When looking for office space, what lies directly outside the window isn’t usually one of the top priorities. Many offices are inevitably surrounded by other offices or buildings, and what you see when you view it is what you get when you move in.  For many business owners, their staff’s welfare and contentment at work are paramount as happy employees are less likely to leave and more likely to work better and more efficiently. 

While The Shard undeniably has some of the best views in London, how would it feel to look out onto The Shard from your office window? Not bad at all. And even better when you consider that buildings in the vicinity of the capital’s newest landmark have been identified as a reasonable, cost effective choice for businesses looking for office space. 

Recent legislation has already seen many office spaces converted to residential, having obtained the necessary planning consent. At the moment it is fairly easy to convert the use of space from B1(a) (offices) to C3 (residential). Many landlords have proceeded to change the use of their properties in this way, as the buildings can be worth three times the value when classified and used as C3. Areas such as Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Covent Garden have been hit the hardest, and we now see a significant lack of supply in these hubs.   

Had the financial crisis never occurred the world would be a very different place. And in a small part of it, in London’s prime banking area, The Pinnacle would already have been up and running for some years.  The building, which exists as yet only on paper, was due to include a spiralling, curved glass structure, and, as it seems all new buildings – built or otherwise – must be given a nickname, the Pinnacle’s plans earned it the name of Helter-Skelter. 

Last week saw the annual property networking event, MIPIM, which takes place in Cannes on the French Riviera. The city welcomes 20,000 property professionals, and the event contributes significantly to the local economy – more so even than the better-known Cannes Film Festival. 

Morgan Pryce is a specialist tenant acquisition agency, working across the whole of Central London, stretching from the Docklands across the City, through the West End as far as Hammersmith. Alex Goode and Tom Lax from Morgan Pryce recently acquired office space in Covent Garden for an international model agency, which was looking to open its first flagship office in the West End. 

Morgan Pryce, the London-based tenant acquisition agent, has recently secured serviced office space for a hedge fund client that is setting up its first UK office. This large hedge fund has offices all over the world and was looking to expand into the London market. 

Morgan Pryce is currently conducting acquisitions all around Central London as well as in the fringes. A recent acquisition, managed by Eugene O’Sullivan and Christina Weguelin, was in one of the fringes, where they were instructed on behalf of their client to acquire space in the northern fringe of Old Street.

Rents for offices in London have had a tendency to rise dramatically as an increased number of foreign investors have hit the office market. This has resulted in rents reaching astonishing heights – recently around £120 per square foot for Mayfair or £80 per square foot in Knightsbridge. 

The districts contains almost 40 million square foot of office space, and so the Greater London Authority (GLS), together with various other London boroughs, has applied for an exemption in relation to this office stock.