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Year: 2017

10 Reasons to Invest in Canary Wharf

Posted on by aleks

Landmarks of Canary Wharf

Best known as the headquarters of London’s global financial centre, Canary Wharf has become one of the capital’s most popular addresses for residential property investment.

Here we list 10 of the most compelling reasons to invest in Canary Wharf:

1. Centre of Regeneration: The Transformation From Derelict Dock to Leading Financial District Continues

The site where the Wharf stands was once the busiest shipping port on the globe, dating as far back as 1802. However, the docks began to decline in the 1950s leading to their closure in 1980. This gave way to a huge government backed re-redevelopment of the whole area which was granted status as an enterprise zone in 1983. Today, skyscrapers such as One Canada Square, which dominate the district, bear no resemblance to the Wharf’s former days as a shipping port.

Since the 1990s, regeneration has continued despite the area’s relative maturity in comparison to other London districts. From infrastructure improvements to business expansions and the opening of new retail complexes such as Crossrail Place, the development and popularity of this locale continues to grow.

2. Advanced Transport: A Transport Infrastructure Which Cannot Be Compared

Canary Wharf holds the capital’s most futuristic and sophisticated hub of travel interchanges integrating the DLR, Tube and Thames Clipper river bus services.

DLR

The DLR is London’s only automated metro system, built to serve the Docklands and its rapidly transforming business district. The service links the capital’s two financial hubs – the City and Canary Wharf, and will also link to its third, with the emerging status and massive investment being generated across the Royal Docks.

Jubilee Line

With an average two minute journey time between stations, the Jubilee Line connects to London’s entire transport network while crossing the metropolis in around 20 minutes. With the imminent introduction of a 24-hour Friday and Saturday service, and already being the third busiest on the Tube network, the Jubilee line is fast becoming the capital’s most important and strategic service.

Thames Clipper

For those who prefer the scenic route, Thames Clippers provide regular and fast connections from Canary Wharf to key commuter hubs including Tower Hill, London Bridge, Greenwich, Embankment and Waterloo. With airline-style seating, coffee bars and disabled facilities, the Clippers offer a highly efficient form of public London transport.

3. International Airport: Convenient Travel to 32 Overseas Destinations Including New York

Not many London locations can boast an international airport practically on their doorstep.

Having received the green light for a £200 million expansion, the airport is set to increase the number of arrivals and departures from 70,000 a year to 111,000, almost doubling the number of passengers to six million a year by 2023. Destinations will also expand as larger aircraft will enable flights to Russia and South Africa. The expansion further endorses London City Airport as a world class international gateway for business and private travellers alike.

4. The Crossrail Effect: A New ‘Super Highway’

Infrastructure expansions have historically played a key part in property price performance, especially in the London property market. The extension of London Underground’s Jubilee line in the late 1990s was the largest addition to London’s transport network in more than 25 years and was thought to have generated a land value of about £9 billion.

The new Crossrail interchange at Canary Wharf is one of the largest of its passenger hubs. The £500 million complex descends six-storeys providing some £100,000 square feet of retail space alone. When fully-operational in 2018 the line will provide direct connections to Heathrow Airport amongst a host of other east-west destinations.

Canary Wharf is tipped as one of Crossrail’s biggest winners with international property agents JLL predicting a price growth forecast of 44% by 2020.

5. Business and Finance: The Centre of Global Commerce

With over 97 acres of some of the world’s most highly specified urban architecture and public realm, the number of bankers now employed at Canary Wharf has overtaken that of the City of London, making the district the biggest employer of bankers and executives in Europe. From global banks to leading law firms and media agencies, Canary Wharf’s tenants include Bank of America, Clifford Chance and Trinity Mirror.

Canary Wharf is now attracting London’s fast emerging tech industry – fuelling its next phase of growth.

6. Leisure and Amenities: A Showcase for Opulent Leisure and Sophisticated Cultural Style

Canary Wharf provides the ultimate lifestyle destination for retail excellence, fabulous al-fresco cuisine, art, entertainment and an endless array of diverse culture and recreational pursuits. Its accolades include 845,000 square feet of retail therapy, one of the UK’s most sizable collections of public art and the largest health club in Europe.

The latest retail and dining experience opened in May this year above the Canary Wharf Crossrail station. Crossrail Place, marketed as ‘a brand new world,’ offers famous dining at Big Easy, unique cinema screening at Everyman and Psycle gym for fitness fanatics.

7. Riverside Appeal: The Heart of the Capital is the River Thames

The River Thames is considered by many as Britain’s most valuable development site, attracting over 20 million visits a year from walkers, joggers, cyclists, tourists and cruise ship passengers.

Flowing through the capital the River Thames reaches Canary Wharf as it loops around the Isle of Dogs, creating scenic docks which surround the Wharf and extend to West India Quay. From dockside bars and eateries to river boat transport and a rich waterside heritage, the River Thames adds culture, charm and convenience to Canary Wharf.

8. Location, Location, Location: All of London Within Easy Reach

A fantastic infrastructure and convenient location means that Canary Wharf is perfectly placed to experience the very best that the capital has to offer.

Finance and fine dining in the City – 11 minutes to Bank via DLR

Spectacle of arts and culture at the South Bank – 9 minutes to Waterloo via Jubilee line

High-end fashion and theatre of the West End – 15 minutes to Bond Street via Jubilee line

9. Capital Growth: 40-50% Property Price Growth from 2015 to 2020

Regeneration, Crossrail and property demand have together sustained strong capital growth in Canary Wharf.

Knight Frank’s April 2015 figures from their Spring Residential Report highlight a striking 9.2% house price growth in Canary Wharf over the past 12 months; exceeding the average London figures of 2.8% in prime central and 4.5% in prime outer London. And figures are set to rocket even further with the arrival of Crossrail bringing an anticipated 44% increase between 2015 and 2020 according to JLL.

10. Buy-to-Let Potential: Employment has Quadrupled in a Decade

With over 100,000 employees and executives in Canary Wharf, the potential from the corporate rental catchments can’t get any better but it can get bigger! As commercial expansion continues, most interestingly led by new interest from the tech-industry, employment is forecast to double to 200,000 over the next decade. Today the district is the biggest employer of bankers in Europe and London’s highest salary postcode which averages £100,000.

The 30-year transformation of London’s Docklands district:regeneration brings thousands of new homes and Crossrail to east London

Posted on by aleks

London City airport celebrates three epic decades of change, transforming Docklands into a boom town of new neighbourhoods and cultural hubs.

  • When London City airport opened in May 1987, Beckton was so bleak that film director Stanley Kubrick chose it as a location for his epic Vietnam war movie, Full Metal Jacket. But as the airport approaches its 30th birthday, its future, and that of the surrounding Docklands district, has never looked more promising.

    Propelled by the success of Canary Wharf, the Docklands Light Railway, the 2012 Olympics, the creation of the new London City Island neighbourhood and the promise of Royal Docks regeneration, this unsophisticated spot in the boondocks has become a boom town.

    LONDON CITY AIRPORT TURNS 30
    The capital’s smallest airport is flourishing, with the blessing of most local residents who are reassured by a ban on night flights that minimises noise nuisance.

  • New first-timer homes in hidden hub near Canary Wharf start from £115k

    Far from being an environmental negative, the airport is considered a big plus for the area. It serves more than 40 UK and European destinations plus New York, while government-approved expansion is unlocking opportunities for longer-haul destinations to Africa and Asia and creating more than 2,000 jobs for locals.

    New owners paid £2 billion for the airport last year and have pledged £350 million of investment, including new jets, to increase the number of annual passengers from 4.5 million to 6.5 million by 2025. More than half are business travellers, a higher proportion than any other UK airport.

    This location is plugged into the DLR, while a London City airport Crossrail station, part of the Canary Wharf to Abbey Wood spur, is on the horizon.

    the-new-canarywharfcreditalamy.jpg
    Transport-led improvements: DLR is key to the E16 success story

    There are also advanced plans for more river tunnels and bridges in this part of east London, and for an extended riverbus service beyond Woolwich.

    The airport’s spectacular island runway in the middle of Royal Albert Dock seems to enhance the awesome urban setting. Certainly this is a part of the capital to live in if you like big skies and dramatic riverscapes.

    Fast improving, it offers the chance to buy into a cheaper London district with considerable upside. The same applied to nearby Canary Wharf 20 years ago, and look what happened there.

    full-metal-jacketsethp.jpg
    Regeneration zone: the area became so grim it was used as a location for Vietnam war film, Full Metal Jacket

    SILVERTOWN GOES FOR GOLD
    The three Royal Docks — Victoria, Albert and George V — formed the largest enclosed docks in the world when they were built more than 100 years ago. The district is equal in size to the area from Hyde Park to Tower Bridge, with 12 miles of waterfront, more than Venice.

    When shipping ceased in the late Seventies, the area fell into isolation, but attempts to revive it as a global trading centre are succeeding, with science and business parks and a huge commerce and technology “port” aimed initially at Asia-Pacific companies. Regeneration is rippling out, through Canning Town to the new mini city that is Stratford.

    silvertown-developmenthp.jpg
    Rivalling Battersea: £3.5 billion Silvertown Quays will have 3,000 homes, workspace and a piazza as big as Covent Garden’s

    Newly announced Silvertown Tunnel is set to open by 2023 and will integrate with a new 62-acre, 3,000-home neighbourhood called Silvertown Quays.

    This £3.5 billion development is being built around a huge, currently derelict, Art Deco flour mill that is similar in scale to Battersea Power Station. It will be a place to work as well as live, with a central piazza the size of Covent Garden and “brand” showcase pavilions for global design and tech companies.

    NEW ROYAL WHARF DEVELOPMENT BRINGS FAMILY-FRIENDLY TOWNHOUSES
    In this part of Docklands, most new homes are flats in modern-design apartment blocks. But houses are being built too, to encourage families to move to the area. Royal Wharf, formerly a lubricants plant, is another new neighbourhood taking shape, with 3,385 homes, including London’s biggest batch of new townhouses.

    Though the architecture is contemporary, the development is rooted in old-fashioned design principles, inspired by London’s traditional landed estates, with their uncomplicated pattern of streets and squares. It will have its own school and DLR station, and almost half of this mainly low-rise development is open green space.

    Eventually more than 20,000 people will live and work there. Prices from £365,000, with townhouses from £1,082,000. Call 020 7118 0400.

    Royal Albert Wharf, another development, aims to bring convivial waterfront living to the still-raw Beckton landscape. This new “quarter” of 1,500 homes has flats grouped around the dock and a handsome Edwardian pump house. A new bridge across the dock will link with new shops and offices. From £362,000. Call 020 8357 4579.

    londoncityislandsgeneralviewhp.jpg
    From £399,950: new homes at London City Island

    LONDON CITY ISLAND
    Twelve-acre London City Island sits in a loop of the River Lea as it joins the Thames and has vibrantly coloured glazed-brick apartment blocks alongside lush gardens and an exotic outside swimming pool. And the area is no longer a cultural desert. English National Ballet is quitting Kensington to relocate to a dazzling new headquarters with performance space at City Island.

    London Film School is also moving there, and the development is on the route of The Line, the capital’s first dedicated contemporary art walk running from Stratford to Greenwich and marked with outdoor sculptures by the likes of Gary Hume, Eduardo Paolozzi, and Damien Hirst. Prices from £399,950. Call 020 7118 0400. The scheme also has a New York-style deli and grocery alongside the chill-out spa complex and social club.

    Popular older developments include Western Beach, Capital East, Eastern Quay, Tradewinds and Barrier Point, which has a splendid riverside park. In general, resales start from about £350,000 and rise to more than  £1 million for penthouses.The

    one-park-drivehp.jpg
    From £575,000: homes at One Park Drive in Canary Wharf

    CANARY WHARF
    Property values in the London City airport area are still at least 25 per cent below those surrounding the Canary Wharf business zone, where a new wave of luxury skyscrapers is pushing up prices.

    The latest scheme to launch is One Park Drive, a corn-cob shaped 58-storey tower designed by Tate Modern architects Herzog & de Meuron. Prices start at £575,000 for a studio and £1,080,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. Call 020 7001 3800.

    Nearby South Quay Plaza has 888 homes, many in a 66-storey skyscraper built at a 45-degree rotation to ensure apartments are dual aspect. Designed by Foster + Partners, the tower has a luxury health club and brings a new dockside promenade and park plus shops, bars and restaurants. Prices from £675,000. Call Berkeley Homes on 020 3675 4400.

    While these swish homes are aimed at high-earning bankers and corporate lawyers, those further east are more affordable and set to benefit from London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s investment masterplan for the Thames Gateway.

    DAVID SPITTLES

7 things to lookout for when hunting for a new office space

Posted on by aleks

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Workafella in Blog

Before you begin on this arduous journey from finding the location for your office to fine tooth combing the actual facilities of a fully furnished private office, stop to consider these key factors.

  1. Location – Ok so you want office space. Where? In the downtown business center with flashy furnishing? Or a nook in any corner of the city? The nearer your office is to the business center the more the rent. Generally take a look at your clients. If your clients are mostly from IT industry, even a small office in the IT park will get you more business. Accessibility and vicinity to clients are important points to consider here.
  1. Right size – An open office system with beanbags and cushioned couches maybe the best idea for a fully furnished office but can you afford this? A few small cubicles will occupy far lesser space. Money spent on unused walking spaces can be used elsewhere in business, especially during the early stages.
  1. The image – Your office space is a fantastic branding tool and hence must reflect the style and image of your industry and work culture. Pop singers with their hair down may not be the right wall art everywhere. The image brings us two very important and often confused points. Fully serviced and fully furnished office spaces. One is service and the other is infrastructure. Let’s consider them
  1. Fully furnished – This is the most important factor as you and your team will work in the accepted infrastructure everyday. This includes cabling, suitable light  fixtures and power points, furniture, air conditioning, internet access and most important of all providing the customized office space in the business centre.
  1. Fully serviced – These include all the amenities provided apart from the infrastructure. These ranges from providing photocopy and fax machines and the ability to book conference rooms managed by the serviced office operators to kitchen, pantry services, food options, transportation, security, high speed internet, quality of bathrooms or even the number of electrical outlets can be differentiators between two similar space alternatives.
  1. Flexibility – A friendly and approachable workspace provider in a blessing. Allowance for flexibility is a key factor, as your office space requirements will change as you grow. A flexible option in your lease agreement that entails your expansion of space to meet your business growth is important. Another important factor is the flexibility in timing. Your clientele may range from Australia to North America and all the time zones in between and you may require an office that allows you to come and go at all times.
  1. Hidden costs – Many workspace providers may offer bare bone offices at low prices and add piecemeal prices for every amenity. Wear your magnifying glass while going through the lease agreement and look for these hidden costs. They may include extra for common facilities, maintenance charges, virtual office address, anything. It is advisable to rent space with providers who offer the fully furnished and fully serviced offices with no hidden costs.

Finally, a parting advice: This office space is yours. Look for what is important to you. Prioritize your needs. You may want a space in the middle of the business center and will settle for a desk and chair. You may want to be part of a large coworking area to network with others and build your business. You may want a large space in the middle of nowhere to build your alien-attacking robot. Choose well.