Tube etiquette
You had better be on your best behaviour if you find yourself on the Tube with BNP Paribas Real Estate’s head of marketing and communications Laura King. She has written The Little Book of Tube Etiquette, which sets out the “rules” in a tongue-in-cheek manner for people wanting to use the London Underground system. The book comes in the nick of time, judging by last month’s “Don’t Wear Your Trousers on the Tube” event (pictured). King’s rules include, no eating, no loud music, no arguing, no public displays of affection, and no sitting down if you are overweight. Do the same rules apply in BNP PRE’s offices Diary wonders?
Less said the better
Developer GHP Securities and its founder Phillip Wallis must be feeling rather peeved this week after their defamation claim against a former employee was given short shrift by a high court judge. Wallis and his firm brought the claim against Justin Meredith, who alleged in a letter to the firm’s solicitor Mishcon De Reya that “two burly men with East European accents” had threatened him at home – a visit he said he assumed had been instigated by someone at GHP. But the defamation claim was struck out because GHP and Wallis, who had vehemently denied Meredith’s allegation, failed to show any publication of the claim to anyone other than their own solicitor. Indeed, the judge said that the only re-publication of the libel that had been proved had been by the firm and its own solicitors, who had sent letters to members of the property world, including staff at Prupim and Schroders, asking why they were no longer talking to Wallis and whether the allegation had been repeated to them. The phrase “shooting oneself in the foot” springs to mind.
Property MD does the hustle
Eagle-eyed viewers of last night’s episode of BBC One’s Hustle will have spotted a familiar Brummie property face rubbing shoulders with veteran actor Robert Vaughn in the city’s Mailbox development. Alfred Bartlett, managing director of Bartlett Property, was invited to be an extra in the show after he was hired by Kudos – producer of the hit drama – to source filming sites. The firm struck a six-month letting of Stella House, a 76,000 sq ft warehouse on Small Heath Business Park, which was transformed into Eddie’s Bar, the con-artists’ main haunt in the show. Bartlett said: “It was interesting, but I think I’ll stick to the day job.” Stella House is now “resting” and is back on the market via DTZ.
SEGRO to redevelop The Office
Crossbow House, the tired looking home of David Brent’s employers, paper merchant Wernham Hogg, in The Office, could at long last be redeveloped by SEGRO. Lessee Smiths Group has surrendered its head lease on the office block in Liverpool Road on Slough Trading Estate. The building is sublet to around six tenants and SEGRO will begin negotiations with a view to unlocking redevelopment as part of its aspirations for a makeover of the Leigh Road area. Jones Lang LaSalle and Savills advise on the office element at the estate. We just hope Brent breaks the news to staff in a more diplomatic manner than he has used in the past.
Bermuda park triangle
Things have been going bump in the night at the Unipart Vodafone Distribution Centre on Prologis’ Bermuda Park in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. In what sounds like the plot of an episode of Scooby-Doo, workers at the 303,000 sq ft shed have refused to work in certain sections of the spooky warehouse as unexplained accidents keep occurring. The scheme is built on an old mine and the ghosts of the former miners are believed to be in the building. A source close to the scheme who preferred to remain nameless said: “These guys were seriously scared. People kept tripping up for no reason and eventually health and safety experts had to be brought in to address the problem.” No news yet though on whether TV psychic Derek Acorah has been summoned to sort out the property once and for all.
JLL is new sporting seer
First it was Ollie the octopus predicting the outcome of last year’s World Cup, and now an agent has tried to predict the winner of last weekend’s American Super Bowl. Luckily for Jones Lang LaSalle, whose chairman, Roger Staubach, is a two-time Super Bowl champion, they got it right – based on commercial real estate analysis alone. The theory goes something like this: according to an historical analysis of recent Super Bowls, teams based in cities with a higher percentage of vacant office space have won the match nearly two-thirds of the time since 2000. So based on this year’s match-up, as of 1 January, the office vacancy rate in Pittsburgh was 12.1%, while Green Bay reported vacancy of 18.9%, pointing to a Packers Super Bowl title. But can JLL’s method work as well this side of the Atlantic – perhaps to predict an FA Cup winner? A quick trawl of the firm’s stats suggests that, of the major office markets JLL studies, Birmingham City or Aston Villa stand the best chance.
