Your office space environment can have a huge impact on the productivity and overall success of your business. However, energy draining equipment can lead to additional costs and increased carbon emissions. If you want to boost the efficiency of your office space, follow Search Office Space’s top 5 tips.

1. Introduce Shared Office Space
   Shared working environments can reduce overheads and offer excellent networking opportunities, all within a speedy set up time.
2. Strategic Lighting
   By using low energy light bulbs and energy efficient LED lighting, you company could save money and reduce it’s carbon footprint. It is also a good idea to choose a serviced office which benefits from floor to ceiling windows, or skylights that allow for plenty of natural light.
3. Off-Site Meeting Rooms
   Many business feel that a desired aspect of their chosen office space would be the addition of an on-site meeting or conference room. However, this is not necessarily the case – especially for small businesses. Meeting clients in a nearby cafe, restaurant or even a break-out area can prove cost effective and allow for a more informal and flexible approach.
4. Innovative Design
   When choosing a serviced office it’s important to consider the design and fit-out. Innovate features and non-traditional office space often focuses their design around energy efficiency and flexible work spaces which encourage productivity.
5. Reduce Paper Use
   Many London office space environments now rely heavily on technology rather than paper usage. For example, why write on a sheet of paper when you can use your smart phone or tablet? However, when paper is a necessity, ensure you recycle everything you can and encourage employees to do the same.

   These simple tips can help improve the efficiency of your office space with minimal disruption. Not only can efficiency encourage productivity and reduce costs, but it also makes for a happier workforce, as health in the workplace becomes increasingly important.

Centuries ago, Shoreditch (EC2) and the surrounding areas of Hackney and Spitalfields were notorious for their poverty stricken streets and slums, one in particular being the Old Nichol slum.

Old Nichol was a dense network of 30 streets, which included Boundary Street, Church Street, Half Nichol Street and areas of Bethanl Green. Home to around 5,700 people, Old Nichol had a notorious and often ‘evil’ reputation due to the poor conditions and somewhat ‘un-savoury’ inhabitants.

In 1890, the London County Council called for the demolition
of Old Nichol, and the construction of London’s first social housing project. The block of flats that were erected around the area of Arnold Circus are still standing today, distinctive in terms of their location and design. Today, these buildings have become Grade II listed, and remain part of the 21st century regeneration of the Shoreditch we see transforming
in front of our eyes.

Thinking back to Old Nichol and the Boundary Street of the 16th century, its hard to imagine that property around these locations is now priced between £400,000 and £3,000,000. However, over the last decade or so, Shoreditch and the surrounding areas of Old Street and Hoxton, have undergone large scale regeneration and seen an influx of upmarket restaurants, shops and an underground nightlife scene which attracts visitors from opposite ends of the Capital.

Shoreditch has become one of London’s most fashionable and sough after residential locations, especially for young professionals and City workers – thanks to the excellent transport links – and it doesn’t stop there. East London is now the place to be for technology companies. Dubbed the ‘Tech City’ and home to the Silicon Roundabout (London’s version of the Silicon Valley in San Francisco), Shoreditch and Old Street continue to lure technology, IT and creative businesses, due to their stylish and open plan forms of office space.

Property developers are itching to get their hands on East London. This week, Londonewcastle resubmitted plans to Tower Hamlets Council for a 25-storey mixed use development, including ground-floor commercial office space and over 100 apartments on the Huntingdon Estate in Weavers Ward.

Further evidence of EC2’s popularity comes from the increasing number of IT and technology companies calling the Shoreditch Triangle home. This area is well known for it’s Victorian and Edwardian properties which have been turned into ideal office space solutions, with high ceilings and cheap rental rates when compared to office space in the City of London.

Internet giants, Google, have also taken to Shoreditch and the Silicon Roundabout, opening 25,000sqft of office space near Old Street later this year. Companies including Cisco, Intel and Facebook have also opted to rent office space in Shoreditch.

Future developments are also set to have a positive effect on Shoreditch. For example, with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon, East London is set to become even more popular with international investment and property buyers hoping to get a slice of London’s Tech City. Also, 2018 should see the arrival of Crossrail which will provide even better transport links to the City of London, thus increasing the desirability of East London.

If you’re thinking about renting office space anywhere in East London, contact Search Office Space today on 0800 524 4649 to discuss your requirements.

Love it or hate it, the social media network Twitter, has just celebrated it’s 6th birthday! This may sound young in human years, but for an internet communication tool, it’s pretty impressive.

Founder and inventor of twitter, Jack Dorsey, could never have predicted the success that twitter would have on the world. Today, the website has 500 million users producing over 1 billion tweets every three days!

On twitter’s official blog, the company thanked it’s users and dedicated this 6th birthday to them, “without you, of course, there wouldn’t be a twitter. We mark our sixth birthday with you in mind, and celebrate your myriad ways of engaging, enjoying, and emoting on our platform”.

Today, twitter has become part of popular culture, with hashtags making their way into other forms of communication so as to emphasise the meaning behind it, or to promote other forms of media such as TV and Radio.

Six years on and twitter is still an independent company, which poses the question – will twitter be acquired by technology giants such as Apple or Microsoft, or will it just keep growing? I guess we will have to wait and see what happens on twitter’s 7th birthday…

Prime Minister, David Cameron, has announced plans to re-introduce the concept of ‘garden cities’, a policy which decides how best to incorporate green belt land into areas which have high potential for residential and commercial growth.

The PM pledged this movement at a speech held at the Institute of Civil Engineers yesterday, promising to protect the green belt, whilst boosting the number of housing and development plans in areas such as Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth – towns have a lot of undeveloped, agricultural land, but also have good transport facilities which can be monopolised.

Like many government policies, ‘garden cities’ has some opposition, in this case, from the National Trust. It’s suggested that Mr Cameron’s policy will neglect the environment in favour of boosting economic growth. However, the PM returned this comment, stating that “Yes we need more housing, but sprawling over the countryside isn’t the answer’”.

The government will publish its controversial ‘garden city’ policy, entitled the National Planning Policy Framework on Wednesday 21st March, along with the proposed budget. Only time will tell if the policy is well executed, but for the sake of Britain’s green belt, Search Office Space certainly hopes that it is carried out sufficiently.

On Tuesday, Search Office Space announced the top predictions for Apple’s iPad 3. Whilst some predictions were correct, Apple have now officially revealed the new iPad 3 features – and as promised, Search Office Space is on hand to give you the facts!

In short, the new iPad 3 (which may not be the official name of the Apple tablet) is four times faster than it’s predecessor thanks to it’s supercharged processor, has 3D capability and a ‘retina display’ with a pixel count of 2,048 x 1,536 – which is sharper than a HD television set!

Search Office Space was also right in thinking that the iPad 3 would include 4G connectivity and a quad-core A5x chip which accounts for it’s super fast speed. The camera has also been updated to 5 megapixels iSight model, and the battery life is expected to last up to 10 hours.

And that’s not all! Take a look at these additional facts and figures for the iPad 3:

• Storage Options: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
• Memory: 256MB
• Operating System: iOS 5 with iCloud Technology
• App Capability: 350,000+
• Video Calling
• Voice Recognition
• Height: 9.5in, Width: 7.3in, Depth: 0.37in, Weight: 1.44lb
• Price: £399-£659

Also revealed at the Apple event was a new HD Apple TV set-top box, along with a cheaper ‘entry level’ iPad 2. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO who took over from Steve Jobs in October 2011, also revealed that ‘a lot more innovation’ was on it’s way, with the iPhone 5 expected to be launched at the end of 2012.

The highly anticipated tablet will be on sale from March 16th 2012, possibly under the guise of ‘the new iPad’. However, stockists fear this may cause confusion, as there will be a new iPad 2 model (the cheaper entry level tablet) on sale at the same time. Not that Apple are too concerned, as news surfaced of the company’s rare milestone achieved last week, being that Apple was now worth over $500billion! And after the launch of the ‘new iPad’ next week, one can only imaging the success.

Not only is going green good for the environment, it can also be good for your business! Whether you’re thinking about renting a new office space in 2012, or upgrading your current office space with refurbishments and an updated technology infrastructure, green issues are highly important.

Below is a list of the top 10 reasons why going green will help your business in ways you may have never considered of before…

1. Save Money
Installing energy saving features within your office can significantly reduce your monthly bills by up to 20%. Green lighting, heating and ventilation are all easily installed, and will help your company become a sustainable organisation.

2. Avoid Government Fines
2012 is going to be a year of change, as the government intends to bring in new legislation on the energy standards of commercial property. Companies that do not comply with certain rules could face fines.

3. Reduce Your Tax Bill
One of the government plans which was launched in October 2011 was the Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme (ECAs). This scheme meant that companies who install energy efficient equipment and machinery will benefit from a tax break. Now, a few months on, these companies are really seeing the benefit, as their tax bills are reduced.

4. Employee Moral
Many people and employees are concerned about the environment, and make real efforts within their households to reduce their families carbon footprint. By ensuring they can do the same within office environments will boost moral and make for a happy workforce, thus leading to business success.

5. Sustainable Brand Awareness
More and more companies are looking to deal with sustainable brands and partners within businesses. By promoting the fact that your company is going green will help get potential clients and partners on side.

6. Avoid Negative Press
If your company is wasting energy and damaging the environment you may come under fire form other organisations and the press. Within the business world, all publicity doesn’t necessarily mean good publicity, so the sooner your company goes green, the better!

7. Attract the Right Employees
Research suggests that a younger workforce are more concerned with going green – and have more knowledge on the topic of energy efficiency. Young, bright professionals are more likely to be attracted to work at your company if your business has the right green values. Young professionals are also the future of the economy, so by employing such people, your business is likely to become a success!

8. Staff Loyalty
If your employees see that you are doing your bit for the environment, its certainly an incentive to get involved with going green themselves, and even a reason to stay loyal to your company.

9. Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds
If your business has a green office space this can help reduce absenteeism among your employees. Natural light and fresh air can also increase productivity within your workforce, so there’s no reason not to go green!

10. Going Green is a Positive Change
Statistics from the Department of Trade and Industry revealed that offices, commercial property and factories are responsible for 47% of the UK’s carbon emissions – which is a pretty scary thought. This is your chance to do the right thing, both for your business and the environment.

If you think that its about time for your office space to go green, we can help! Search Office Space has a range of Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified business centres across the UK. If you choose to rent office space within one of these centres, you can rest assured that your carbon footprint is reduced.

For more information on LEED business centres, green office space and office rentals in the UK and worldwide, talk to Search Office Space today on 0800 524 4649 to discuss your requirements.

Earlier this month, SOS > Search Office Space revealed that our very own Director, Daniel Howard, had been nominated for a prestigious YN Property Award. The ceremony itself took place on Monday 27th February, and we can finally reveal that Daniel was crowned winner!

2012 was the second annual YN Property Awards, which raised an unprecedented £80,000 for Norwood! SOS > Search Office Space would like to take this moment to congratulate everyone involved with the event, and of course, a special congratulations to our talented Director, Daniel Howard.

The winners of each category are as follows:

• Daniel Howard of SOS > Search Office Space for Young Deal of the Year
• Ray Bloom of John D Wood for Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• Simon de Friend and Paul Eden of Regal Homes for Young Developers of the Year
• Adam Goldin of Delancey for Young Property Professional of the Year

The ‘Young Deal of the Year’ Award celebrates young and successful professionals who have achieved over and above the expected. In Daniel’s case, the deal refers to one of the biggest property deals to take place in the City of London.

Groupon, the world’s fastest growing company, approached SOS > Search Office Space to help them find a new business centre. Daniel spent a large proportion of 2011 working on every aspect of this deal until the new managed office space was secured at Seal House, London Bridge. The 52,000sqft business centre occupies five floors and has now become Groupon’s primary UK headquarters.

Upon winning the award, Daniel said, “Being nominated was great recognition alone for all the hard work throughout 2011, so to actually win the award really tops it off! It’s a brilliant start to 2012 for Search Office Space and myself and I look forward to the year ahead and more successful deals to come.”

Make sure you keep your eye on the SOS > Search Office Space Blog for more news and developments as they arise.

It’s big news on the property circuit today, as private equity firm, Carlyle, announced their purchase of Hammersmith Palais (242 Shepherds Bush Road), with the intention to turn the popular music venue into a 418-room student accommodation scheme.

The joint venture, between Carlyle and Generation Estates secured the deal
to buy Hammersmith Palais off London & Regional who were hoping to turn the property into commercial office space. However, the student based mixed use scheme was the favoured project as
the location is perfect for students studying at Imperial College and
various campuses at Hammersmith Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and South Kensington.

This project is part of £46million trio of property purchases by Carlyle which intends to create 1,400 rooms available to students between 2012-2014. Along with Hammersmith, the locations include Islington, Southwark and Highbury. The scheme promises to provide studios and en-suite rooms for students at affordable prices – and timing couldn’t be better – as it was revealed that London came 2nd in the QS Best Student Cities Poll for 2012.

The joint venture will be formally launched next month under a new brand name and will be designed by TP Bennet Architects. Hammersmith’s convenient transport facilities ensure that students living within these halls can easily access some of London’s top educational institutes, including Imperial College, Kings College and LSE.

We all know that living and working in London is what many people strive to do, so it’s nice to hear that London has come 2nd in the ranking of the QS Best Student Cities Poll for 2012.

The results are based on a complex set of measurements taken from data, surveys and public information which is submitted to the QS World University Rankings. The outcome allows prospective students to see why certain cities are ranked higher than other, which in turn, helps them decide upon which city to study in.

Below is the Top 10, however the full list is available on the QS Website.

1. Paris
2. London
3. Boston
4. Melbourne
5. Vienna
6. Sydney
7. Zurich
8. Berlin
9. Dublin
10. Montreal

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, expressed his delight on London’s high ranking. It may have come as a shock to government officials an MPs after the tuition fee increase, however, it seems that not even that can stop London performing as a top city!

If it’s office space in London you’re looking for, talk to Search Office Space today on 0800 524 4649 to discuss your requirements.

MWB Business Exchange, one of the UK’s leading providers of flexible office space solutions has announced their re-launch this week, with a new strategy which aims to help businesses gain a competitive edge.

The launch and re-brand of MWB Business Exchange comes hand in hand with a new slogan and proposition: “We’re Not No.1, You Are!” which is based around the excellent services, choice and flexibility offered by the office space providers. The proposition also includes:

• A new company identity and website
• New ‘Signature Offices’ whereby clients can design their own bespoke offices
• Unbranded Business Centres to ensure companies can create their own identity
• The highest staff to clients’ ratio of any UK serviced office provider

This new package and proposition highlights the fact that MWB Business Exchange is dedicated to serving their clients at the highest possible level. The 2012 plan also provides greater flexibility to clients of all sectors and sizes, from innovative SMEs to technology start-ups.

This new approach was developed after MWB Business Exchange commissioned a survey of more than 500 small businesses and corporates which revealed the following statistics:

• 72% want serviced offices which are flexible and can grow and adapt with the clients business.
• The most important factors to consider when choosing a new office space are location (30%), price (25%) and service (14%).
• 64% of business want to ‘WOW’ their clients with their office space.
• 43% of business believe serviced offices are more about the suppliers brand, rather than the clients own company identity.

After taking these statistics into consideration, MWB Business Exchange opted to pioneer the unbranded business centre approach, by removing it’s own branding from its 60 centres across the UK, in the aim to support and nurture it’s clients identities.

The un-branding goes hand in hand with the 12 ‘Signature Office’ designs, which allow clients to mix and match bespoke fit-outs in order to suit their specific requirements and promote their personal brand identities. Furthermore, this bespoke office model is the first of its kind in the UK and is now available in all 60 MWB Business Exchange Centres.

In terms of the staff to client ratio, companies can expect an average of seven staff members in each business centre. This will help boost customer service and help support the company with factors associated with the day to day running of the business.

Chief Executive of MWB Business Exchange, John Spencer, spoke highly of the new propositions, stating that, “This is a brand new beginning for MWB Business Exchange. From helping to grow companies like Facebook, and Google, we know businesses want to feel that serviced offices are their space, not ours. That’s why un-branding our offices, making them more bespoke and offering more flexible terms will give companies the competitive edge they need to prosper in 2012. Combined with unrivalled service and great locations, we think we have an unbeatable proposition to tell businesses: We’re not number one, you are.”

To find out more about Flexible Office Space talk to Search Office Space now on 0800 740 80 80 to discuss your requirements.