Horray and enjoy from all the NovaLoca team.
Have a great (dry!) weekend
Author Archive for Chris
With England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup well and truly under way, cities across the Country are to put forward proposals as to why they should be given the honour of being a Host City. These proposals can boast such things as facilities, amenities, culture, history and of course stadia. The stadium in a proposal need not necessarily be current – it can be a pipedream of building plans and designs, hopes and prayers. Assuming the clearance of these plans, a “new” stadium will be considered in the proposal.
Approximately 10 cities will be chosen as host venues, and each will reap the rewards as visitors from across the globe head for their temporarily adopted home city, for a couple of weeks at least.
So what happens when the plans for a new stadium are quashed? Look no further than Everton Football Club, which had proposed a move from its current home, Goodison Park, but recently saw its plans rejected by the government. This is big news of course for sport in general, especially football, and in particular for Everton FC and the people of Kirby (where the proposed new stadium was due to be built) – but also for the commercial sector, as recently reported on the Property Week website.
The impact of the 2012 Olympics on east London is perhaps best left for another blog, but the situation is the same: a newly built arena and surrounding amenities will have a direct impact on the local community and a massive impact on the commercial sector in the area. The creation of leisure, office and retail space will bring an influx of money, jobs and people to the locality.
Of course the disappointment of the Everton rejection is not only felt by the football club and its supporters, but also by the residents of Kirby, who would no doubt have benefited from the impact of a new stadium and surrounding amenities. Plans had included a Tesco Extra, increased housing and a brand new retail venture. The retail plan, which included proposals for an additional 40 shops, would not only have added to the current available retail opportunities in Liverpool but would also have created many new jobs, as would the proposed new leisure facilities. Alongside this were plans to create new office space opportunities. Altogether the proposals would have created a brand new community and would have been a major boost to Kirby and the economy of Liverpool.
Liverpool as a city will no doubt be disappointed, but the blow will fall hardest on the deprived area of Kirby. The debate about alternatives has now begun, and promises have been made by Borough Councillors that the people of Kirby will not be forgotten.
It remains to be seen whether Liverpool will subsequently fail to convince the judging panel of its worth as a 2018 Host City following this disappointment. Portsmouth recently had to retract its own bid after the City Council there refused to provide the necessary financial guarantees for development. Hull, on the other hand, according to Hull City FC chairman Adam Pearson, would see a winning vote as being the final part of the regeneration of the city.
The race is on and the competing cities and their supporters will have to wait for the results on December 16th, as will the commercial property sector. From that date all roads will lead to 2018 and the planning will begin in earnest.
An ironic note to consider is that Goodison Park was not only the first major stadium to be built in England, but it also hosted one of the semi-finals of the 1966 World Cup. One suspects this will never happen again.
As a Carlisle United supporter, you can imagine my joy at our appearance in the FA Cup third round, for the first time since 2001. The luck of the draw has pitched Carlisle against Premiership club Everton FC and brings a financially beneficial trip to Goodison Park. I wonder if this could perhaps be the last chance I ever get to visit Goodison? Time will tell, but I suspect there are many people who would like to think it is.
Chris Tembey
Events of this kind are always an enjoyable experience: great venue, food, hospitality and of course a day out of the office! No matter what the occasion, every effort is made to ensure the NovaLoca.com stand is on show, and this event was no exception.
Last year saw a team of two NovaLoca cars heading to the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport for two nights (and of course two days!) of Offices 08. It was not such a long road trip for us this time but still, the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London is hardly lacking in grandeur – and the setting meant it was easy for us to attend the event and return home the same day.
Miranda had headed to the Lancaster the previous day to set things up as NovaLoca took up its position on Stand D1. Offices 09 had arrived with the slogan: “Two Events, One Day: Occupiers Equal Value”.
As you can imagine, two events in one day meant a bumper conference programme. With registration opening at 8am and the Office Development Awards 2009 commencing 12 hours later, delegates had a busy day in prospect. A wealth of speakers and a selection of break-out sessions kept attendees entertained, and as a result the exhibition hall was relatively quiet until the refreshment breaks.
I joined Miranda mid-morning, with the day well under way. The morning refreshments had just ended so the hall remained quiet until mouthwatering smells began to emerge from the kitchens just before 1pm. Sure enough the hall began to fill up, and an excellent lunch was enjoyed by all in a relaxed atmosphere. There then followed a short networking break before the afternoon sessions began at 2pm.
The afternoon remained relatively quiet in the exhibition hall, but the Chairman’s closing remarks at 5:30pm signalled the end of the conference programme and gave way to the final and main networking of the day, with many stands in the exhibition hall offering drinks and nibbles.
Having offered an interesting mix of M&Ms and Skittles throughout the day, Stand D1 now moved onto a more refined offering of canapés, with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and music to match. The reception was quieter than hoped overall, but the Property Week guys did their best to help out! Before long an announcement indicated the start of the awards upstairs in the Nine Kings Suite. This marked the end of my day and the beginning of Miranda’s evening.
Having taken the stand down, I headed for home while Miranda went on to enjoy the drinks reception, award ceremony and evening entertainment, which carried on into the early hours.
NovaLoca is designed very much with the occupier in mind, so if you missed us at Offices 09 remember you need look no further than NovaLoca for all your office space requirements. Look out for the NovaLoca stand at the next commercial property event!
If you have any commercial property to let or for sale, just visit NovaLoca.com or call one of the team on 01767 316 577 to find out how NovaLoca can work for you.
Chris Tembey
The Planning for Prosperity conference on October 15th 2009, held at the fantastic Grange City venue right by London Bridge, was attended by close to 100 delegates throughout the day. I arrived to man the NovaLoca stand just in time to enjoy the excellent hot food after the last of the morning sessions!
The agenda for the day was: “Planning to ensure delivery, enhance viability and encourage economic recovery” and the conference produced an eclectic mix of exciting and innovative ideas, being discussed by speakers from all parts of the industry.
I managed to take in a couple of the afternoon sessions with approximately 50 others. Some interesting points were made, not least that the national target of building 3 million homes in 2009 is not at present being met.
Of interest to me locally was the expressed hope that GlaxoSmithKline would stay in Stevenage (just down the A1 from our offices in Biggleswade) rather than re-locate across the pond as others had done, in this particular case to Boston, Massachusetts.
The overall feeling was that we should be looking after parts of the country that provide finance to our economy. This makes sense, although in this difficult economic period I suspect there is more to it than simply looking after people, but it’s a good place to start.
Working in the industry I’ve heard about MIPIM (a marketplace for the international property trade) and of course often suggest to Miranda that it is really an event that we should be part of (the photos of Cannes and this beautiful section of the French Riviera will explain why). Comments made at the conference suggested that it wasn’t worth the trip this year, as there wouldn’t be many – if any – deals done. From a purely selfish point of view I wouldn’t have minded going anyway!
At this time of uncertainty it was refreshing to hear people taking a positive outlook and looking to the future with hope. We need to stick together, supporting each other through the current market and seeing it improve in the future. To that end we encourage all those with property and all those looking for property – now or in the future – to look no further than NovaLoca.com.
Whether you are looking for a warehouse space to let or if you need to register an account to market a property, please visit NovaLoca.com or call one of our friendly team on 01767 313 380 for more information.
Live long and prosper! Chris Tembey
The ever increasing number of property listing search engines coming to the market providing an additional avenue through which to advertise commercial property online has led to the integrity of these sites being called into question, after reports that in some cases property listings have been added to sites without the permission of the property owner or agent.
Of course each portal differs in the way they operate including the techniques they use to obtain property information to be listed on their site and although we cannot speak for them, we can explain our position on this.
At NovaLoca we pride ourselves on how we are ‘Making It Easy’ for commercial property owners, agents and occupiers to market and find commercial property. Having designed NovaLoca with all these groups in mind we strive to ensure that when a commercial property search is carried out occupiers can be confident the property listings are relevant and up to date whilst agents know their properties are being accurately represented.
The best way to do this is to ensure the agents involvement throughout the time a property is listed on NovaLoca and so why it is essentially impossible to list a property on the site without the agents expressed permission to do so. We never knowingly add properties without this consent. Whether occupiers are looking for commercial property in London, Manchester or even Margate using NovaLoca they can be assured that permission has been granted for that property to be listed. In the majority of cases permission will have been given by a senior person within the property agency. This all also means that commercial property owners and agents have complete knowledge of exactly where and how their properties are being marketed ensuring they maintain full control.
You can find out more about NovaLoca’s stance on this by reading our Terms of Use and Privacy policies or if you have any further questions about advertising commercial property please contact a member of the team.
Commercial property search engine NovaLoca has surpassed the 20,000 registered properties mark confirming its status as the UK’s fastest growing commercial property online listings service. An impressive feat when you consider the site only launched in January 2008. The 65,000 visitors to the site last month alone suggest that NovaLoca is on course to become the market leader. Great news for property owners and agents who are already benefiting from the leads NovaLoca generates even during this difficult time for the industry.
But what makes NovaLoca different?
· Allows occupiers to search for types of commercial property which agents have listed including industrial units, office space, retail premises, leisure buildings and land.
· Covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
· Provides a comprehensive service for agents as well as occupiers.
· Utilises the internet, the main source of communication today.
· Uses the latest mapping technology from Earthware which includes features such as in-map searching; road, aerial and birds eye imagery; local area information and full property details embedded into the map and attached to the property in its actual location.
· The site is clean, clear and classy and easy to navigate around whether you are looking for property or registering your available property.
· Properties added within the first three weeks of the agents registering on the site are advertised for free.
· Occupiers can contact the agent via email or telephone directly from the site.
Keep an eye on the main site as we have some very exciting additions coming soon which will also be announced here, in the mean time, if you wish to know how you can ensure your properties enjoy the benefits offered by NovaLoca, or if you are looking for a commercial property please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the team on 0844 3575 260 or email info@novaloca.com.
And once again, Well Done to the NovaLoca team for all their achievements so far especially the 20,000 listed properties and here’s to the next 20,000!
