London’s West End agents are boarding up their offices as fears grow that May Day protests will trigger a repeat of the violence and vandalism that engulfed Whitehall and Parliament Square last year.
The entrance to the Jones Lang LaSalle Investment Management office – which is located in a mixed-use building fronting Oxford Street – has been boarded up, and workers at other London offices have been told to “dress down” and be security conscious.
Insignia Richard Ellis are also taking precautions. Nigel Rowe, a director at Insignia, said: “We’re boarding up a side entrance of one of our offices – it backs onto Berkeley Square. And we’ve got pretty strict security for tomorrow on the main entrance.”
Otherwise, both firms plan “business as usual”. Rowe said: “Mainly we’re just telling staff to be cautious. Don’t go out for lunch, wear casual clothes, and don’t carry a briefcase – that sort of thing.”
CB Hillier Parker is the only property consultancy to be listed on the protesters’ website www.maydaymonopoly.net.
Mark Creamer, senior executive director at Hillier Parker, said: “We’re taking precautions, because obviously we’re very concerned about what might happen. As far as we’re concerned its business as usual, but it’s impossible to ignore it. It depends what happens – and that may mean that we have to send people home.”
Other agents are taking similar action. Knight Frank plans to close its West End office at 2pm to allow staff to avoid the bulk of the demonstrations.
EGi News 01/05/01
