According to Savills, take-up in the Watford office market hit 104,678 sq ft (9,733 sq m) in May of 2016, a 40% increase on last year’s total take-up of 74,683 sq ft (6,938 sq m), driven by continued corporate commitment to the town. Savills predicts that take-up is set to increase further still when the construction of Threadneedle’s 60,000 sq ft (5,574 sq m) office building at Croxley Green Business Park completes in Q4 2017, the first speculative development seen in Watford since 2006. A further 39,990 sq ft (3,715 sq m) of recently refurbished Grade A stock available at 45 Clarendon Road and The Junction should also help meet strong occupier demand. The continued demand for office space has been underlined by a number of recent corporate deals. This includes TK Maxx purchasing a site on Clarendon Road in 2015 with the view to develop 100,000 sq ft (9,290 sq m) of office accommodation and Smith & Nephew taking 60,000 sq ft (5,574 sq m) at Croxley Green Business Park in 2016, the largest letting in Watford for 15 years. Despite this, Watford has remained largely undervalued compared to other surrounding M25 towns. Rents for refurbished Grade A space currently stand at circa £27 per sq ft (£290 per sq m), whereas Uxbridge and St Albans stand at £34 per sq ft (£366 per sq m) and £30 per sq ft (£323 per sq m) respectively. For this reason, a major attraction is Watford’s affordability in contrast to the other core South East office markets. Savills anticipates that rents are likely to increase over the next 12 months. There is already evidence of this, as shown by Veale Wasborough Vizards. The law firm recently took 11,000 sq ft (1,021 sq m) at 45 Clarendon Road, paying £27 per sq ft (£290 per sq m), the highest rent achieved in the town since 2001. Let prior to practical completion of the refurbishment, this underlines the demand for Grade A office space as the lack of any new development continues to drive rent upwards. Andrew Willcock, director in the South East office agency team, comments: “In the past Watford has been unable to capitalise on the significant demand for office space in the northern sector of the South East office market largely due to the lack of new development. However, the commitment from Threadneedle to spec build at Croxley Green Business Park highlights the current developer confidence in the town. Boasting excellent transport links and a vast corporate occupier roll call, it remains an obvious choice for a number of businesses. This recent rental uptick should help to encourage further activity both in the centre and in Watford’s business parks.” Source link

©AP Oil prices extended losses to more than 10 per cent over the past two weeks, dropping towards $45 a barrel, as doubts about the possibility of an output agreement between the world’s main producers intensified. Russia, which Opec hopes may join talks in Algeria next month as the largest exporter outside the cartel, said prices might need to decline further before it engaged “more actively in this issue”. More On this topic IN Commodities The comments from Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, were a blow to hopes that the world’s biggest producers might be inching towards co-ordinated action to restrict output and help accelerate the end of a two-year old supply glut, which has roiled energy markets and hit their budgets hard. Renewed discussions of an output cap had helped prices recover last month, peaking above $52 a barrel on August 19 before renewed uncertainty crept in. A similar plan in April was derailed after Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in Opec, refused to participate without Iran’s co-operation. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, fell 2.4 per cent on Thursday to $45.78 a barrel, after gaining 11 per cent in August. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate dropped 2.5 per cent to $43.59 a barrel. Plans for Opec to meet in Algiers at the end of September are going ahead, with signs Saudi Arabia may this time be willing to cap output, with its aim of listing a stake in its state oil company being hampered by the drop in prices. Since averaging above $100 a barrel for most of the period between 2008 and 2014, crude prices have since more than halved as fast-growing US shale output triggered increased competition among the world’s largest producers. Opec members have raised output to the highest on record, led by increases from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, while Iran’s production has also recovered since western sanctions linked to its nuclear programme were largely lifted in January. Khalid Al Falih, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, has insisted Riyadh is not trying to flood the market but has instead raised output to more than 10.6m barrels a day in response to customers and higher domestic demand. Olivier Jakob, a market analyst at Petromatrix in Switzerland, said, however, that much of the additional oil Saudi Arabia was selling might be going into storage, as traders tried to buy up cheap crude to sell at higher prices later. “Part of the demand for crude oil is for stockbuilding,” Mr Jakob said. “Therefore as long as Saudi Arabia continues to gradually increase production to answer the demand for stockbuilding, it is not allowing the expected ‘rebalancing’ to occur.” Production outside of Opec is expected to fall this year, helping bring the market back towards balance, with lower prices also boosting demand. But a recovery from below $30 in January has allowed some US producers to add drilling rigs, with many now operating leaner, more efficient companies after working to drive down costs. Some think the market glut might not clear until well into 2017. “Middle Eastern Opec production also needs to start stabilising (and then falling) before prices can rise sustainably,” analysts at Energy Aspects said this week. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

Flowscape work on a human level to showcase their belief that happy employees bring the key to a successful business. The company aid others to create pleasant work environments hiring 1,000 employees a year to spend 60,000 annual hours on unnecessary friction-the equivalent to thirty full time jobs. With the most offices experiencing some types of friction in the workplace, no matter how big or small the issues may be, Flowscape make it their business to help their clients remove difficulties and make a work environment that is productive, while also reducing overall costs. Their human approach is unique, simple and personal and works fantastically for all these reasons and more, so the team decided to communicate their beliefs through the form of film. The film itself uses an artistic representation that shows the causes of friction that can be experienced by employees on a daily basis as well as the snowballing damage the effect can have on energy levels across the office/business. Flow can outrival friction and this is the message the company were desperate to get across! Through the use of cutting edge technology, Flowscape have managed to reduce the amount of time that is wasted and promote the interaction and productivity among a business’ colleagues, they use their main feature: Flowmap to give companies an overview of their offices which enable them to quickly find meeting rooms, equipment, desks and coworkers. Ericsson and Flowscape have started a cooperation which aims to help Ericsson’s employees have an easier time reserving work space and communicating with colleagues. Facility management and IT are combined to transform offices into modern workplaces that have a genuine care for those working in the business. The Flowscape app aims to optimise the workplace offering several useful features for a variety of businesses that keep everyone up to date with optimum ease, speed and efficiency.