United Kingdom
I am an experienced writer, editor, content creator and graphic designer.
Over the course of my career I have written for brands, UK national newspapers, specialist publications, B2B media and worked as a graphic designer for a charity and luxury online retailer.
I have written on a variety of topics from insuring Stradivarius violins to what the future of the office may be, the adoption of tech, sustainability and wellness.
In addition, I have also created videos, podcasts, email newsletters and social media content.
With every keystroke, swipe, like, or browse online, you leave a trail of data which paints a picture of who you are, and how you think. Friends, followers, companies, algorithms and even criminals use this digital image of you to make judgements about you.
Looking for the best spot for drinks with colleagues in Bloomsbury and Holborn in London? We've done the work for you and put together a list of the best places to relax and unwind in after a day at the office.
Socialising with colleagues after work is an important part of the office experience for many, helping colleagues' bond, fostering company culture and integrating new members. Here are some of the best places to go for after work drinks in Camden.
With Great Britain targeting a 68% reduction in carbon emissions come 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050, businesses are having to focus more and more on reducing their carbon footprints, directly and indirectly. This means looking at where a company directly produces emissions from owned or controlled assets and how the business powers and heats itself, but [...]
"I'd wrap items up from around our family home in newspaper and sell them to my sister when she got her pocket money as a kid," Moses Rashid, founder and chief executive of The Edit LDN & Section:Media, says giving insight into his entrepreneurial spirit from an early age.
We highly value the feedback we receive from our members and decided to ask them to let us know what is important to them and their business. This is what they told us.
Having set up her business in spring last year it's already been a steep upwards trajectory for Nanouche Umeadi's race and diversity consultancy, Diverse Inclusive Solutions. The mum of two's business began after she decided to intercede at her children's school in Camden to make sure it was more inclusive following the death of George [...]
The idea to create a Deliveroo-style on demand, last mile delivery service for building parts and materials was construction firm owner Radek Tober's. He wanted to find a highly sustainable way to deliver parts to sites easily, which would also stop work being delayed and help control costs to the benefit of contractor and customer.
Having bespoke items within a workplace enriches the environment and allows you to create a space that is uniquely your own, according to Kenny Teh, Lead Designer at LABS and LabTech. He adds: "Bespoke items are designed to encourage user interaction and to provide a subconscious user experience alongside their required functional and practical aspects.
To enrich our spaces at Victoria House we've worked with Fred Rigby Studio to create a furniture set. Within more than 8,000 sq ft of communal space a range of, tables and dividers, add an additional layer of warmth to our latest workspace in London's Knowledge Quarter.
For Andy Swann, entrepreneur, author of The Human Workplace and host of The Lifework Podcast, the benefits of mentoring a small business or emerging entrepreneur, such as those joining LABS through the collaboration with Camden Council this September, are numerous.
For Rupert Baldwin, Director of Operations and Business Development at Light, Water, Plants, it's a no brainer that businesses should invest in greening their offices because being surrounded by plants is hugely beneficial for people's wellbeing.
Art in the workplace can take on many forms, including paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures. You might even consider investing in the progressively popular non-fungible token crypto digital art, which could be displayed on screens around the office.
Here at LABS, we're all about attention to detail and creating moments of interest and inspiration in our spaces. To do this we source a lot of vintage pieces as not only do these items enable us to generate our vision, but it's a sustainable way of decorating our buildings and spaces.
Comfort and functionality are key" when it comes to selecting office furnishings, according to Emily Ross, director at Run Interiors, which provides the commercial and hospitality sectors, including LABS, with a turn-key service for interiors, comprising furniture, accessories, art and bespoke products.
4th August 2021 | 4 min read Designing a workspace that caters to your business's needs and showcases its culture is critical in the process of establishing an office. In our latest guide, we unravel the steps into what is required in creating the perfect workspace.
In the third part of our guide laying out the process of searching for workspace, we explore how to go about your search for an office. Your office search: The options Having identified and understood the key requirements of your business it's time to begin the search for office space.
17th June 2021 | 3 min read Every industry has its fair share of jargon and the real estate sector is no different. However, if you are looking for an office understanding some of the baffling terminology being used is key.
Searching for office space can be a formidable task whether it's an entirely new home for the business or extra space to house a project team.To help make this process easier to understand and create a better experience we've put together a step-by-step guide, beginning with the key things you really should know before embarking on your search for office space.
O ffice space is being handed back by tenants. Shops stand empty. Construction starts have stopped. What's a real estate owner to do? Temporary uses for sites and buildings have been put in the spotlight as landlords seek to mitigate the costs of empty buildings and attract people back to places left deserted during lockdown.
In its aim of creating a cultural district that allows old art forms to sit alongside the new, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority is also looking to create a part of Hong Kong not dominated by skyscrapers but a collection of innovative and striking buildings and expansive park that will be entirely car-free.
M artin Jepson knows his reputation. He is seen as a "deal junkie", he says, someone never happier than when involved in the cut and thrust of negotiation. With that in mind, establishing his own investment and development business was a long-held ambition for Jepson, who spent much of his career embedded in some of the UK's most prominent investors and developers.
London's property owners and occupiers have had to dig deep and explore radically different ways of operating since March as the capital turned into what Duncan Owen, global head of real estate at Schroders, described as a "doughnut", with little activity in the middle, courtesy of the pandemic.
Plans to repurpose 39 spaces in London Wall Car Park, EC2, for use as a last-mile logistics hub to be operated by Amazon Logistics have been approved. The plans will allow Amazon to deliver parcels within a 2km radius using pedestrian porters and cargo cycles instead of motorised vehicles.
Hong Kong-based Link REIT still has "several billion pounds" to invest as part of its global strategy to diversify and grow its assets under management by 2025, its boss George Hongchoy tells EG. The business is not allocating amounts to any particular geography but is aiming to grow the number of office assets it has in the near term.
Gerald Ronson's Salesforce Tower is undergoing a post-Covid revamp that will see it replicated as a digital twin. The tower at 110 Bishopsgate, EC2, previously known as the Heron Tower, celebrates its 10th anniversary next year, and Heron International wants to make sure it is able to keep up with new schemes coming online nearby.
There is growing demand for flexible lab space suitable for SMEs in the UK's life science sector, according to Knight Frank. A new report from the agency pointed to a lack of "graduation space" between incubator units and full, fixed-term space, highlighting this void as an opportunity for real estate developers and investors.
The City of London Corporation has laid out plans to increase tenancy in the City by 5% within the next five years. It is also aiming for a fifth of the City's office tenants to be new businesses to the area by 2025 as it looks to help the district recover from the impact of Covid-19 and maintain its position as a world-leading business hub.
The route to achieving net zero carbon across Westminster by 2040 is likely to have "bumps in the road" given the scale of ambition, according to Grosvenor's director of sustainability and innovation. Speaking on a Westminster Property Association webinar, Tor Burrows said the goal was worth it given that it would add to the borough's resilience.
Construction has begun on plans from the Crown Estate and Westminster City Council to make Regent Street more attractive to visitors. The plans include permanently widening pavements to provide around 53,819 sq ft of extra space for pedestrians to aid withsocial distancing and improve accessibility, after temporary measures were put in place earlier this year after the initial outbreak of Covid-19.
London's skyline will continue to be reshaped by new towers despite concerns over the future of the office post-Covid, according to the chair of the Square Mile's planning committee.
Maxwell Shand believes that offices can offer companies benefits that lockdown-driven working from home never will. Given that he is now trying to fill one of the first new office developments to complete in the City of London since the coronavirus pandemic started, he will hope that potential tenants agree.
The City of London Corporation has criticised housing minister Robert Jenrick's proposed planning reform white paper over its lack of detail. In its drafted response to the white paper, which is to be agreed at its next planning and transportation committee, the corporation said it backed the need for a review in principle but that "a number of its proposals appear as headlines, with little supporting information or detail".
Meyer Bergman has unveiled plans for a push into the life sciences sector as well as digital economy-focused assets such as data centres and vertical farming. Chief executive Marcus Meijer told EG he could see the firm's exposure to these assets classes making up 10% to 15% of its overall portfolio, but that figure could grow closer to 30% to 50% during the coming five years.
Wealth container platform Vauban is planning to bring its digital tool to the property sector before April next year. The fintech start-up is aiming to provide real estate dealmakers and investors with the option of using its digitised and automated process for establishing and managing SPVs and funds for the acquisition of property in the UK.
Film and TV production studios are not usually viewed as a key focus for property investment, but the intensifying race for studio space after lockdown could signal their time to finally steal the spotlight.
Rachael Robathan, leader of Westminster City Council, has made it into her office for three days of each week during the coronavirus crisis. Lockdown or no lockdown, it's the working environment she prefers. "I like the rhythm, the routine of actually being here physically," she says.
Real estate professionals in London fear that the government's heightened coronavirus restrictions spell doom for any near-term economic recovery in the capital. The government has introduced a package of new measures aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19.
Barely three months into his new role as boss of Grosvenor's UK & Ireland division, James Raynor is already facing what could be the biggest test of his career as he steers the business through the Covid-19 pandemic and the government's lockdown of the country.
John Lewis' head of real estate, planning, policy and commercial Katherine Russell has warned that there will be more casualties to come in the retail sector, despite the phased reopening of the high street next month. "We're only on the cusp," she said, speaking on a panel for the latest webinar from the Westminster Property Association and New West End Company.
The Covid-19 pandemic may prove detrimental for several of London's property sectors, with the acceleration of trends such as online shopping and working from home, but it has put life sciences firmly under the microscope for investors.
The UK has taken flexible working to the extreme after the rapid spread of Covid-19 forced the country into lockdown. Here at EG, the guest list for twice-daily team video meetings has been expanded to include Ken, reporter Lucy Alderson's pug. Our deputy editor is juggling copy editing with home-schooling, including biology lessons as the children raise frogspawn.
Landlords in London's West End are devising plans to protect their businesses - and support those of tenants - in the face of a dearth of tourists, as one of the capital's biggest shopping and entertainment destinations emerges from lockdown.
TikTok is understood to be close to signing a major leasing deal at Helical's latest office development in Farringdon. The circa 88,600 sq ft building, known as Kaleidoscope, is located east of Smithfield Market. The China-based social media app is expected to take the entire six-storey building, after issuing a requirement seeking up to 100,000 sq ft.
London is third behind Los Angeles and New York when it comes to the production, editing and consumption of films, TV and music, according to Savills. The agent's first Media Cities ranking found the global shift to streaming, accelerated by Covid-19, has made media industries increasingly tech-reliant, and boosted demand for content produced from previously more niche locations.
London's boroughs have called on the government to increase council funding to drive forward the retrofitting of energy-inefficient buildings and aid a green recovery post-Covid. The boroughs have identified 375 shovel-ready projects, including 18 large-scale public buildings and 29 schools, equating to a £1.35bn pipeline.
Development is not an easy business at the best of times and the pandemic's hastening of changes in offices and retail has naturally created trepidation in the industry. But Jamie Ritblat, chairman and chief executive of Delancey, is looking on the bright side.
Changing commuter patterns and working practices in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic could provide a boost to a clutch of central London's office submarkets. Euston, King's Cross, Paddington, Waterloo, the South Bank, Victoria and the area around Liverpool Street have been identified by JLL as key areas for future office space demand due to each having a major transport hub.
Howard Raymond tells Louise Dransfield about his cinema-centred upcoming attraction on the King's Road - and why he believes Londoners will continue to embrace leisure after lockdown. Like his late father, Howard Raymond knows there is value in vices.
One of London's largest unlisted real estate funds plans to boost investment in the wake of a restructuring, even as many property investors see outflows mount. The £1bn WELPUT fund has switched its structure from open-ended to closed-ended, which removes the possibility of redemptions and allows it to focus on growing its portfolio.
With a new Covid-19 cluster in Bejing forcing the city back into a partial lockdown and fresh cases in New Zealand, two high-profile Asia Pacific property investors have emphasised the importance of business pulling together to face a second wave of the virus.
Ballymore and Hammerson's plans to create a King's Cross-style neighbourhood on the fringe of London's Square Mile are finally set to be decided upon five years after their Goodsyard scheme was initially called in by then-mayor Boris Johnson.
Much of the world became Karim Habra's stage when he joined Ivanhoé Cambridge as head of Europe in July 2018 to help drive the property investor's international growth. Even more was added when he also took on the leadership of its Asia Pacific operations last September.
Toby Courtauld, the chief executive of Great Portland Estates, has claimed that the role of the office "has got more important not less" over the course of 2020. He said he noticed GPE's effectiveness in all its operations became "materially stronger" once he and his colleagues were back in the office in September.
Maurice Investments is to sell four office buildings in central London for a combined £122.5m. The firm is seeking offers in excess of £87.5m for adjoining buildings Classic House and Bentima House at 168-180 Old Street, EC1 (pictured above), and bids of at least £27m for Wool + Tailor, a 26,448 sq ft building in Aldgate at 10-12 Alie Street, EC1.
Dwarfed by the City's towers and lacking Soho's neon lights, Bloomsbury has often been overlooked despite its location at the heart of the capital. But there are signs that investors and occupiers alike have started to notice the market. Last year, investment volumes in the area spiked, reaching a near-decade high of £852m, according to Knight Frank.
Canadian pension fund Cadillac Fairview's emergence as the favourite bidder for the 17-acre White City Place campus in west London this month was a reminder of the mark that Canadian investment has made on London's property market in recent years.
BP is to take new office space in London, shifting down the road in Canary Wharf to Blackstone's revamp of 25 North Colonnade. The oil and gas giant is understood to have agreed to prelet around 200,000 sq ft at the property located next door to Canary Wharf's Crossrail station.
After 30 years of office development in London, one of Japan's biggest real estate companies is preparing for a new set of firsts. EG meets Mitsubishi Estate London's Yuichiro Shioda to talk about a move into residential, a potential spread outside the capital and why it is likely to be the only major Japanese player in the UK market for some time yet.
Nuveen's scheme at 70 St Mary Axe in the City of London, EC3, has recently completed. Providing 311,000 sq ft of space across 21 storeys, the semi-elliptical scheme is already around a third let to law firm Sidley Austin on a rent reported to be in the high £60s per sq ft.
London's Royal Docks were once a hive of activity centred around the shipping cargo industry but in 1981 they were closed to commercial shipping as technology and the creation of containerised cargo put them out of use.
Deloitte has moved into its new London headquarters at 1 New Street Square, EC4, at its Midtown campus. The professional services firm carried out its own bespoke fit-out at the 280,000 sq ft building, which is now home to 5,500 employees from business streams such as Deloitte Ventures and its Deloitte Academy.
The Crown Estate has launched its first co-working flexible office service at One Heddon Street, W1. Providing 350 desks across five floors, the new space will be available to occupiers via three membership tiers. Watch the video to take a tour of the offices.
London's skyline will continue to be reshaped by new towers despite concerns over the future of the office post-Covid, according to the chair of the Square Mile's planning committee.
Sanal Menon, a 27-year-old Londoner, is a human- resources assistant at a healthcare organisation. He lives in rented accommodation and earns £16,000 a year. Sanal typically spends £570 a month, plus loan repayments, and is concerned he isn't saving for the future.
John Kenny, a secondary school teacher, and his wife Jane, a nursery nurse, plan to adopt at least one child in the next 12 months. The couple have a combined income of just under £43,000 a year and no debts other than a £112,000 mortgage.