Recently in Dorset Category

There's always a lot of ground to cover in our Focus on the south coast counties so here are just some of the highlights of what will be appearing in tomorrow's magazine:

Southampton After the party there is the clearing up to do and this is what the city now faces as cruise operator Carnival consolidates it staff into one shiny new building. I look at what space is left behind and its impact on the market when there is already plenty of secondhand space.

Portsmouth Melanie Smith debates the merits of Highcross's new 275,000 sq ft office scheme and whether it will transform the market as hoped.

Winchester More second hand space dilemma's as the council chooses to make do with revamping and extending it's existing space.

Bournemouth The council at the seaside town has grand regeneration plans but as the deadline for submissions from potential private sector passes, Nadia Elghamry asks whether it is being overly ambitious?

Agency For a market in the grip of a recruitment freeze and job culls there seems to be a lot of movement among Southampton's agency staff. I look at what's been happening and talk to some of those who've decided to set up on their own in the toughest of market conditions.

John Lewis is one of those relatively rare beasts in that while everyone else was in the doldrums it announced that it wanted to expand.

Unfortunately for them that coincided with developers shutting up shop and big box units of the size John Lewis wanted simply dried up. So, its had to take a slightly different approach to get its hands on the space it needs.

John Lewis at home is that answer, the first time the retailer has launched a new format in two decades, and the first one opens in Poole, Dorset today. 

It uses a second hand store (something John Lewis either, simply hasn't entertained before, or, more probably, its struggled to find a big enough existing unit) and is a refurbishment of the 40, 000 sq ft former Courts unit on Land Securities' Poole Retail Park.

 

Standing on the balcony of the Royal Southampton Yacht Club with the sun shining and the yachts shimmering it was easy to forget the troubled economy and market turmoil.

But appearances can be a little deceptive and there was understandably a slightly sombre feel to our annual Southampton Focus reception which saw agents from the four corners of Hampshire and Dorset in attendance.

Over a glass of something cold and a canape or two, there was talk of redundancies as work levels have diminished but there were still some positive stories to tell about new jobs and new start ups.

Melanie talked to a few of the guests about their thoughts on the state of the market and you can listen to what they said by clicking here.

If you'd like to talk to the journalists writing the features for the Hampshire, Dorset and South Wilts Focus click here for the synopsis.

The Focus will be published in EG on October 31 alongside a report on the event but in the meantime here are a few pictures:

 

Photos by Marcus Rose all rights reserved

Hopefully the sun will have shone on our annual Southampton reception today - the Southampton yacht club is the perfect place when you can throw open the doors and use the balcony while discussing the serious business of the property market.

There will be more on the reception on this blog tomorrow.

This is the synopsis we are launching - it's probably one of the longest we produce because there are so many places to cover. Get in touch with the writers if you work in any of these markets or have a view on how the recession is affecting property agents in the area. Click continue reading for all the details.