Recently in Hampshire 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.

There were no signs of a recession in Southampton's West Quay shopping centre at lunchtime last Friday. It might just be because visitor numbers were swelled because of the boat show and three docked cruise liners but the John Lewis-anchored, Hammerson-owned centre was buzzing with shoppers - some of whom even had carrier bags.

However, not all of Southampton's shopping centre's were enjoying the same amount of attention. A quick walk over to the older Bargate Shopping Centre told an entirely different story.

Walking through the entrance doors passed the 'Shops To Let' signs the only faint buzzing came from the moving escalators. There were more empty shops than there were people shopping and there were more staff in the shops that were open than customers.

The centre is in dire need of a make-over and I'm sure owners Parkridge Developments will have plans once the market starts to recover.

For more Southampton pictures click here

At our Southampton reception last week representatives from Southampton and Portsmouth city councils were very keen to talk about a new initiative of theirs.

You see in the spirit of unity, the rival cities have decided to work together to land new businesses.

Rather than each having its own inward investment team jealously guarding any new enquiry they will share the information and market both cities to  potential investors.

All very magnanimous and sensible but as one Southampton agent pointed out: "Has anyone told the politicians?"

And they have a point. In these times of rising unemployment, would any politician pass over the opportunity to score constituency points by sharing details of a business that could create valuable jobs?

Picture by Rob Gallop on Flickr and used under creative commons

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.