Mayor launches new website to help London's new businesses and property owners thrive
12 MARCH 2010
A major new initiative to help new businesses find affordable premises and cut the number of vacant units across the capital was launched by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and the Workspace Group today.
A new web site, ‘London New Enterprise’, will bring together up and coming firms looking for office space and landlords with property to let. The site encourages landlords to list their available units to new companies at significantly reduced commercial rates, while also providing business, legal and financial guidance for new firms. Powered through the website www.anyspacedirect.co.uk it has been built free of charge by the Workspace Group.
Property vacancy levels in the capital have increased considerably since the recession. A report compiled for the British Property Federation, by the Local Data Company, showed London had a 13.9 per cent shop vacancy rate compared to a national figure of 12.5 per cent. Even though the supply of property is high there are many new businesses in London still looking for premises.
‘London New Enterprise’ has been developed by the Mayor, Workspace Group, Capital Enterprise and is supported by the British Property Federation. It follows a City Hall roundtable, where they discussed how the Mayor could promote the use of empty properties in London. The scheme seeks to broker vacant units through the website, which lists and match properties in London that are suitable for new businesses and commercial property seekers. Benefits to new business include the use of short-term lets and encourages a flexible environment for them to work in. Landlords and agents can make use of free listings on the website, encourage new social enterprise hubs, and can use ‘fag end leases’ where businesses on long leases have vacated early.
Launching the scheme today at offices in Kennington, the Mayor met with businesses that have benefited from similar offers through Workspace. He was accompanied by BBC’s The Apprentice winner Tim Campbell, from the Bright Ideas Trust, and Harry Platt, the Chief Executive of the Workspace Group. Speaking to the audience of small businesses, enterprise support agencies and property owners, the Mayor issued a call to action for property owners to make their empty units available to the capital’s new businesses.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It’s absurd that right now, across the capital, there are so many properties lying vacant while new businesses are looking for space and opportunity to grow. These innovative firms are the backbone of the London economy and with the launch of this fantastic new website we can help both businesses and property owners get the right deal.
“The winning factor with this new initiative is that it has public, private and industry support. London remains a city full of opportunity and this new website is another weapon in the capital’s armoury to stimulate enterprise, revitalize empty properties and create employment opportunities for Londoners.”
Harry Platt, Chief Executive of Workspace said: “As London moves forward from the recession, SMEs and new business start ups will be an important component of the recovery. At Workspace we have used incubator units and special start up leases and we know this approach works well and encourages entrepreneurs. In our view, the long leases demand by institutional landlords do not sit well with people starting a new business. They need flexibility and controlled costs. This initiative with the GLA is, we feel, an important part of growing London’s SME community.”
Tim Campbell, founder of the Bright Ideas Trust, said: “We know that to help with the economic prosperity of the capital we need to support aspiring small business owners in every way we can as they will be the driving force behind any recovery. There is growing amount of evidence we see here at the Bright Ideas Trust that the high cost of accommodation in London is deterring new entrepreneurs setting up in London and with the Mayors support of this website we hope that we can get rid of one of the obstacles deterring the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, which represents developers, landlords and investors, said: “This initiative is about demonstrating the industry’s responsible attitude towards new businesses and its desire to help them find a stable platform for the long-term. By overcoming the financial burdens or getting into property and offering the right advice, the industry can also help itself at a time when vacancies are still rising. We accept it’s not good enough simply to complain about the government’s lack of help for small business, we want to play a real part in supporting the recovery ourselves. New Enterprise London is the perfect way for us to convey that landlords are committed to the long-term prosperity of communities. While the industry can’t be responsible for the actual occupiers, it should be prepared to do everything inside its control to giving them a leg up. The BPF will be writing to all members encouraging them to take part.”
John Spindler, CEO Capital Enterprise, said: "According to our member Prince’s Trust, over 25 per cent of new business ventures supported by them fail to start because they can’t find affordable property in the right locations. We hope the www.londonnewenterprise.co.uk website will go some way to helping to solve this problem”.
ENDS Notes to editor:
1. To find out more and visit the new website please go to www.londonnewenterprise.co.uk or go to anyspacedirect.co.uk and click on "new enterprise".
2. The Workspace Group has committed to building and managing the website for nil cost with the GLA supporting the promotion and communications of the website.
3. The website is co-branded by the Mayor of London, the Workspace Group, the British Property Federation, and Capital Enterprise alongside participating partners London Councils, London Landlords and Capital Enterprise members. London Borough’s are also involved in the development of the scheme.
4. Businesses who access property through the scheme will be linked into some of the business support mechanisms available in London through Capital Enterprise.
5. To view the BPF’s retail vacancy report, and for specific London breakdowns, please go to www.bpf.org.uk/pdf/21569/LDC-End-Year-Report-2009.pdf
6. London Council’s are actively working with the Borough’s to ensure that empty properties within their areas are listed on the site and that any applicable Borough owned sites are listed.
7. Workspace Group PLC is a specialised property-based business providing office, studio, workshop, and light industrial workspace for small businesses throughout London. Workspace Group PLC assists new and existing small businesses by creating affordable accommodation for rent on flexible and user-friendly terms. Workspace Group PLC owns and manages over 100 business centres in London and has more than 4,000 small business customers. Further information can be found at www.workspacegroup.co.uk
8. Capital Enterprise is the membership body for deliverers of enterprise support in London. It facilitates entrepreneurship via its 38 (current) member organisations covering all 33 London boroughs and through the development of new and innovative pan-London programmes. Further information can be found at www.capitalenterprise.org
For further information on Workspace Group contact Jonathan Gillen, The Profile Group, 0207 448 3244/07970 475 659. Background on businesses the Mayor met at Workspace’s Canterbury Court: ARTICA TECHNOLOGIES Five friends who graduated from the Royal College of Art and Imperial Business School came up with the idea of Artica. Workspace were their first major customer as well as giving them free space, rent-free for six months as part of its start up deals. Artica has been with Workspace for over a year. Artica leads the way in the design and manufacture of low energy, high performance cooling, heating and ventilation products without using any of the environmentally damaging coolants. The latest application, which compared to air conditioning, reduces energy usage by up to 90%, is an award-winning cooling, ventilation and heat recovery technology that is highly energy efficient and can be easily installed into both new and existing buildings WELCOME GATE - Welcome Gate won a large Olympic 2012 tendering opportunity after attending a ‘2012 Compete For’ event held at a Workspace centre as well as Workspace advertising the company to its tenant base. About Welcome Gate: Welcome Gate provides a complete service and product range to manage the security and movement of people – guests, visitors and staff – into, out of and throughout organisational sites and facilities. QUIET REVOLUTION - Quiet Revolution supplied two wind turbines for Workspace’s Canterbury Court, which were installed when the centre was refurbished in 2008. About Quiet Revolution: Quiet Revolution specialises in low-carbon strategies for the built environment and beyond. It is a multidisciplinary group with backgrounds in engineering, architecture and environmental science, working as consultants for buildings, large developments and masterplans, as well as carbon management for companies and businesses. Our diverse backgrounds and in-depth technical knowledge position us to provide exceptional added value to design teams, developers and corporate clients, working as lead consultants, engineers or sustainability champions overseeing the client’s project goals. SETRED - Setred has been with Workspace since October 2008 and has since doubled its space requirement by taking advantage of the flexible lease options available designed to help SMEs. Setred has a number of pending patent applications, which are fully owned by the company. It has also acquired licenses to additional external patents.
