Recently in Cambridge Category

Our Mipim issue is just going to bed cue:a huge sigh of relief in the office.

And in honour of the Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk features in it we've asked the agents from the East of England what they think about their markets at the moment.

Locals from Cambridge, Norwich and Ipswich talk about:

• - Ashwell becoming Brookgate and the future of CB1
• - the general election
• - a potential prelet at Targetfollow's Duke's Wharf in Norwich
• - rental growth in Ipswich

Watch the short video above to hear what they say. 

All these topics will be discussed in much more detail in this Saturday's EG, and you can now see all the pictures from the Cambridge reception by clicking here.

DJ Deloittes merger East of England agents give their view from focus features on Vimeo.

 

The merger of Drivers Jonas or Deloitte has caught the attention of agents across the country. Their marriage was the hot hot topic of conversation at our Cambridge reception last Friday.
Click on the video above to see what property players from around the region think.

Tim Latham, at commercial property recruitment consultants Prefio believes: "I think I'd probably be a touch more chipper about the prospect if I were a Drivers Jonas Partner or member of staff than if I were on the Deloitte side - but that longer term it's some of the ex DJ people who might need to be a bit more concerned.  Why?

• Both firms have good strong heritages and their brands have a good deal of value.  Drivers Jonas has more clout amongst property professionals but the Deloitte name has more clout with CEOs and "C-level" executives of major businesses.
• There is only a certain amount of really high level real estate strategy consulting that the market needs.  Deloitte's existing team though smallish was maybe at about the right scale to service that. An additional 600+ staff from DJ doesn't mean that the demand for high fee advisory work will expand.
• DJ partners and staff (whilst coming from a very good quality firm themselves) will likely be walking with a touch more spring in their step than previously - there is a certain kudos that comes with working for one of the "Big 4" - but beware.
• Unless Deloitte are looking to enter into lower margin work (unlikely) then in the medium to longer term some of the ex DJ Partners & staff might start to find life a bit difficult.  Let's take a guess and assume that the average DJ professional bills about half of the current Deloitte professional - there will presumably be a desire  over time to equalize those figures (to the higher level) and so you have either got to pedal twice as hard doing the same sort of work (probably impossible) or reskill / reposition yourself into much higher margin work (but the air gets a bit rarefied up there and there isn't that much work to go around).

 

For Manchester reaction click here.

For Leeds reaction click here.

For Birmingham reaction click here.

There was a brilliant turn out for the EG Cambridge reception on Friday with property players travelling from Norwich, Ispwich and Peterborough to have a tipple and a chat with us.

Below are a few pics from the event. We'll be covering the reception in the mag in our Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk Focus on the 6th March but you can see some of the pictures below right away. 

Pictures courtesy of Marcus Rose marcus@marcusrose.co.uk

Overview
What's happening in offices, retail and industrial in all three counties?
Melanie Smith, editorial assistant, 020 7911 1916, melanie.smith@estatesgazette.com

People & companies
How to make money in the current property market.
Nadia Elghamry, deputy Focus editor, 020 7911 1849, nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com

Science parks
Analysis of the region's biotech-based industry
Nadia Elghamry, deputy Focus editor, 020 7911 1849, nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com

Economy
What's in store for the three counties and what does it mean for the property industry?
Lauren Parr, senior reporter Europroperty, 0777 064 6363, laursieloo@hotmail.com

Investment
A look at the buying and selling market in all three counties.
Daniel Cunningham, senior writer, 020 7911 1822, daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

So some cities have woken up to positive news this morning thanks to research by Centre for Cities but then some haven't.

Brighton, Milton Keynes, Reading, Cambridge and Edinburgh - are ranked as the top five centres "to watch" as the economy recovers because they have strong private sectors, high levels of entrepreneurship, highly educated workforces, and a large share of knowledge-intensive jobs to succeed after the recession.

But languishing at the bottom of the table and described as having "a tough outlook" are: Stoke, Burnley, Barnsley, Newport and Doncaster. Weaker business bases, loss of private sector jobs prior to the recession, and low business start ups are among the reasons given.

Not a great start to the week particularly for Yorkshire which has two towns in the bottom five: Barnsley and Doncaster. Neighbouring Humber city Hull also features heavily having had a large number of job losses.

This week in the magazine we turn to the East of England and find there are some beacons of light appearing.

One of those is sentiment which seems to be improving, or at least not getting any worse. Stacey analyses the results of EG's latest sentiment survey and finds out just what the local property industry thinks is in store for the immediate future. She's also talked to the ERBI to find out how local technology firms are actually faring.

Drilling down to the individual cities; Cambridge's guided bus is (finally) about to become a reality. Some office park developers think it will boost their rents but they are largely the minority. Will it do any good in the current market?
In the city centre there's been no development for 15years. With the UK market in turmoil is that likely to change and what effect is that having on returns?

Norwich is still waiting for two large schemes by locally-based developer Targetfollow. I've quizzed them about their intentions and ask how much longer will Norwich have to wait? In retail, Chapelfield shopping centre seems to be bedding down with a letting to Apple (oops sorry I'm not meant to mention that) but what deals are landlords in other parts of the city doing?

And in Suffolk secondary office rents are actually rising  but it's at the expense of prime office space, while industrial is suffering heavily after international trade takes a tumble at the port of Felixstowe.