roller coaster in the agency world and we have yet to reach the end
of the ride. Nevertheless, shopping is now well established as the
primary leisure pursuit of the masses but the retailers have
had to strive hard to secure brand loyalty and market share in a
very competitive market.
Mixed Use and Regeneration
Over the last few years the development market has revealed its
cyclical tendencies in spectacular fashion. It is widely
acknowledged that between 2004 and 2008 the property market, and
the development market in particular, was an "absolute bubble"
with the value of assets based on very cheap debt.
In the absence of this cheap debt, and with a return to more
traditional lone-to-value ratios, the development industry is
now back to being driven by property fundamentals
(costs, the pricing of risk, return on capital and clear exit
strategies). At the point of delivery, development and
regeneration projects need to be demonstrably viable; whether
publicly or privately promoted.
Industrial and Logistics
The industrial and logistics sector has seen a
great deal of change in recent years. Speculative development is no
longer viable for most developers and occupiers are at best
cautious to sign new leases. What’s more, although finance is
available for the right businesses, it’s no longer easy to come by.
Nevertheless, developers continue to buy sites as they come to
market (the major difference being pre lets and sales are required
before breaking ground, unless they’re in prime locations).