InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has announced the signing of a dual branded hotel development near Heathrow Airport, London. The two hotels Holiday Inn® London – Heathrow Bath Road and Staybridge Suites® London – Heathrow Bath Road will operate under a franchise agreement with Bathroad Corp Sarl. Due to open in 2018, the 190 room Staybridge Suites property will be built alongside a new 433 room Holiday Inn hotel. Located on Bath Road, the hotels are close to the main entrances to Terminals 1,2&3 of Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s major international airports, serving 75 million air passengers annually. Holiday Inn® London – Heathrow Bath Road will feature the brand’s signature Open Lobby, which takes a unique approach to the in-hotel experience for guests. The Open Lobby combines the front desk, lobby, restaurant, bar, lounge area and business centre into one open, cohesive space, and has a refreshing new design to give it a more contemporary feel. The Staybridge Suites® London – Heathrow Bath Road  will feature spacious studios and one-bedroom suites, which are well thought out for apartment living.  The suites include fully equipped kitchens, LED TV’s, large work areas, air conditioning and free wireless internet throughout. With both hotels in the same building, the dual branded model allows for operational efficiencies through shared facilities and amenities whilst at the same time as offering guests a choice of accommodation to fit their needs. These two hotels will also contain seven meeting rooms, an onsite gym each and over 300 parking spaces. Philip Lassman, Development Director, UK & Ireland, IHG said: “We’re delighted to have established a new partnership with Bathroad Corp Sarl and to be working on this project together. We’re confident the combination of brands, coupled with the hotels’ great location; will make these two hotels the number one choice for business and leisure guests staying at Heathrow. This is an exciting time for IHG as we continue to grow a pipeline of quality hotels here with our portfolio of preferred brands.” Morris Katri, Director, Bathroad Corp Sarl said: “With the number of visitors coming to and from Heathrow Airport, this dual branded development is especially suited to its location. With two hotels we can appeal to a wider pool of guests and the full suite of food and beverage and meetings services offered at Holiday Inn complements the Staybridge Suites service offer perfectly. They are perfect for not only business travellers but also for families and those who may be spending an extended period away from their home and family.” Staybridge Suites offers a warm, social and home-like environment for guests spending an extended period away from home. There are currently six Staybridge Suites properties in Europe with a further three in the pipeline*. With 1,196 hotels worldwide, the Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts brand is the most widely recognized hotel brand in the world. Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts has been leading the way for over 60 years – from being the first hotel brand to let Kids Stay and Eat Free®, to being the first hotel Olympic Partner to help run the Athletes’ Village at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and introducing innovations such as the open lobby concept which creates a next generation public space where guests can both work productively and enjoy leisure time. Holiday Inn is the right brand to give the European business traveller exactly what they want and need from a hotel stay, from modern design and in-room amenities to free internet through our industry leading loyalty programme, IHG Rewards Club, now with over 90 million members.  It is free to join at www.IHGRewardsClub.com We currently have 309 hotels open in the UK, including  five open near Heathrow Airport, and a further 25 hotels in the pipeline* in the UK. *Figures as at 30th September 2015.

ExGo suppression control panels from Advanced have been installed in a £20m, state-of-the-art data and high performance computing centre at the University of Cambridge that is working on some of the globe’s greatest challenges. Situated on the West Cambridge site of the University of Cambridge, the building is the new home for high performance computing, centralised data storage and also business operations, teaching, learning and research. The High Performance Computing Centre is working on data from two of mankind’s greatest and data heavy science projects, the Large Hadron Collider and BRIDGE Genome Project. ExGo, Advanced’s ultra-dependable extinguishant release system, was configured and installed by Advanced customer Advanced Fire Solutions Ltd. The suppression control system installed in the building comprises four ExGo panels with mode select key switch assemblies. Jonathan Bacon, Managing Director of Advanced Fire Solutions Ltd, said: “We selected ExGo because the installation required a suppression system that could deliver reassurance and long-term reliability for this crucial building. We have an established partnership with Advanced and we knew that the equipment would be of the highest quality. The system also offers the flexibility and expandability to meet all future requirements.” ExGo has been developed specifically for sensitive and strategic assets such as server rooms, historic and cultural attractions and control rooms. It has been installed in high-profile buildings across the globe, including the Magna Carta vault at Lincoln Castle, Romanian National Library and strategic oil pipelines in Sudan. Ian Tasker, Manager of the West Cambridge Data Centre, added: “The West Cambridge Data Centre reflects the University’s commitment to excellence in the provision of information services to research, students and staff” ExGo is suitable for almost all single-flooding area applications and includes a range of control options and devices. It is approved to EN54 parts 2, 4 and 13 and EN12094-1 and is among the first systems to combine these with EN12094 Part 3 in a single solution. EN12094-3 relates to the integrated manual release on the front of the panel. ExGo can be integrated into Advanced’s Axis and MxPro fire panels, or any third party fire system Robin Kemp, Advanced sales manager for the South East region, commented: “The West Cambridge Data Centre is a strategically vital part of the University of Cambridge’s infrastructure and essential to its operations and those of its many international stakeholders. We are delighted to be part of it.” Advanced is a world leader in the development and manufacture of intelligent fire systems. The legendary performance, quality and ease-of-use of its products sees Advanced specified in locations all over the world, from single panel installations to large multi-site networks. Advanced’s products include complete fire detection systems, multi-protocol fire panels, extinguishing control, fire paging and false alarm management systems. More details can be found on the website at www.advancedco.com.

The first office building in Chester’s £100m Central Business Quarter has been launched in the city, marking a major economic boost to the region. Muse Developments unveiled One City Place to an audience of property agents, council dignitaries and businesses this week as the pioneering force behind the transformation of Chester’s commercial offering. The 70,000 sq ft Grade A office space next to Chester Railway Station is the first of seven offices to be built by 2028 as part of the new 500,000 sq ft business quarter, which will bring more than £96m to the city’s economy. Phil Mayall, development director at Muse, said: “After 18 months of construction, we’re extremely proud to launch One City Place as an exciting new business destination in Chester. “We’re confident that its location, top class office space and excellent transport connectivity with access to Chester Railway Station will attract businesses on a regional, national and international level. We have had good interest in the building and will be announcing the first lettings shortly. “One City Place is the pioneering building in the Central Business Quarter and we look forward to continuing this development with a further six buildings. Our ultimate goal is to drive investment into the city, bring new jobs and promote Chester as a place to do business.” Cheshire West and Chester Council has invested more than £1.5m into new public realm, designed by urbanism specialists Broadway Malyan, around the scheme including the renovation of Grade II listed rail sheds linked to Chester Railway Station. Residents, commuters and visitors can now walk out of the station and through the ‘Carriage Shed’ which features a new glass roof, ‘living’ wall, planting and paving, directly into the new business quarter. Deputy Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Councillor Louise Gittins said: “The launch marks an exciting and prosperous new chapter in Chester’s history as the Central Business Quarter is one of the largest business developments in the city in recent years. It forms a key part of our One City Plan which aims to drive business in the city and move it towards a brighter future.” Attending the launch, The Lord Mayor of Chester Councillor Hugo Deynem praised the scheme, saying: “The launch of One City Place is a huge step forward for Chester and it represents a major statement to the business world to come and be part of an exciting new journey. With more than £700m of investment going on in the city, there really has never been a better time to be in Chester.” Guy Butler, chairman of Chester Growth Partnership, said: “The completion and launch of City Place is significant for the future of Chester – particularly with regard to the offering of business space to employers by keeping accommodation current and attractive to the competitive employment market. It also further emphasizes the importance of the railway station and the infrastructure links which must be enhanced – this is an area of particular focus for the Chester Growth Partnership. We support and thank Muse for their commitment to the city and look forward to further phases of development.” Over the next 15 years, it is estimated that the Central Business Quarter will create 3,500 jobs, provide 200 new homes and exciting retail opportunities, as well as a new hotel and leisure facilities. Muse Developments is also working up plans to submit a reserved matters planning application for 100 canal side apartments as part of the wider scheme. The One City Place development was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and The North West Evergreen Fund. See more at chad kimball maps.

WH Partnership (WHP), with its headquarters in the north east of England, has helped leading gene and cell therapy scientists move closer to developing pioneering products for diseases which currently have no treatment. WHP, one of the UK’s leading providers of integrated process and cleanrooms, has recently completed Oxford Biomedica’s (OXB) new clean room production facility in Yarnton, Oxford, which manufactures unique gene-based medicines for some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Constructed to comply with stringent UK Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations, the 6,000sq.ft.additional cleanroom space took less than a year from concept to completion and creates extra capacity for existing and potential customers. The facility has just been approved by the Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to manufacture bulk drug material for Investigational Medicinal Products (IMPs). WHP’s managing director, Nigel Hall, said: “We have gained a strong reputation for our cleanroom design and construction in the biotechnology industry and the number and quality of projects that we have in the pipeline continue to grow. We are delighted to have brought our wealth of expertise in stringently-regulated sectors to OXB’s facility and look forward to supporting them in any future expansion plans.” James Miskin, Chief technical officer of Oxford BioMedica, said: “OXB is delighted with the recent completion of its new GMP clean room production facility in Yarnton. The WHP team worked closely and collaboratively with a small team of OXB in-house experts throughout the project, and WHP’s specific expertise, from detailed design to engineering solutions, was absolutely critical in completing this high quality facility in such a short period of time. This was a very successful construction project which meets with OXB’s exacting quality and technical expectations, and is a testament to the quality and attention to detail within the WHP team.”