Dave Stone, managing director of Stone Technical Services, explained the risks businesses are running by not employing the correctly qualified contractors: “Failing to have the correct, industry-standard lightning protection can invalidate insurance policies, result in expensive damage to buildings, structures and technology, and even cause injury- or worse.”

Stone Technical Services, based in Darlington, provides specialist lightning protection installation to help prevent damage to buildings caused by lightning strikes and the costly repairs associated with them. They also ensure that systems are compliant for insurance purposes.

The company is one of the most highly accredited in the industry as a member of the Association of Technical Lightning and Access Specialists (ATLAS), Lightning Conductor Engineers and also of the Steeplejack Training Group Association and operates to the highest compliance standards for lightning protection, BS EN 62305.

Stone outlined that installations of substandard lighting protection has been growing as a result of the downturn: “Because of difficult trading conditions, there are a growing number of businesses offering lightning protection as an extra service. However, the number that have the proper industry accreditations is dwindling and this concerns me. We’ve had to correct quite a few poor installations in recent months. My advice is to not be misled by cheap offers and check a company’s credentials.”

Stone is the approved contractor managing lightning protection on St Paul’s Cathedral and works with housing associations on developments, on historic structures, churches, war memorials, schools, offices and car parks.

As well as lightning protection, Stone Technical Services specialises in all aspects of high level maintenance, steeplejack services and restoration and masonry refurbishment projects on churches, museums, clock towers, castles, spires and historic buildings.

Last year, Stone Technical Services increased its workforce by a third and created 10 new jobs for local people to cope with the increased demand for its services. The company now employs a team of 30.

The family-run business has clinched a number of contracts around the North East working on projects for the University of Sunderland, Grey’s Monument in Newcastle, Hexham Abbey, Gentoo and local councils.

In addition, Stone works around the UK designing, installing and testing bespoke systems for large organisations – such as Swan Housing Association across the south east of England – and is the officially-appointed contractor responsible lightning protection at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

To cope with the growth in the area, Stone has appointed two new members of staff to add to its specialist team which works out of the Darlington HQ as well as offices at Piccadilly in London, Pinner in Middlesex and near Stockport in Cheshire.

Stone Technical Services has become one of the UK’s most accredited lightning protection specialists highly regarded for the design, installation, certification, maintenance and annual testing of lightning protection systems.

The company is a member of the Association of Technical Lightning and Access Specialists (ATLAS), Lightning Conductor Engineers and also of the Steeplejack Training Group Association, operating to the highest compliance standards for lightning protection, BS EN 62305.

As well as lightning protection, Stone Technical Services specialises in all aspects of high level maintenance, steeplejack services and restoration and masonry refurbishment projects on churches, museums, clock towers, castles, spires and historic buildings.

Managing director Dave Stone said: “We’re seeing a real growth in the demand for lightning protection services thanks to our reputation for offering a full service that is cost-effective and efficient. In these more austere times, organisations are planning a lot more carefully and realise that a small investment in important safety systems could save them thousands in the future. Laws regarding lightning protection are much stricter these days and businesses need to comply with insurance policies or face harsh consequences.”

The news follows a poor year for the fashion retailer. It experienced a 32 percent fall in profits over the past year, with the company making an £8.2m loss for the financial year to the end of 2011. French Connection will now seek tenants to take over the remainder of the leases it holds on the 14 stores.

Maidstone has the largest economy in the County – 7,000 businesses have access to a 790,000 strong workforce. Its £100m shopping precinct is ranked in the top ten retail centres in the region. With more than 1.5m sq ft of floor space, it is bigger than Bluewater.

“Maidstone Borough Council has launched an Economic Development Strategy that will build upon the town’s high quality of life and unique location advantages and create a vibrant and dynamic town delivering high quality development and attract new businesses,” explains John Foster, economic development manager for the Council.

“The Borough Council’s focus on increasing prosperity and raising the profile of the County Town is shared by local businesses and a new business partnership has been set up to deliver this objective.”

Maidstone’s office sector is the largest in Kent and benefits from sector strengths in business and professional services, construction, and creative media. Demand for grade A office space has been strong during the past twelve months. Emma Goodford, head of national offices at Knight Frank LLP, has seen a sustained demand:

“There is a healthy demand for readily available office space with rents more competitive than in London or other areas of the south-east regional market. There is a rationale for speculative development in Maidstone with the market showing a declining vacancy rate at 4.5 percent down from 5.25 percent (Q2 2007) and demand existing for everything from corporate headquarters to smaller premises. If more stock is developed, the Maidstone region will provide a commercial offering to suit all businesses.”

Gallagher Properties is developing Eclipse Park in three stages, delivering more than 300,000 sq ft of office space on completion. The second phase is currently under construction and will see Towergate, Europe’s largest insurance intermediary, occupy the first building in November 2008. Detailed planning permission has been granted for the further 50,000 sq ft; this is already attracting significant interest from potential investors. Outline planning permission has also been submitted for another building of 65,000 sq ft and an application will shortly be made for a new hotel with conference and leisure facilities.

Nick Yandle, chief executive of Gallagher Properties said: “The excellent road and transport links from Eclipse Park provide fast access to the rest of Kent, to London and indeed Europe. The new Headquarters for Towergate will give them room to expand and take advantage of the pool of readily available, skilled employees living in the Maidstone area.”

Developers of the £75m Springfield Business Park will submit plans to develop high quality offices late 2008. It will be one of a limited number of locations in Kent that has a business park environment in a town centre location.

DHA Planning has secured consent for its £100m, 180,000 sq ft medical centre at Newnham Park, Maidstone, which is expected to start on site by the end of 2008. David Hicken of DHA Planning also believes confidence in Maidstone’s office sector is growing and supply will start to creep up: “If one or two people start to invest in Maidstone, it will breed confidence. Maidstone can show investors that the vision is materialising.”

Paul Wookey, Chief Executive of Locate in Kent, said: “Businesses are waking up to the fact that Maidstone has a lot to offer. With impressive facilities at Eclipse Park, Springfield Park and other individual office buildings and land coming forward, the town has a good supply of new commercial property and is well-placed to attract further investment.”

Find out about Maidstone’s investment potential contact:
John Foster
Economic Development Manager
Maidstone Borough Council
Maidstone House
Maidstone
Kent
01622 602394
Email: johnfoster@maidstone.gov.uk
Website: www.locateinmaidstone.com

Key facts of Maidstone’s:
- £320m investment programme
- 500,000 sq ft planned office space
- 60 percent lower than London (office rents)
- 1,000,000 sq ft retail space
- £100m retail development
- 10,000 new homes by 2026
- 40 percent new homes will be affordable
- 6,500 new jobs by 2026
- Residential property is around 37 percent cheaper than London

It would seem that Northern Europe has fared better than Southern Europe in this regard.  Countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal were hit particularly hard by the debt crisis, while Germany, Denmark, Sweden and others remained relatively unscathed.

Commercial property markets in other parts of Europe have weakened again lately amid fears about the debt crisis in Greece intensifying, and the political instability in debt-ridden Italy further weakening the euro. RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) members foresee an increased number of commercial property foreclosures during the coming months.

Outlook for the future
According to the latest Global Distressed Property Monitor published by RICS, the supply of distressed properties worldwide will increase even further in the near future as the economic turmoil in the eurozone countries remains unresolved.

In Europe, commercial property markets are facing conditions that look bleaker by the day. Negative sentiment is not limited to Europe though – it is fast spreading across the globe. This can clearly be seen by the fact that nearly 75 percent of countries that took part in the latest RICS survey anticipated higher levels of foreclosures in the next three months.

Property professionals who took part in the survey are equally negative about the future. They predict that supply will exceed demand in 60 percent of the countries that took part in the survey – a sharp 20 percent increase over the previous results.

There is a brighter side to the picture though: in Brazil and China commercial real estate markets are still buoyant. Both countries expect a decline in commercial property foreclosures over the near term.

In Europe, Russia and Germany are relatively stable despite high levels of economic uncertainty. German respondents expect the number of commercial property foreclosures to stabilise further over the next few months. Respondents from Russia expect the supply of such properties to decline in the near future.

Commercial property markets in other European countries have once again weakened amid new fears about the Greek and Italian debt crises. RICS members in France foresee a significant increase in commercial property foreclosures.

Predictably Portugal, Italy, and Spain have been hit hard and the number of distressed commercial properties entering the market will no doubt further increase during coming months.

Predictions for 2012 are for market contraction, likely in response to the continuing eurozone crisis. Some hope is offered for the latter part of the year for new lettings as developments across the city ready for completion in 2013.

The Grade I listed structure, which dates back to the 1790s, carries the Lancaster Canal 664ft across the River Lune at 61ft above the ground. As part of a high profile renovation project, funded by a £1m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and money from British Waterways, Stone restored the historic masonry and brickwork on the bridge.

Working alongside infrastructure specialists, May Gurney, the six week project consisted of several facets. The main aspect involved the careful removal of cement-based pointing to internal and external terraces on the bridge. Stone replaced and rebuilt all of the lime mortar and terrace balcony copings which had fallen into disrepair through continued weather damage and the age of the structure.

The balusters, which form the terrace walls, had to be re-fitted and all of the outer plinths of the aqueduct needed to be redressed and re-pointed. All open joins across the full span of the aqueduct were also re-pointed and crack-stitching and gravity grouting were applied to external fissures and stonework.

Stone’s heritage masons removed and replaced all the canal kerbs and re-dressed them to their former state, by hand, using traditional methods. The final part of the project for Stone was to remove all of the vegetation on the aqueduct, which included a licensed herbicide spraying, all of which was completed using specialist rope access.

Family-run Stone, which has offices in Darlington, Stockport, central London and Middlesex, are experts in the area of bridge repairs and refurbishments, completing a range of works such as concrete repairs, emergency making-safe repairs, upgrading and general maintenance and thermal imaging surveys for organisations such as English Heritage and British Waterways.

Managing director, Dave Stone said: “The Lune Aqueduct is a real masterpiece and is often referred to as one of the ‘wonders of the waterways’. Due to its age it has fallen into disrepair so we’re working to preserve its historic features and also improving public access. Bridges are one of our growth areas as we have the industry-accredited craftsmen and the necessary public safety requirements readily available, working to install safety barriers and a specialist access systems, where required.”

The Grade I listed building is situated close to Trafalgar Square and at the top of The Mall and offers 13,685 sqm across eight levels. Commissioned by Edward VII and finished in 1912, the archway was once the accommodation for high ranking naval officers. More recently is has been used by the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence.

Explaining the reasons for bringing the building to market, Robert Seabrook, director of marketing agent Savills, said: “The objectives are to respect and protect the heritage of the building now and in the future, enable the potential for public access, ensure awareness of any potential security implications and to maximise value for the taxpayer”.

The leasehold for the building is expected to be worth £75m, with speculation that the arch could be turned into for either a restaurant, hotel or art gallery.

Current owners, Real Estate Opportunities, failed to secure the required £300m to finance the redevelopment project and stave off outstanding debt that was due for repayment in August. Ernst & Young have now been appointed as administrators. Its is understood that the Battersea site will be put on the open market with REO having no further involvement in the project.

The set back comes just days after the Government announced part- funding towards an extension of the Northern Line to the Battersea site; an infrastructure project considered vital for the survival of the site. REO have to date spent five years and £50m securing the required planning permissions to move forward with a proposed £5.5bn regeneration of the former power station and surrounding area.

Several parties have already shown interest in the 38-acre Battersea site, considered one of London’s last available prime development spots, though the mandatory contribution of £200m towards the extension of the Northern Line remains a sticking point. A new development on the site will generate as many as 25,000 new jobs it is hoped.

The DJD findings show central London overall is managing to tick over. Here, 7.2m sq foot of office space is under construction and commercial development has risen 12 percent in terms of space.

That said, the number of new starts this summer dropped from 25 to 22 and 64 percent of all new starts were significant refurbishments rather than new builds. The problem is that with the stuttering economic environment, exacerbated by the European Union’s apparent inability to get its act together, question marks will still loom ominously over space supply and demand.

Glass half-full people will say economic misery will not last forever and, before long, demand for space will bounce back as London attracts investment from all over the world, including that increasing force to be reckoned with – China.

By that stage we will hopefully operate in an environment in which “yes” is the default answer to “sustainable” planning applications – some may say whatever that is – if the National Trust, the Campaign for Rural England and their ilk do not win the day in the ongoing battle against the draft National Planning Policy Framework.

Osborne’s Autumn Statement included a fair amount of infrastructure and planning announcements which, even if much was left out, at least demonstrates the government seeing development as one of the crucial building blocks for economic recovery. Osborne did miss a trick with Enterprise Zones and could have done far, far more here to encourage new growth.

Empty promises
The ongoing refusal to budge on taxing empty property is, frankly, a complete counter to the chancellor’s stated objective to stimulate a prolonged recovery after a testing few years for the property industry.

Michael Marx, chief executive of Development Securities (DevSec), notes the City’s office stock has experienced its “fair share of pain” as capital values plummeted by half between 2007 and 2009. Despite a subsequent recovery, such properties remain 37 percent below their pre-crisis values.

DevSec’s latest ‘Who Owns the City’ report says foreign ownership of City of London offices now stands at 52 percent compared with just 10 percent in 1980. And an encouraging dynamic is that London attracts more office inward investment than any other city and overseas buyers remain focused on prime City assets, despite the lower capital values.

Estates Review is convinced that when the good times start rolling – and they will – the City of London’s status as Europe’s pre-eminent financial centre will continue to attract huge investment both from overseas and at home. Looking through a long lens, there is plenty to be hopeful for in the City when it comes to office development and investment.

Street fight
Were only that the case for high streets where we say, again, draconian parking regulations and exorbitant parking charges are killing retailers. Ryman’s owner, Theo Paphitis, concurred in The Independent on the day of the Autumn Statement when he said the expansion of parking restrictions, “not just in Westminster, but in many towns” was “ludicrous”.

Mary Portas’s review of town centres is thought to have been delayed yet again at a time when change is needed sooner, not later otherwise more and more of our high streets will be boarded up and the erosion of capital values will be felt for miles around. However, commercial property will continue to shine for the long term. You only need to read through Estate’s Gazette’s Rich List 2011 for proof of this.

The top 250 are worth £87bn – up £15bn on last year with the likes of the Rebuens, Barclays, John Whittaker and new entrant, Enesto Bertarelli more than cutting the mustard. So in these straitened times, let us not loose sight of the pot of gold at the end of a very long rainbow. We just have to hold our nerve.