“We know that every pound counts for SMEs,” comments David Kinnaird, Avanta’s group operations director, “Which is why we are giving clients access to our corporate buying power to help them reduce the cost of services such as stationery; insurance; collateral & website design and IT support.

“All the companies on the directory are trusted existing suppliers to Avanta and we’ll be working to expand the number of services available, so that it becomes a one stop shop for our clients. This will give them the peace of mind they are using high quality and dependable suppliers whilst getting the maximum value for money

International recruitment specialists, Globaleye, which sources candidates from the financial industry to join Globaleye’s Wealth Management and Asset Management teams worldwide and Corporate Finance experts, Ford Campbell, specialists in company sales with a transaction value of over £2m, have both taken space in the 31,000 sq ft landmark building, the only serviced office complex in the city’s Northern Quarter.

The company, which provides small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) with fully furnished, modern office space on flexible contract terms, operates the Triangle on a Management Contract under the Forsyth brand on behalf of landlord, Aviva.

Both Aviva and Forsyth have provided significant investment at the Triangle to create a state-of-the-art environment.

David Harrop, finance director, Forsyth, said: “We are delighted to welcome both our new clients to the Triangle, where I believe our success is down to a combination of first-class facilities, customer service and location.

“The high level of enquiries we are seeing coupled with almost two-thirds of the available office space being let shows there is a level of business confidence returning in Manchester along with a clear demand for offices on flexible terms amongst SMEs, who for various reasons are not in a position to take on more traditional long-term leases.”

In addition to office space, businesses can also take advantage of full administrative and infrastructure backup including telephone answering, meeting rooms and secretarial services, as well as virtual offices.

The flexible office provider has entered into a 10-year management agreement for 20,000 sq ft at 16 High Holborn, WC1, giving it a presence in the capital for the first time when it opens on 1 October.

16 High Holborn is owned by patent attorney Beresford & Co which will continue to occupy the 5,000 sq ft third floor of the building. The management agreement is with Nine Court Ltd, the financial vehicle owned by Keith Beresford, and is worked off an equivalent rent of £28.50 per sq ft. The targeted net return to the landlord, under the management agreement, is £37 per sq ft.

Orega will operate the five-storey business centre and will manage the whole building on Nine Court’s behalf, including facilities management, cleaning and catering, telecommunications and front of house. The glass-fronted, air-conditioned building is prominently located close to the junction of High Holborn and Gray’s Inn Road, adjacent to Chancery Lane underground station.

Orega has been actively searching the London office market for suitable business centre sites since last November when it appointed property specialist Alex Peers of PPC to help drive its expansion into the capital.

“We’ve been scouring the City, West End and Midtown markets for well-located buildings with the right sort of floorplates for our first business centre in London,” says Zach Douglas, joint managing director of Orega. “We need as much natural light in as many of the offices as possible to give clients a bright and comfortable working environment. 16 High Holborn fit the bill and is in an area of high prospective demand from legal and financial occupiers to whom the flexibility of our offer is likely to appeal.”

“Having opened new business centres in Manchester, Birmingham and Gatwick last year, London was a natural next step for us,” he adds. “But we were not in a rush to move into the first available building. Our strategy is all about developing long-term partnerships with landlords on well-conceived projects that provide a return over a 10-year period and maintain consistently high standards. We will continue to look for further opportunities in London to build on our presence.”

Orega will now fit out 16 High Holborn to accommodate the high-quality and distinctive brand it has adopted at its seven other UK locations.

SEARCH FOR SERVICED OFFICES IN HOLBORN ON OUR WEBSITE OR CALL 0845 468 2034 TO SPEAK WITH AN ADVISOR

“Having spent more than ten years in print sales I’m absolutely passionate about design and print,” comments Simon Cotterill, 93 Red’s managing director, “but, most importantly, I know that aligning a client’s needs and expectations is not just about ensuring the use of the right printing machine or grade of paper, but more to do with quality of service and adding value to the business proposition.

“In setting up the new business it was therefore not only important to present a thoroughly businesslike image, but to ensure that clients were dealt with in a friendly, yet professional manner. After looking at various options we found that the virtual office package, complete with a Virtual PA, available from Davinci Virtual proved to be the ideal solution.

“We now have a central London Virtual Office, which gives as a “virtual presence” in the Capital city and we have a dedicated Telephone Answering Service which ensures that we don’t miss a single call. In fact, our clients have been most complimentary about the friendly and professional service they receive whether they are making an initial enquiry, need to speak to a team members or just leave a message.

“Whether our team is working with designers or overseeing a print job, the seamless way that calls are forwarded to us enable our new business to present a thoroughly professional image and help our business grow and prosper. In fact, we are already planning to set up Serviced Office Space, but will be retaining the services of the Davinci Virtual PA as we’ve found the level of service absolutely amazing and they have already become such an important part of our team that we couldn’t do without them.”

LOOKING FOR A VIRTUAL OFFICE? CALL 0845 468 2034 TO SPEAK WITH AN ADVISOR

Andy de Wet Steyn cycled the gruelling distance with his partner Georgina last month. The couple donated all funds raised to deserving UK charity the British Heart Foundation.

Andy commented: “ The best feeling of the day was managing to climb the famous Ditchling Beacon without stopping. I also finished the last mile cycling hand in hand with George!”

The British Heart Foundation is the nation’s heart charity. Every day they save lives, through pioneering research, providing vital information to help people reduce their own heart health risks, campaigning for change and supporting and caring for heart patients.

Andy’s sponsor me page is still live, if you would like to make a donation to the British Heart Foundation please go to http://original.justgiving.com/andydewetsteyn/

Helen, who runs Orega’s business centre at Three Piccadilly Place, says the choir was initially ‘a little bit down’ after the celebrity judges were less enthusiastic about their act relative to some of the others at the start of the show. “But we were buzzing an hour later when we were invited to do our routine again as one of the runners up and were particularly chuffed to both open and close the show.”

Manchester Show Choir had to go head-to-head with rival act Dice to win the judges’ vote and secure a place in the wild card heat but, despite a highly theatrical song-and-dance routine, they were knocked out. The choir’s rousing rendition of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face set to a theme of a masquerade ball nevertheless left a lasting impression.

“We had our four days of stardom, raised the profile of the choir and did ourselves proud; now we will leave it to the professionals while we get back to work,” says Helen, although she added, “I’d love to do it again!”

The Manchester Show Choir did fantastically well to get as far as they did, having beaten off competition from 3,000+ hopefuls to join the line-up in the first live heat. Aside from the fame and glory of being on the Emma Bunton-hosted show, they were also hoping to win the substantial (but undisclosed) cash prize for their charity of choice, the Manchester cancer charity Christie’s.

Since the choir’s formation in September last year, it has donated £15,000 to The Christie to help build its new £35m patient treatment centre at Salford, which will be the biggest early clinical trials unit in the world.

Helen says many of the choir – of which there are well over 100 registered members – joined not just because of the music but also because the fund-raising formed a central part of everything they do. Their aim is to raise a total of £100,000 for The Christie of which the first £15,000 was handed over after a fund-raising show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester earlier this month.

Further events are planned for the choir, not least of which are a number of commitments with the cast and crew of ‘Coronation Street’. This includes appearing in four episodes of the top soap this summer as the Weatherfield Choir, which two regular Corrie cast members join, and even singing at a Coronation Street wedding, to be shown in August – and therefore under wraps!

And as if all this excitement wasn’t enough for Helen, she and another choir member are joining a small team that plans to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania – the highest mountain in Africa – in June 2011, for which each team member is planning to raise £2,500 in sponsorship for their chosen charity.

The 5.6km evening run through Battersea Park attracted more than 13,000 runners who braved the heat and dust to help raise funds for a variety of charities. The Avanta team was led by managing director, David Alberto, who recorded a time of 22 minutes and 53 seconds, but was beaten home by Devonshire Square sales manager, Stuart Biggerstaff, who clocked up a time of just 22 minutes and 16 seconds.

“We work hard and play hard at Avanta and the fact that I was beaten this year demonstrates the competitive nature of our team spirit,” comments David Alberto. “Sparks is such a deserving charity that my being beaten in this event is more than overshadowed by the fact that this year we raised £700 more than last year’s total helping to make Sparks the real winners.”

Paul Connew, Sparks Director of Communications, said: “Avanta simply never seem to run out of ideas to raise vital funds for Sparks. Congratulations to Stuart Biggerstaff on outpacing David Alberto for once and thanks to everyone at Avanta for their sterling efforts.

“Avanta never loses sight of the fact that winning the race to help more children to be born healthy and grow up healthy can only be achieved through medical research. Medical research increasingly depends on charities like Sparks, and its great supporters such as the Avanta team, rather than the public purse.”

Helen, who runs Orega’s serviced office business centre at Three Piccadilly Place, says she has “always fancied herself as a bit of a singer” but, since joining the choir in January, life has been a whirl of high-profile engagements, culminating in the Emma Bunton-hosted talent show on Channel Five.

The Manchester Show Choir beat off stiff competition from 3,000+ hopefuls to join the line-up of acts in the first live heat of the ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ show this Sunday. Each week, the public will be invited to vote for their favourite act to go forward to the live final in six weeks, while the panel of judges, including Anastacia and Tamzin Outhwaite, can vote in an act on a ‘wild card’ to take part in a separate heat.

Daniel Wood, the founder of the Manchester Show Choir, has chosen a masquerade ball as the theme for the choir but the music they will sing on the night is strictly top secret ahead of the show!

Aside from the fame and glory of being on a prime-time television show, the winner of the competition will win a substantial (but undisclosed) cash prize. As with all the events in which the choir has participated, any money raised will be channelled straight to its charity of choice, the Manchester cancer charity Christie’s. Since the choir’s formation in September last year, it has donated £15,000 to The Christie to help build its new £35m patient treatment centre at Salford, which will be the biggest early clinical trials unit in the world.

Helen says many of the choir – of which there are well over 100 registered members – joined not just because of the music but also because the fund-raising formed a central part of everything they do. Their aim is to raise a total of £100,000 for The Christie of which the first £15,000 was handed over after a fund-raising show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester earlier this month.

Further events are planned for the choir, not least of which are a number of commitments with the cast and crew of ‘Coronation Street’. This includes appearing in four episodes of the top soap this summer as the Weatherfield Choir, which two regular Corrie cast members join, and even singing at a Coronation Street wedding, to be shown in August – and therefore definitely under wraps!

And as if all this excitement wasn’t enough for Helen, she and another choir member are joining a small team that plans to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania – the highest mountain in Africa – in June 2011, for which each team member is planning to raise £2,500 in sponsorship for their chosen charity.

For now, though, if you’d like to vote for Helen and the Manchester Show choir in ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, tune in at 7pm this Sunday evening on Channel Five.

Eight companies, which include BBC Radio York; Emplaw.co.uk, which provides an on-line employment law information service for lawyers and HR Professionals; China tea and Chinese products importers, LPV International; RTL, a supplier of customised uniforms and corporate & industrial work wear; IT Services Company, Clearwave IT, which offers technical support services to small businesses; and digital archiving software company, Realeasy Archiving; have all taken space in Forsyth@Clifton Moor, the company’s 14,000 sq ft complex on the outskirts of the City.

Other clients include National Learning Disability charity, Mencap; and Forsyth’s first ever Retail occupier, The Salon.

Located two miles from York city centre, the complex offers modern, fully-furnished office space on a flexible contract basis for small and medium sized businesses that are not in a position to take on more traditional long-term leases.

Forsyth, which operates 23 centres nationwide and two in China, moved its head office operations to Clifton Moor in December 2009 along with parent company Scarborough Group International, Kevin McCabe’s global Property and Leisure Empire.

Jillian Sagar, centre manager, Forsyth@Clifton Moor, said: “We are delighted to welcome all our new clients to the centre. The number of enquiries we are seeing shows there is a level of business confidence returning in the York area and a clear demand for serviced office space.”

Forsyth@Clifton Moor also benefits from on-site parking and easy access to major transport links. In addition to office space, companies can take advantage of full administrative and infrastructure backup including telephone answering, virtual offices, meeting rooms and secretarial services.

“As a dynamic and expanding company it is essential that we have a fresh new logo that reflects the ever-changing nature of this industry,” comments Geraint Evans, Avanta’s sales and marketing director, “And Beyond Four Walls reflects our innovative customer proposition, which has matured from a property-led product base to service-based solutions.

“At Avanta we pride ourselves on listening to an organisation’s requirements and then suggesting the most cost-effective solution to meet those needs. Whilst this may well include serviced office space, it could also include the use of meeting rooms, secretarial support, telephony and IT, concierge services and videoconferencing.

“In this new decade, most businesses now need more than just an empty office shell in order to start work and our new logo reflects the new benchmark in service standards we are setting. By providing first class customer service, our aim, quite simply, is to take the hassle out of running an office thus leaving clients free to focus on their core business.”