Tag Archive for 'Orega'

Serviced Offices in Holborn First London Business Centre for Orega

Published by Serviced Offices on August 6, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 1 Comment

Following a carefully planned and executed strategy for a network of regional business centres, Orega is now to open in central London.

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

Manchester Serviced Office Singer Appears on TV

Published by Serviced Offices on July 26, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

Manchester business centre manager Helen Davies has been coming back down to earth after appearing on Channel Five’s new prime-time talent show ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ on 18th July as part of the 58-strong Manchester Show Choir.

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.

Serviced Offices Near Gatwick Airport 91% Full A Year After Launch

Published by Serviced Offices on June 11, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

Orega’s Beehive serviced office business centre near Gatwick airport in West Sussex is now 91% full just over a year after opening, with many occupiers drawn to its excellent location and sympathetic blend of original art deco features and cutting-edge technology. Continue reading ‘Serviced Offices Near Gatwick Airport 91% Full A Year After Launch’

Rise in North West Serviced Office Demand Leads Orega to Expand

Published by Serviced Offices on June 1, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

Serviced Office provider Orega, which operates a business centre in Three Piccadilly Place, Manchester, is looking to expand its North West portfolio in anticipation of a continued rise in flexible office space enquiries and strong growth in the region’s business performance.

Orega, which moved into the region for the first time last summer, is in active discussions with landlords to open further business centres in the region. Paul Finch, joint managing director of Orega, says: “We are confident that, with the recent reported pick-up in serviced office enquiries, there is sufficient demand from businesses in the North West to support additional flexible space, provided the offices are sited in accessible and high-profile locations.”

Orega spotted just such a location in Three Piccadilly Place. Regarded as one of the best business addresses in Manchester, the striking 12-storey building is directly opposite Manchester Piccadilly railway station, providing fast access to the airport, and is close to all shops and amenities. Completed last summer by Argent and The Carlyle Group as part of their Piccadilly Place scheme, Orega became one of the first occupiers when it took 17,000 sq ft on the ground and eleventh floors for the Piccadilly Executive business centre.

Among Orega’s serviced office clients at Three Piccadilly Place is the North West Joint Improvement Partnership, an alliance of agencies that work together to produce and implement policy on adult social care, health and wellbeing. It occupies 16 workstations on the eleventh floor and perfectly complements one of the conventional tenants in the building, namely the NHS, which occupies two and a half floors on a leasehold basis.

“The synergy between the serviced office and conventional office occupiers in the building is working very well,” reports Jo Sexton, Orega’s regional sales manager for Manchester and Birmingham. “Tenants like the NHS are making very good use of our meeting rooms which are being heavily booked.”

To cater for the surge in demand, two new meeting rooms have been created at the business centre which can cater for up to 25 delegates. As well as the NHS, bookings have come from a wide range of companies in the area, ranging from recruitment to legal.

Orega has also introduced a shared office option at its business centre to match the demands of busy city executives who need the flexibility of a part-time desk. “Our location in the city centre and right next to the railway station provides the perfect base for professionals who only want the use of a desk for a short period of time,” Jo points out.

The North West Joint Improvement Partnership described one of the main draws of Orega’s business centre as ‘the extremely convenient location of the premises’ for trains, buses and taxis. “This is particularly beneficial for the day-to-day operations of the office, enabling the programme office staff/visitors and flexible workers to travel to Manchester knowing that the journey is very straightforward and more or less hassle free,” says Carole Piddington, the Partnership’s programme administrator.

The North West has recently been singled out as one of the best performing regions in the UK in indices produced by the Purchasing Managers and the Centre for International Competitiveness. In the latter, Manchester was ranked the third most competitive large city, based on its ability to attract and maintain firms with stable or rising market shares.

Research company Costar has recently reported that take-up of Manchester city centre offices in the first quarter of this year was twice that of the last quarter of 2009. And the Manchester Office Agents Forum said total take-up of city centre offices in the first quarter was 191,598 sq ft, eroding the existing stock by 15%. With new build set to fall this year to its lowest level for 10 years, the Forum predicts a rise in office rents and a hardening of terms.

From an investment point of view, Drivers Jonas Deloitte said in its recent Manchester Crane survey that, despite spending cuts, the public sector will continue to be a driving force in the city’s development, with the proposed Mayfield civil service campus near Piccadilly highlighted as a significant example of this trend.

“All the indications point to a healthy rise in demand and a sound foundation for further growth,” says Paul Finch. “We are keen to capitalise on that growth with further high-quality business centres in the right locations.”

SEARCH FOR MANCHESTER SERVICED OFFICES AT http://www.serviced-offices.com/Manchester/

Birmingham Serviced Offices Play Host to BCA Regional Meeting

Published by Serviced Offices on February 18, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

Serviced Offices in Birmingham: Orega’s Colmore Plaza business centre, with its sweeping views across the Birmingham skyline, played host this week to the Business Centre Association’s latest regional meeting.

More than 40 people from the business centre industry were treated to an informative and entertaining programme of speakers and panellists over the course of the day. Following an introduction by BCA executive director Jennifer Brooke, Simon Jones of Avenir Marketing gave an instructional presentation on how to deal more effectively with enquiries and viewings. Continue reading ‘Birmingham Serviced Offices Play Host to BCA Regional Meeting’

North West Serviced Offices Free for 12 Months for Business Investors

Published by Serviced Offices on February 4, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 2 Comments

The Northwest is rolling out the red carpet to investors with a new ‘soft landing’ scheme offering free office space in serviced office accommodation for 12 months, across the region.

The new scheme, ‘Hello Northwest’, officially launched today, has been developed in partnership between the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), investment and development agencies for Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, MIDAS and The Mersey Partnership, and leading serviced office providers – Avanta, Bruntwood, Orega, Manchester Science Park, Liverpool Science Park and Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus. Continue reading ‘North West Serviced Offices Free for 12 Months for Business Investors’

Gatwick Serviced Offices 80 Per Cent Full Within 12 Months

Published by Serviced Offices on January 28, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 1 Comment

Gatwick Serviced Offices: Two major new occupiers have signed for a total of 128 workstations at Orega’s Beehive business centre near Gatwick airport in West Sussex, taking the building to 80% occupancy within a year of its opening. Continue reading ‘Gatwick Serviced Offices 80 Per Cent Full Within 12 Months’

Orega Serviced Offices Get Three New Staff Members

Published by Serviced Offices on January 25, 2010 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

High-end serviced office provider Orega has made three new strategic appointments to support the continued expansion of its business centres across the UK.

Phil Perchard has joined as head of sales, Jean Eustace as director of operations and Jessica Cox as marketing manager. All three roles are newly created and reflect significantly increased activity by Orega in the last 12 months. Continue reading ‘Orega Serviced Offices Get Three New Staff Members’

Orega Birmingham Office Launch Attended by HSBC Chief Economist

Published by Serviced Offices on December 1, 2009 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

Dennis Turner, the chief economist for HSBC Bank, predicted a slow thaw in the recession and urged a return to industrial investment and exports when he gave the keynote talk at the launch of a new Orega business centre in Colmore Plaza, central Birmingham, last night.

Continue reading ‘Orega Birmingham Office Launch Attended by HSBC Chief Economist’

Orega Appoints London Specialist to Find Site for First London Offices

Published by Serviced Offices on November 20, 2009 in Serviced Office News. 0 Comments

High-end serviced office provider Orega has appointed property specialist Alex Peers as a consultant to help drive its expansion into the London market.

Alex has more than 20 years’ experience of the capital’s property market gained through working at Allsop & Co, Farebrother, Maris Midtown and Asset Interiors, as well as running his own surveying business. Continue reading ‘Orega Appoints London Specialist to Find Site for First London Offices’