As part of our approach to the health and wellbeing of our occupiers, the Welcome team are working with Cycling Score to improve cycling facilities across the portfolio. Cycling Score certification is the new accreditation designed to assess the quality of cycling facilities offered at buildings. Certification is now either complete or underway at 10 Welcome buildings comprising over two million square feet.
Cycling Score’s mission is to see standards improve for occupiers who choose more active lifestyles, by recognising assets with ‘best in class provision’. The Cycling Score Certification process begins with an assessment of a building and demonstrates how exactly to raise the standard of facilities and services within a building, creating a happier, healthier workplace for occupiers. It can also be used in the planning process for new developments.
Over 100 buildings in the UK have already adopted Cycling Score Certification as landlords and developers begin to recognise the business case for ‘best in class’ facilities and services for occupiers. Cycling Score benchmarks against BREEAM, LEED and also each asset’s local borough planning guidance. They are also the global advisors to WELL Certification.
The Cycling Score “BUG” programme is being rolled out across the Welcome assets as a key wellbeing initiative during 2019
In addition to the initial certification, Cycling Score also facilitates a programme of occupier engagement services which perfectly complement the Welcome approach. Their new platform called the Cycling Score BUG (Bicycle User Group) enables cyclists to set up teams, compete against others in the building and even compete against buildings all over the globe. The Cycling Score BUG programme is being rolled out across the Welcome assets as a key health and wellbeing initiative during 2019, as part of our overall approach to delivering an enhanced level of occupier experience within our assets and we look forward to seeing the results.
Anthony Boothman, Partner in our Manchester office, was recently asked to contribute to an article by North West Insider about how the traditional commercial property management model is changing.
Along with other real estate experts in the city from the likes of Aviva Investors, he discusses how the demands of modern occupiers are shaping the future of property management into a more customer-focused service.
As highlighted in the article, it was because of this trend that Welcome was launched last year. Although the level of customer service and quality of occupier experience now required is way beyond the traditional remit of the property manager, some things don’t change, as Anthony points out:
“Its about knowing your occupiers and what they want”.
Read the full article at North West Business Insider here.
As reported in CoStar, two more office assets have been added to the Welcome portfolio.
Workman has been selected by Canmoor to provide the Welcome service at Anchorage in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester. Canmoor is currently refurbishing the 220,000 sq.ft complex that will introduce a new look atrium area, accompanying amenities and Grade A and flexible office space.
At Aldgate House in the City of London, Workman have been appointed to provide the ‘Welcome’ service, following the acquisition of the 211,000 sq ft City building in September 2018 by Singapore-listed real estate operating company City Developments Limited (CDL).
Gavin Halliday, Partner at Workman LLP, commented:
“Workman’s instruction to deliver the Welcome service at both Anchorage and Aldgate House is further validation of our track record for delivering the highest level of customer service and exceeding occupier expectations, which we know directly contributes to our clients’ investment performance through improved occupier retention. CDL’s decision to retain us also spoke volumes about the operational standards the ‘Welcome’ brand delivers to modern occupiers, and we are now looking forward to bringing our specialist skills to bear and delivering performance and value for both Canmoor and CDL.”
Frank Khoo, Group Chief Investment Officer at CDL, commented:
“As a major landlord with over 18 million sq ft of lettable space globally, CDL is committed to delivering value to our tenants and building occupants. Our focus to drive exceptional customer experience is core to our asset management strategy. Through our partnership with property manager Workman for Aldgate House, we are able to leverage their insights and bespoke ‘Welcome’ service to consistently achieve high standards of office management and elevate the workspace experience for our building users.”
Since its launch six months ago, the ‘Welcome’ brand has grown to 18 assets, which is setting a new standard in property management for modern office occupiers.
These appointments bring the Welcome portfolio to nearly 4m sq.ft, with assets including the Moretown and Republic office campuses in London, as well as Skypark in Glasgow.
Republic London played host to the first ever Courier Live festival on Friday 28th September, the latest event in the transformation of this site to a modern ‘next generation campus’ in East London.
Organised by Courier Magazine, the event was a celebration of modern business and startup culture in London with over 100 speakers and brands participating in a range of talks, panel discussions and interviews as well as the Courier Live Market showcasing a range of startup brands. With a selection of London’s best street food vendors and afterparty as well, the event combined the best London has to offer for both work and play for an estimated 1,000 visitors. Our team on site played a vital role behind the scenes in the lead up to, and during, the event to ensure the event ran smoothly and the site looked its best.
a celebration of modern business and startup culture in London
The event coincided with the launch of the Import Building at Republic and showcased the whole campus perfectly, particularly the newly developed pubic realm. A great example of an event that combines business and local community while also providing a great experience for occupiers on site.
Click here and at Republic to see images from the day.
Gavin Halliday, Partner in our London Cheapside office, was recently invited to discuss the launch of the Welcome service with EG for a recently published podcast interview.
Hear why we think market forces mean the Welcome approach to property management is so important in today’s market and how we’ve developed and trialled the service so far.
Skypark, the significant mixed-use development in Glasgow recently acquired by Hermes Investment Management, is set to join the Welcome group of properties following the appointment of Workman to manage the asset.
The site comprises six office buildings and three development sites, and is home to over 4,000 employees. In total, the site includes 508,144 sq ft of office space, 8,573 sq ft of retail space and 21,530 sq ft of warehouse and ancillary accommodation. In addition to a range of serviced office space and meeting facilities, Skypark has 695 parking spaces, an on-site cafe and the award-winning Four Seasons nursery. We will work closely on site with Resonance Capital, strategic advisors for the centre.
The appointment on Skypark is a major part of our roll out of the Welcome service nationwide
Jim Hallan, Partner at Workman LLP, commented: “The appointment on Skypark is a major step in Workman growing its presence in Scotland. As a national company with a strong focus on our regional capabilities, we have the benefit of the experience of managing large schemes in addition to knowledge of what local landlords and occupiers need”
Real estate investors and their occupiers are becoming increasingly aware of the impact that health and wellbeing is having, and consequently the service that property managers are now expected to provide. Effective property management is no longer solely concerned with looking after the physical asset, but to provide environments to enhance the users’ overall experience.
Measuring Health & Wellbeing
This growing trend is also reflected in the emergence of health & wellbeing certifications such as The Fitwel Certification System and The Well Standard. Due to its grounding in rigorous scientific research and its user-friendly approach to certification, Fitwel has emerged as the entry-level standard for assessing health and wellbeing in buildings. Our Sustainability and Wellbeing Manager, Nick Hobbs, has recently become a Fitwel Ambassador.
The Well Standard is perceived as a more in-depth, rigorous certification system but comes with a higher cost. It also requires more resource to successfully measure and implement. Choosing the appropriate system for the appropriate building is crucial and through our knowledge of each offering we can provide advice on which to use; how, when and where.
Beyond this, we are also actively engaged with each certification to help shape their development where necessary. For example, their adaptation of the systems in order to be more applicable to multi-tenanted offices.
Future Trends
Going forward, we see two fundamental developments continuing to emerge in health and wellbeing:
Firstly, the context in which health and wellbeing is developed will continue to grow. Initially, many of the best initiatives have been implemented on larger campus-style assets where the amount of public realm and external space provides greater opportunity. Birmingham Business Park is one example which now boasts a wide array of fitness activities ranging from open-air gym equipment, a cycling club, a walking club, yoga, table tennis, woodland walks and pool bikes, all possible to the vast amount of shared space available. We have, however, also had great success in implementing other health and wellbeing initiatives in smaller urban office buildings, from; food and drink pop-ups, guest speakers, bike services and charity and community events.
Secondly, whilst the various accreditation systems will continue to gather pace, the individual criteria that make up the certification will become more relevant and measured too. For example, we are already working with suppliers such as StepJockey at the Metro Building in Hammersmith. StepJockey incentivises occupiers to use the stairs and by using design solutions, competitions and communication programmes to promote this. In addition, we are investigating other specific standards. RESET focuses on measuring and certifying the internal air quality within a building using sensors to produce large amounts of data. Meanwhile, CyclingScore is an increasingly used assessment for evaluating the quality of cycling facilities within a building – so often a critical factor in urban locations.
There are many areas to consider and a number of approaches to take in implementing health and wellbeing programmes at multi-let office assets. Our strategy at Welcome is to assess the client’s objectives within the context of the building itself but also within the wider property portfolio. This will then inform the decision-making process of what initiatives are best to pursue.
For 35 years, Workman has grown a successful and sustainable business by focusing on the basics of property management and getting them right, or as some of our clients put it; “sticking to the knitting” or “doing what it says on the tin”.
Despite this longstanding heritage and success, we still look to innovate, change and develop the service as the nature of the real estate industry changes. In fact, being at the coalface working daily with occupiers, we have been well-placed to see the significant shifts taking place in the office sector.
These changes are reflected in what occupiers want from their locations, and how providers of that space have had to become more flexible in both their approach and commercial offering. Additionally, new entrants in the co-working space have disrupted the traditional ‘landlord & tenant’ relationship for good.
a new standard of property management for the office sector, designed for the modern occupier
Within this context, over the last 18 months we have been developing our property management service for larger office assets – a sector where these changes have been most keenly felt. In this space, the relationship is shifting from business to consumer-led, and from product to service. Key requirements now include outstanding customer service, collaborative relationships with customers and a desire to deliver a richer user-experience by creating a sense of place and community.
As a result, the role of the property manager has changed significantly, as the demands have shifted from back of house operations to front of house service. As property managers, we need to be at the forefront of curating the environment that occupiers and their staff want to be in.
In response, and after months of planning, researching and piloting the service across over 1 million sq ft of London offices, Welcome is ready to be rolled out nationwide. The occupier experience we seek to deliver is way beyond the traditional remit of property manager. Welcome is designed to meet the needs of the modern occupier, while ensuring the operational integrity of the buildings we manage.
You can check out a sample of some of our Welcome properties here.
Following a competitive tender, we are delighted to be managing 100 New Oxford Street W1 for AEW Europe LLP. Located in London’s West End, the property is a 106,000 sq ft mixed-use, multi-tenanted office and retail property.
This significant instruction was won following a pitch against five other managing agents, and adds to our growing portfolio of large office and mixed-use properties.
We’re excited about the plans for the new reception and working with the client and occupiers in 2018 and beyond.
