The rental gap between prime offices in Leeds and London is the widest it has ever been according to the latest Spotlight: Leeds Offices report from international real estate advisor Savills.  The firm states that Grade A rents in Leeds city centre currently stand at £27 per sq ft (£291 per sq m), compared to £95 sq ft (£1,023 sq m) in the City of London, which will be a key factor in attracting ‘north-shoring’ firms seeking lower staff and property costs outside the capital. Clare Bailey, associate director in the commercial research team at Savills, comments: “With London rents continuing to increase at speed, Leeds is an extremely attractive alternative.  Over the next five years, almost 10,000 new office jobs will be created in the city, partly as a result of major occupiers relocating back office functions from London to the North.  Although we expect prime rents in Leeds to rise to £30 per sq ft (323 per sq m) in 2019, this will still offer a large discount in comparison to London.” Savills highlights robust city centre take-up of 121,178 sq ft (11,257 sq m) in Leeds for Q1 2016, which is 51% up on the 80,335 sq ft (7,463 sq m) seen in the same period last year.  This was boosted by a number of large deals including 39,605 sq ft (3,679 sq m) let to Hestview Ltd (Sky Bet) at 6 Wellington Place, 25,000 sq ft (2,323 sq m) let to RSM at Central Square and 13,800 sq ft (1,282 sq m) let to Dentsu Aegis at the newly refurbished 6 East Parade.  Strong take-up has been a catalyst for speculative development and Savills says 689,000 sq ft (64,008 sq m) of office space is now under construction in Leeds, including 556,387 sq ft (51,688 sq m) due to be delivered this year of which 47% is already pre-let. Paul Fairhurst, head of Savills Leeds, comments: “While low availability of prime office space has been an on-going theme in the city centre, the completion of 5 and 6 Wellington Place, Central Square, 3 Sovereign Square and 6 Queens Street in Q2 and Q3 this year will deliver a step change in the quality and variety that Leeds can provide.   There are currently more than 500,000 sq ft of named occupier enquiries in excess of 20,000 sq ft, much of which is from the professional and financial services sector, demonstrating the city’s attractiveness.” The office investment market in Leeds is also thriving and last year’s £323 million total was the highest recorded since 2006.  Savills says that although the forthcoming EU referendum has largely seen UK-based investors pause for breath, many overseas investors remain active.  In fact 32% of the £49 million worth of office transactions in Q1 2016 can be attributed to overseas investors compared to just 19% of transactions in 2015.  Key foreign investment deals in the first quarter included the £16 million acquisition of the Yorkshire Bank headquarters by a Spanish family office. Simon Lister, investment director at Savills, comments: “Leeds is on the cusp of some major investment deals, with around £113 million worth of offices currently in solicitors hands.  We understand that around 90% of this is under offer to global investors, which is an important reflection of the UK market as a whole.  If available, we believe that prime 15-year office stock in Leeds would achieve a net initial yield of circa 5.25%, providing a real buying opportunity while the market is in a state of flux surrounding Brexit.” Click here to view the Leeds office market report. Source link

A chemical company was sentenced today in Leeds Crown Court for safety breaches when a very toxic chemical was ejected under pressure. A company maintenance technician unintentionally opened a valve on top of an isotanker at Syngenta Ltd’s Huddersfield plant resulting in the release of between 3.5 and 3.8 tonnes of paraquat dichloride solution. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the firm over the incident. Syngenta Ltd of Leeds Road Huddersfield pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Control Of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 and Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £200 000 with £13 041 costs by Leeds Crown Court. After the hearing, HSE inspector Angus Robbins commented: “This incident could have been prevented if Syngenta had properly assessed the real risk of the valve being opened while the tank was under pressure” Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link

Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Mar 18th 2016 A NORTH East training provider has launched two bespoke courses designed to improve construction site safety. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday A NORTH East training provider has launched two bespoke courses designed to improve construction site safety. Owen Pugh Training Services, which is headquartered in Dudley in North Tyneside with clients throughout the region, has developed short courses in Advanced Manual Handling and Deep Excavation after recognising a need to provide additional, tailored training to improve site safety beyond legislative requirements. The two half-day courses were initially developed as part of the Owen Pugh Group’s safety first approach to improve standards among its own staff across its civil engineering divisions; and to date over 70 Owen Pugh operatives have completed the courses, which are now being rolled out externally to other businesses and organisations operating in the civil engineering arena. The Advanced Manual Handling course recognises that specialist techniques, sometimes involving equipment such as ropes and hoists, are necessary when dealing with heavyweight objects such as manhole covers and kerbstones, and these are not currently covered by standard manual handling courses. Similarly, Deep Excavation Awareness has been developed to supplement the regular excavation course so that operatives are better prepared for different types of excavation work including trenches and open foundation pits.  The courses comprise both theory and a practical assessment and all delegates receive an Owen Pugh Training Services certificate which states they have completed Advanced Manual Handling. Steve Egglestone, a trainer at Owen Pugh Training Services who developed the courses, said: “These advanced level courses offer companies extra reassurance that their staff are fully trained, safe and knowledgeable. Previously, manual handling has been confined to classroom based instruction in most cases and not delivered to fit specific customer requirements.  In some cases it’s merely productivity driven or, even worse, a tick box exercise.  The Advanced Manual Handling course attempts to identify real world examples where employees need to adapt their lifting style. This training will help employers identify who is competent and this can’t be done by lifting empty boxes.  “Likewise, Deep Excavation Awareness veers away from the ‘one size fits all’ approach and looks at the management process and identifies the relevant levels of training needed to stay within the current Construction Design Regulations. It gives an overview of the levels of responsibility along with information on the checks that should be made pre and post excavation including video training on construction of manhole and trench boxes.” Tracey Forshaw, general manager of Owen Pugh Training Services, said: “Owen Pugh’s commitment to health and safety is evident across the business and where a need is recognised to improve safety above and beyond legislative requirements, we’re in a position to develop the courses to do just that.  We’re also able to adapt this bespoke approach for other companies, individuals and local authorities to meet their own specific needs.” Kier North Tyneside is the first external company to enrol on the Advanced Manual Handling course. The company, which delivers a repairs and maintenance service for North Tyneside Council’s housing stock and public buildings, will see over 200 front-line operatives complete the course from April. Kier regional director, Mike Furze, said: “Our front-line operatives carry out thousands of repair and maintenance jobs across the borough each year.  This bespoke industry programme provided by Owen Pugh Training Services supports our commitment to provide our employees with ongoing training opportunities to ensure they are fully qualified and able to carry out their duties safely.” Owen Pugh is a leading provider of training to the North East’s construction industry delivering training to Local Authorities, PLC’s, independent companies and individuals, as well as its own staff.  Owen Pugh Training Services is accredited by industry leading certifying bodies such as CPCS, Construction Skills, National Plant, and City & Guilds.   Source link