Olympics & Stratford Workspace Discussion Held at Heron Tower

On Monday 21st May 2012, Search Office Space hosted a roundtable discussion at Landmark’s Business Centre at the Heron Tower, regarding the ‘commercial legacy’ of the Olympics and the new Stratford workspaces that may attract business interest. The discussions surrounded what London property agents needed to know about the newly regenerated East London area and what was on offer. Search Office Space invited property agents to join a group of speakers, including:

· Damian Wild, Editor of Estates Gazette (chair)

· Clive Dutton OBE, Executive Director for Regeneration & Inward investment for the London Borough of Newham

· Stephen Kennard, Assistant Director of Land and Development at the Greater London Authority

· Peter Hugh, Director of Development, Westfield Stratford City

Take a look at the video below to hear what the key speakers had to say at the breakfast meeting.

Search Office Space Olympic Breakfast

The discussion was an opportunity for the speakers to showcase the recent investment in and benefits of regeneration in East London. Their aim was to influence businesses who are currently looking to rent offices in London, but may not have considered Stratford workspaces as an option before the Olympics. Millions of square feet of state-of-the-art London workspace is being built around the Olympic site in legacy developments designed to offer companies an alternative home to some of London’s already established business hubs.

The success of the legacy of the Olympics is a significant priority for 2012 organisers, having been one of the main reasons London won the bid originally. Many companies are already seeing the potential of the area. As Peter Hugh, Director of Development at Westfield Stratford City explained at the breakfast, they have invested £1.4 billion into their developments, which have resulted in around 8,000 jobs for local people. They are also planning an additional 1 million square foot Stratford workspace development, after already filling over 100,000sqft of their current business centre. Landprop (part of the Ikea group) is investing millions of pounds into a development near the Olympic Park, including 1,200 homes and 500,000sgft of commercial property. Lend Lease and London & Continental Railways are planning 4million square foot development of Grade A flexible offices in a new urban quarter in the heart of Stratford City.

Tony Chen of Lend Lease described the experience his company had of moving into the Stratford area. He had worked closely with Search Office Space who helped them find a bespoke workspace location that could deal with their need for a flexible contract. Daniel Howard of Search Office Space skilfully delivered on a workspace very close to the Olympic Park, which allowed Lend Lease the opportunity to oversee their plans with London & Continental Railways on 4million square foot of commercial property near the Park.

Richard Smith, Managing Director of Search Office Space said: “From our perspective, it’s great to have a brand new part of London to speak to businesses about as an office location they may never have considered before. The area is full of potential, and different to what the rest of the City can offer. We have already worked with a number of companies who have been interested in moving into the area or have already done so. In five years’ time, it will be interesting to see what companies, and which sectors, are attracted to the bespoke and flexible Stratford workspaces available for rent.”

For more information on flexible workspaces across London and the UK, talk to Search Office Space today on 0800 740 8080.