Recently in Birmingham Category

For the second day running MIPIM has actually trended on Twitter (as pointed out by our own Adam Tinworth on EG's MIPIM blog). It seems the property industry has gone social media mad putting up pictures, updates and news, and more importantly the news the cities might not want you to necessarily know.

Here's a few of our favourites from around the regions:

Well known tweeter Urban Splash's Tom Bloxham has kept up his own commentary happily reporting today that: "apparently I'm wearing the biggest cheques in #MIPIM" and calling MIPIM the new Glastonbury for suits.

DayLeeds has been keeping us update with news from the Yorkshire stand including what at first seemed like a bizarre stint by Manchester's Sir Howard Bernstein on the Yorkshire stand for the Powerhouse of the North event.

You might have gathered that there's a bit of a shindig going on down in Cannes at the moment at MIPIM.

Focus editor Stacey Meadwell has been running her self ragged up and down the Croisette gathering news and views from all the regions.

Some big announcements were made yesterday including Birmingham city council's decision to spend £40m on a new IT village, Commercial Estates unveiled its plans for Leeds' Kirkstall Forge.

But away from the prepared speeches Stacey's been tweeting away on the inside track from the event (you can follow her at www.twitter.com/EGStaceyM). Here's what she said from day one of the event including a few news snippets from Leeds and Merseyside.

"Day 1: Overcast but still bright, 10 appointments and a dinner. Pedometer is zeroed"

"Just spotted Howard Bernstein in the lobby of the Gray d'Albion"

"Talking to Jim Wilkie of Wirral Council and Wirral Waters application is being heard at the end of April. They are also revivising plans for a golf resort."

"The sun eventually came out and it feels more like Mipim now."

"Apparently Leeds City council execs have been viewing building for their new offices in the city. Decision in the next 2 months?"

Considering how difficult it was to get take up stats from Manchester's office agents at the end of last year, I thought its all new singing and dancing office agents forum would release them to a fanfare.

The idea, floated this time last year, was Manchester would follow in the footsteps of their regional cousins and present a collective view of office take up from this January onwards.

But three months into the year and the fanfare has yet to sound as agents couldn't agree on a date in Q4 last year to gather and agree on the figures.

Needless to say, in that time, agents released their own figures, and CB Richard Ellis grabbed the headlines in February, reporting that take up in the city centre reached 830,000 sq ft. (EGi subscribers can read the story here). Other agents also released reports, all telling a different story.

I remember one of my first trips to Liverpool after it had been announced it had won the European capital of culture. There, in a subway by the train station, was a man bent over throwing up on the capital of culture banner. Many have since poured equal scorn on the title.

The shortlist for the inagural City of Culture in 2013 was announced yesterday, with Sheffield, Norwich, Birmingham and Londonderry making the grade.
Yet column inches have been filled debating if the honour is worth it and if the Capital of Culture really spurred on regeneration in Liverpool or if the fixed timeline just added another headache. So what do the locals make of it?

In Yorkshire although there was mourning for Hull and Barnsley which didn't make the list, the Yorkshire Post rolls out Sheffield-born actor Sean Bean, and says the city will become a  magnet for the arts...."hosting events such as the Turner Prize and the Brit Awards."

Quite what the highbrow arts community might make of the Brit Award winner Lily Allen flying the flag for cultrure is another thing.

 

Regional rents may be over the worst. Jones Lang LaSalle has issued what at first looks like an up-beat release for developers desperate to get cracking on those building plans (read the full report here). But read on, the agency goes on to say that it's a shortage of supply and definitely not a growth in demand that's pushing up those rents.

Look at its office clock and that bottom left quadrant, which shows rents accelerating is sadly and totally empty. From a regional point of view only a handful are inching past the 4pm rents bottoming out mark.

Edinburgh and Leeds started to fall later so are behind the cycle and only just beginning to catch up now, says JLL. Birmingham fell first so is already past the worst.

How do Drivers Jonas and Deloitte's match up? UK offices of Deloitte's are in blue. Drivers Jonas are in red.

View Deloitte and Drivers Jonas' offices in the UK in a larger map

Well it certainly stopped conversations about the state of the market dead in its tracks. When the news flash that 285-year old property firm Drivers Jonas was merging with accountancy giant Deloitte appeared first thing Friday morning, tongues immediately started wagging.

Deloitte has comparatively small property team of around 40 but Drivers Jonas will no doubt be keen to capitalise on the global reach it will have come the mergers conclusion in March. The merger will give it a presence in a number of new UK cities such as Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and Newcastle. And with Deloitte acting for 99 firms out of the FTSE 100 it also gives the property firm access to a potentially huge client base in its existing markets.

So what does the market think? The Focus desk canvassed opinion in key cities across the UK and over the next few posts talks to agents and Drivers Jonas staff about the implications of the merger in their market. 

For Manchester reaction click here.

For Leeds reaction click here.

For East of England reaction recorded at our reception in Cambridge on Friday click here.

For Birmingham reaction click here.

There were some nervous looks at King Sturge's Warwick Street, W1 HQ this morning. Not from the presenters waiting to reveal the company's property predictions for 2010, as you might imagine, but more from those colleagues who'd made the journey in from the regions and who had half an eye on window looking for signs of snow.

But with the sky still clear the presenters plunged into the highlights of their latest report and here are a few of the most interesting:

* The gap between London's office market and the rest of the country will widen as the capital experiences a bit of a recovery in rents this year while the regions will be slower to recover. This has to be tempered by the fact that London's rents declined 35-40% from peak to trough compared to 7-10% outside the capital

* Canary Wharf is picked out as the London's hotspot with office vacancy expected to fall into single figures this year

* Some speculative development will start in London this year as the supply pipeline diminishes

* Regional office rents are expected to fall further this year but not at the same rate as 2009. Bristol and Manchester are expected to lead the recovery after 2010.

* Birmingham and Leeds are highlighted as giving the most concern the reason being their oversupply of office space and reliance on the public sector

Naturally the Focus desk will be watching all of these cities to see if King Sturge's prediction ring true. (We are also watching the window for the first signs of snow.)

And so December is approaching and the Focus roadshow is coming to end for another year but, before we depart for our Christmas holidays, we like to get the crystal ball out and have a look at what is coming up in the year ahead. (It can't be worse than this year, can it?)

As we will be entering a new decade, we want to look at how the last 10 years has shaped the market in 10 cities around the UK and how that might influence the market.

Dan and Mel have divided up the country between them and are looking at five cities each. Do get in touch with them for more detail about the information and type of  comment they are after.

The 2010 Preview will be published on December 12 and please contact the writers by Monday 23 November.

London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester & Newcastle:

Daniel Cunningham, senior writer 020 7911 1822, daniel.cunningham@rbi.co.uk

Cardiff, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow:
Melanie Smith, Focus editorial assistant, 020 7911 1916, melanie.smith@rbi.co.uk

Picture by Francesca Rose on Flickr and used under creative commons

Damian Wild, EG's new editor, headed up to Birmingham in his first full week on the mag. I caught up with him at our annual Birmingham Focus reception.

Last night we launched the synopsis for our next West Midlands feature at a reception in Birmingham. EG's new editor Damian Wild was there to great the guests and took time out to record an interview for the Focus blog which we will be posting next week.

Pictures and a podcast recorded on the night can be found over at our Midlands Editor, Lisa Pilkington's blog. In the meantime here are some of the topics we'll be covering in the feature:


Sentiment Survey
Please fill in our survey, which is tracking sentiment about the property market and wider economy among the West Midlands' property professionals throughout the year. The survey is completely anonymous. Click here to take part. If you would like to comment on the issues raised in the survey contact: Stacey Meadwell, Focus editor 020 7911 1819, stacey.meadwell@rbi.co.uk Email: stacey.meadwell@rbi.co.uk

What they did next..?
A look at how peoples careers have changed post redundancy.
Contact: Nadia Elghamry, deputy focus editor 020 7911 1849 Email: nadia.elghamry@rbi.co.uk

Market Overview
An in-depth analysis of the office, industrial & distribution, retail and leisure sectors in the region.
Contact: Daniel Cunningham, senior focus writer 020 7911 1822 Email: daniel.cunningham@rbi.co.uk

Olympic Legacy
What can the region do to ensure it is part of the Olympic's legacy?
Contact: Lisa Pilkington, Midlands Editor, 07771 673 458 Email: lisa.pilkington@rbi.co.uk

Public sector funding cuts
Earlier this year Advantage West Midlands withdrew funding for 122 regeneration schemes across the region - what impact will this have?
Contact: David Thame, North West features writer, 01544 262 896 Email: dthame@clara.co.uk