Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the UK. The population of the city was 580000 in 2007 and 2.3m for Glasgow and surrounding towns of the conurbation, 41% of Scotland’s population.
Glasgow has seen more changes in the past 2 decades than almost any other British city. From a declining industrial centre with widespread pessimism about its future, Glasgow has been transformed into a forward-looking city and one of the hippest spots in Europe.
Today, Glasgow is an important financial centre. The Financial district is located in the western edge of the city centre, occupying the areas of Blythswood Hill and Anderston, known officially as the International Financial Services District (IFSD), although often irreverently nicknamed by the contemporary press as the “square kilometre” or “Wall Street on Clyde”.

Economy…

Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and is at the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland. Glasgow’s economy has seen a significant growth of tertiary sector industries such as financial and business services, communications, creative industries, healthcare, higher education, retail and tourism.
Between 1998 and today, the city’s financial services sector grew at a rate of 30%, making considerable gains on Edinburgh, which has historically been the centre of the Scottish financial sector.

Today, the city is one of Europe’s sixteen largest financial centres. A growing number of Blue chip financial sector companies have significant operations or headquarters in Glasgow. The city still retains a strong link to the manufacturing sector which accounts for well over 60% of Scotland’s manufactured exports, with particular strengths in shipbuilding, engineering and publishing.

Office Rental Levels…

According to the Jones Lang LaSalle annual Glasgow City Report, rental levels in the city are likely to accelerate from the current standing at £25 per sq ft to £28.5 per sq m in 2008 and are predicted to reach £339 per sq m by 2012. Rental levels also vary considerably from £15 to £35 per sq ft, a factor of changing licensed circuits and the clear difference between the corporate and private markets.

Total office take up in 2007 was 808930 sq ft, a 28% increase on the previous year, and 63% ahead of the ten-year average of 494690 sq ft. The professional services sector was the most active in terms of office take up in 2007, accounting for 30%, closely followed by the financial services sector accounting for 27% of occupier take up in the city centre.

All these figures clearly reveal that lettings in Glasgow’s office market are significantly ahead of the ten-year average and will result in increased competition for available property.

Transport…

Glasgow has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). The city has the most extensive urban rail network in the UK outside of London with rail services travelling to a large part of the West of Scotland. Glasgow Central is the terminus of the 401 mile long West Coast Main Line from London Euston.

The city is the focus of Scotland’s trunk road network and has many road connections to other cities. The main M8 motorway passes through the city centre, and connects to the M77, M73, and M80 motorways.

Glasgow is also served by two international airports and a seaplane terminal: Glasgow International Airport in Paisley in the west of the city, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport and Glasgow Seaplane Terminal, by the Glasgow Science Centre on the River Clyde.

The Tourism, Attractiveness of the city…

Glasgow offers easy access to some of Scotland’s beautiful mountains, glens, lochs and coastline.
The cultural and artistic fields are 2 strengths of Glasgow. The city possesses a world-class art gallery and several excellent museums that attract thousands of people every year. In 1999, Glasgow was awarded the title of UK City of Architecture and Design, which attest to the great variety of high-quality design within the city, with Victorian, Regency, art nouveau and ultra-modern styles all represented.
Business travellers to Glasgow should find no surprises in the way in which business is carried out. The atmosphere is a little more relaxed than in cities such as London, although normal standards of business attire apply and punctuality is important. Most companies operate during standard business hours of Monday-Friday 0900-1700.

Useful Links…

Glasgow Guide: www.cityguide.travel-guides.com

Citizen’s Advice Bureau: www.cas.org.uk

Chamber of Commerce: www.glasgowchamberonline.org

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. The city is the second largest conurbation after Glasgow which is 45 miles away. It has been the Scottish capital since 1437 and is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The Old town and New Town districts of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995. There are over 4500 listed buildings within the city.
The current population is 450,000 and is expected to grow by 50,000 over the next 10 years. The population rises to 1 million during the famous August festivals. The City is recognised and consistently ranked one of the best locations internationally to live.

Economy…

Edinburgh has the strongest economy of any city in the UK outside London. The economy of Edinburgh has recently been announced as one of the fastest growing city regions in Europe.

The economy of Edinburgh is largely based around the services sector, mainly banking, financial services and tourism. Banking has been a part of the economic life of the city for over 300 years, with the establishment of the Bank of Scotland. Today, Edinburgh has emerged as Europe’s sixth largest financial centre.
The Bank of Scotland, headquartered in Edinburgh, is the fifth largest bank in the world, opened new headquarters at Gogarburn in the west of the city and a registered office in St. Andrew Square.

Office Rental Levels…

The start of 2008 has been positive as regards to office space. Cushman & Wakefield has announced that the take up of office space was over 200,000 square feet in the last 3 months.
According to CB Richard Ellis, there is still 2.4 million square feet of office space available in Edinburgh. However, there is apparently a shortage of small office space in the capital.
With the current economic situation, it seems that the take up of larger tenancies has declined and that the vast majority of smaller office locations have been occupied. However, business centre operators’ buildings opening up this year should be the answer the high demand for grade B offices, which is suitable for SME’s who have smaller budgets as well as corporate and other businesses willing to downsize during the credit crunch.

Transport…

Edinburgh has two mainline stations, Haymarket and Waterley. The main station is Waterley, located in the city centre, between Edinburgh Old Town and the New Town. The two main train stations are Waverley station, Edinburgh’s mainline station, and Haymarket station, Edinburgh’s original second mainline station.
The city also has an airport 20 minutes away from the city centre. There are regular bus services to and from the airport. A typical flight between Edinburgh and London would take approximately 40 minutes.

The Tourism, Attractiveness of the city…

The city is one of Europe’s major tourist destinations, attracting over 13 million visitors each year, and is the second most visited city in the UK, after London.
Edinburgh is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh Comedy Festival (the largest comedy festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Useful Links…

Edinburgh Guide: www.cityguide.travel-guides.com

Edinburgh City Council: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Citizen’s Advise Bureau: www.citizensadviceedinburgh.co.uk

UBC Area Manager Richard Johnson said: “This first deal for UBC Wakefield is a real coup; not only is it a substantial space requirement, but the enquiry has come from a traditional commercial agent whose client was looking for a highly flexible arrangement.”

Jonathon White at Sanderson Weatherall said: “Alexander Forbes needed modern high quality space on flexible terms at a well-connected address in Yorkshire to continue their expansion into the North of England. Having undertaken a comprehensive search of both serviced and traditional office space in the area we are pleased to have located and negotiated the ideal product on behalf of our client.’’

David Pye, Regional Director at Alexander Forbes added: “As a national financial services company, we have a firm commitment to the continued development of our offering and needed flexible and cost-effective office space in Yorkshire without compromising on quality. Our second base in the North of England, 1 Mariner Court is a perfect place to continue our expansion and we look forward to building further on our successes in the region.”

Calder Park is one of the fastest growing business parks in the region and has attracted a number of high profile occupiers drawn by the transport links, environment and facilities on offer. Incorporating a 100 acre nature reserve, the park is adjacent to the M1 and is home to a wide range of businesses including Mercedes Benz, Balfour Beattie, Mitsubishi Electric and the Highways Agency.

Pacific Business Centers, Inc. (PBC), a leading provider of on-demand office space, will host a grand opening of its brand new Office Business Center. The event will take place on Thursday, November 6th from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30p.m. at 1104 Corporate Way – just off of Greenhaven Drive near the Pocket Avenue exit on I-5.

In addition to a ribbon cutting ceremony by an Ambassador from the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, the open house will also serve as a community networking event. The Sacramento Business Journal, Union Bank of California, 24-Hour Fitness, Staples, and State Farm Insurance are only a few of the businesses confirmed to exhibit. Donations from the event will benefit Sacramento Child Advocates, and attendees will enjoy complimentary food and wine from local restaurants.

Pacific Business Centers not only provides office space, but is a business incubator for the Sacramento Area. With the infrastructure already in place, a business presence can be established immediately and overhead minimized. Flexible lease options allow companies the freedom to grow or downsize without disruption. The model offers a great solution for startups and home-based businesses who want to establish themselves.

Tracy Wilson, PBC Managing Partner said, “We want to incubate businesses by offering space that reduces their overhead and at the same time gives them access to support services that would be out of reach for many home based and start up businesses. This location is perfect for executives and professionals who don’t want to commute downtown and prefer to work where they live. A good way to increase productivity while also dramatically reducing carbon dioxide emissions!” The center features 18,400 square feet of Class ‘A’ space including 68 offices and three conference rooms.

PBC’s Greenhaven location is the third in the Sacramento Area and joins the downtown location which opened in late 2006 and PBC’s Watt Avenue location which opened in April of 2008. Clients have access to a support infrastructure on a pay-per-use basis, including IT services, phone answering services, administrative support, and bookkeeping services.

The Greenhaven Center Grand Opening is a key part of PBC’s ongoing expansion strategy in the Sacramento market. The event is open to the Sacramento business community.

Avanta, one of the UK leading serviced office provider, has announced a new partnership with the United States virtual office suites leading provider Da Vinci business centres. The alliance between the two is aimed to create a unique virtual office solution, available for the first time to UK businesses.

The virtual office model will deliver to businesses all the services available to serviced office space tenants, without actually renting the physical space. It actually will allow company such as start-ups, SMEs or a one man band to create a global business image using only a small budget.

Businesses will benefit from both parties expertise, enjoying not only a prestigious business address but also a full range of administrative support such as professional PA service supported by messaging services and global telephony, which are all usually available to businesses leasing in corporate buildings.

All the incoming calls will be answered in the client’s company name; diaries will be updated thanks to virtual PA software, also allowing diaries updates, process of orders and many more.

Avanta currently owns 13 business centres in the UK, in locations such as Mayfair, and extended this year by opening new centres in India in Mumbai and Delhi. The serviced office provider is planning on opening additional centres in Dubai and Bangalore in a near future.

Written by Emily Mouquot, Marketing Director.

SOS generates a significant number of enquires daily from companies seeking flexible office space by way of online and pro-active marketing and feels that together with the regular enquiries from their large corporate and SME client base, many of which are received off market, they can help to generate additional revenue from surplus office space.

SOS Flex-Corp Managing Director Peter Barrett explained that his division often works jointly with conventional agents and therefore any client utilising this approach is not only exploring opportunities to find tenants in the conventional market, but is also exposing their properties to a large pool of active parties seeking space from a burgeoning and largely untapped market. “We are receiving record numbers of enquiries and have won instructions for over 300,000sqft of offices in the past two months” “This is a perhaps a sign of the times; clients are keen to try something new when disposing of space and tenants continue to seek flexibility when choosing offices, a trend that has been gathering pace over the past ten years or so and that has been brought sharpely into focus by the current economic conditions.”

Written by Emily Mouquot, Marketing Director.

The region is actually ideal for all businesses looking for an office location in a region with high economic growth. SOS > Search Office Space has just added a new centre to their San Jose’s listing, just opened in October.

The building has 15,639 sq ft of space available, divided into 50 executive office spaces and 5 conference rooms. The business center offers a large range of amenities, featuring VoIP telephony, state of the art IT, fully furnished office space and many more.

The operator also offers a number of services on a pay-as-you-go basis, such as administrative support, accounting services, online law library as well as business support services to start-ups and large corporate users.

The lease terms are also very flexible, allowing tenants to upsize and downsize as they need without any disruption.

Should you want to be one of the first businesses to benefit from a great office in Downtown San Jose, please contact Daniel Soffer on 888-989-0006, or email sales@sos-america.com.

The City of Bonita Springs is strategically located between two metropolitan areas, Naples and Fort Myers, and is equidistant from Tampa to the north and Miami to the east. This central location gives local businesses quick access to multiple markets for their products and services.

Additionally, the new Southwest Florida International Airport (SWFIA) is located just 20 minutes from Bonita Springs and offers many regularly scheduled domestic and international flights. Due to growth, SWFIA recently expanded from 17 to 28 gates and holds Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) status.

There is a brand new centre opening in the city, offering executive office suites on flexible terms. There are 23 offices available as well as training rooms for up to 40 people. The center offers a large range of amenities, such as IT and telecom, virtual office solutions. The office building is also well-situated in an ideal location in Bonita Springs, near restaurants and fitness clubs.

Should you want to get a free quote or book a tour, please contact Daniel Soffer on 888-989-0006 or email sales@sos-america.com. Alternatively, for more options in California, please visit http://www.searchofficespace.com/usa/office-space/florida-executive-suites.html .

Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and is at the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland. The city’s economy has seen a significant growth of tertiary sector industries such as financial and business services, communications, creative industries, healthcare, higher education, retail and tourism, which makes it a great strategic office location in Scotland.

SOS > Search Office Space has one of its listed centres in Glasgow running an incredible incentive until November 14th,offering businesses one month free rent when signing a 12 months lease. The office building is located in a popular area of Glasgow, 50 yards from M8 motorway connecting Glasgow with Edinburgh and the North and South.

This Business Centre offers prestigious fully serviced office space on flexible easy in-easy out license agreements, with additional services including full reception & secretarial support and onsite car parking. There are also excellent public transport links on the doorstep. Close to City Centre shopping, business facilities and close by are some of Glasgow’s finest restaurants.

Should you need a free quote or would like to book a tour, please call SOS > Search Office Space on 0800 740 8080 or email sales@searchofficespace.com . Alternatively, for more options in Glasgow, go to http://www.searchofficespace.com/uk/office-space/glasgow-serviced-offices.html

Shane Duffy of the International Corporate Centre, with serviced office complexes on Stephen’s Green and Harcourt Street says that enquiries are up forty percent on last year’s figures despite the downturn. ‘Despite a general oversupply of office space in the market, demand for serviced business centres is strong.’ The demand is such says Duffy that his company will shortly open a new building in Dublin 2 within the next six months with further business centres in the planning stages.

International Corporate Centre operates in the higher end of the market with a diverse range of tenants ranging from embassies and government agencies to legal firms and shipping companies.

While the conventional office market continues to struggle, business centres are now one of the best performing, prime growth sectors in commercial property. While there is a considerable oversupply of conventional office space, the opposite is true of serviced offices, which face the challenge of keeping up with overwhelming demand.

Duffy explains why he concentrates on the serviced office market. ‘The two most important factors for occupiers when acquiring office space are capital expenditure and flexibility. In the current economic climate occupiers do not want to commit to lengthy and costly leaseholds. “Small and growing companies in particular cannot predict what their head count will be in twelve months, let alone five years, so they require workplace which will allow them to expand or contract according to their needs.”

Managed business space provides an attractive proposition for businesses in this uncertain economic climate, and provides the leading operators in the sector with a growth opportunity, while playing an important role in providing flexible workspace solutions to meet the needs of modern day business.”

So what do clients of International Corporate Centre’s benefit from versus traditional offices?

The International Corporate Centre appeals to occupiers who require highly flexible, unbranded office space tailor made to meet the requirements of the individual business. This flexibility is underpinned by competitively priced and transparent fixed-costs, so occupiers can account for every penny they are spending on their office needs.

For more information www.internationalcorporatecentre.com.