Recently in Hertfordshire Category

Retail: Analysis of recent activity and future plans
Contact: Helen Hamilton, freelance writer, 07758 833 735 bluesomeh@gmail.com

Market in Numbers: Send up to date stats for offices, industrial and retail plus a soundbite (max 50 words) to Stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com


 

You can't move this week for announcements on Local Enterprise Partnerships. We are still a full two weeks away from the final submission date to government (which is officially the 6th September) but around the country the troops are being rallied.

Below's a round up of who's said what and where from around the country and who's joining up with who - and in some cases some people are being quite greedy and joining up with more than one LEP.

But keep watching here, we hear that there are already ructions in some regions, and in one part of the country the private sector has already fallen out with the the public sectors plans and is threatening to go off and form its own private LEP.

Now, quite how that works nobody seems to know.

Birmingham: In the West Midlands, everyone appears to be playing nicely according to the Birmingham Post. Burton and District Chamber of Commerce has become the second Staffordshire chamber of commerce to join the proposed Birmingham and Solihull LEP.

Meanwhile Yorkshire, which had been tipped, along with Manchester as one of the spearheads of the LEP, things are moving a bit slower. The Business Desk says council leaders have "opened the door for a Yorkshire wide partnership ...but have stopped short of endorsing the plan".

PUBLISHED 4th  September 2010

Development

What's in store for the property market across all three counties?

Simon Jack, freelance writer, 01225 444 780, simon@sdjack.freeserve.co.uk

 

Industrial

A look at key issues and trends

Simon Jack, freelance writer, 01225 444 780, simon@sdjack.freeserve.co.uk

 

Residential

An analysis of the local market including up to date stats

Graham Norwood, freelance writer, 01392 875415, graham.norwood@btinternet.com

 

Market in numbers

Figures and forecasts across all three counties covering offices, retail, industrial and investment

Please send up to date statistics and forecasts to Nadia Elghamry, deputy regional editor at nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com

Please contact writers by 10th August 2010

 

A few images have come through of how Watford's Colloseum will look.



The council is pushing ahead with the redevelopment of the entertainment venue which will include some office space. And, unlike virtually every other public project that seems to get reported on these days, it says it has the budget set aside and today signed contracts with Kier London to begin construction.

Watford council's website takes 24 hours to update but I'll post a link to the full release as soon as its available. 

In these hard times property landlords are grateful for any extra cash they can generate from empty buildings. But not all will be lucky enough to have such an unassuming asset as this Watford restaurant catching the eye of the TV and film industry.

It belongs to Punch Taverns and has already been used by one international film crew - presumably they worked their Hollywood magic on it - but it must have stuck in the mind of the location manager as it's been requested again.

This time the restaurant, which is on the market, has been requested for use by the BBC for a new sitcom "Episodes" starring Matt Le Blanc of Friends fame.

And, while it may be earning the landlord a bit of extra cash while it's on the market, sadly the agents can't use the possibility of spotting an A-list celeb as an incentive to get viewings. Ross Kirton of Colliers International, which is advising Punch Taverns, explained to me that on filming days the restaurant is strictly off limits.

I wonder if whoever buys it will be tempted to use "As seen in...." in their own marketing though?

OK I'm a sucker for baby animal stories, even more so when there is a cute picture attached, so this one from a business park in Letchworth is right up my street.

A family of blue tits has made is home in the wall-mounted ashtray of YSI Hydrodata's new premises in the Hertfordshire town.

Seven or eight chicks are believed to have hatched in the ashtray after ditching all the fag butts and replacing them with more traditional nesting material.

Andrew Burton YSI's Service Manager said: "We were confused by all of the cigarette butts that suddenly appeared on the floor a few metres from the ashtray."

And now the birds have moved in, it is a strictly non-smoking residence with smokers using alternative facilities.
 
And the property angle? Well I could make a joke about how the space is going for a song but instead I'm plumping for the fact that it's, well, it's a commercial property...

Exciting news for Harry Potter fans (that's me then). Warner Brothers was last night granted planning permission by Three Rivers council for its £100m plans to create a permanent studio at Leavesden, where it is working on the final two films in the wizard series based on the books by JK Rowling. The really exciting bit is that the plans also include building a Harry Potter visitors' centre.

The studio will be Warner's first permanent production base outside America and the visitors' centre will give the film company space in which to display some of the sets from what is already the most successful film franchise in history. It means up to 5,000 fans a day could get to walk through some of the films' famous sets such as the Great Hall in Hogwarts after the cameras have stopped rolling.

Due to the size of the scheme the plans will now go to the East of England Development Agency for approval but all going well the doors could be open in time to capitalise on increased visitor numbers from the 2012 Olympics.

I'm putting a site tour on my EG Christmas list.

Harry Potter image by star5112 on Flickr and used under creative commons.

Retail
Analysis of the market in key towns across the county
Liz Morrell, freelance writer, 01454 415 509, lizmorrell@drdatamail.co.uk

Industrial
Trends and forecasts for the market
Simon Jack, freelance writer, 01225 444 780, simon@sdjack.freeserve.co.uk

Offices & investment
A round up of office and investment activity in the region
Claire Robson, freelance writer, 07896 267707, robson.claire@hotmail.co.uk