With reports of declining numbers on buses and the Tube as a result of Plan B and the return to working from home, we are delighted to hear that Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford has managed to retain some of his festive cheer, sending us a gladly received “Season’s Greetings” from TfL message – with an embedded YouTube video, no less. Taking the form of an advent calendar window opening to what sounds like romantic music from an 1980s American soap opera, it somehow manages to be both longer than it needs to be, yet strangely short. Hopefully, this won’t be the last Christmas message Diary will receive this year… but it definitely looks set to be the most odd.
Everybody needs good neighbours
Renting out a spare room is always challenging, as you expect your new tenant to tick all boxes. At the same time, you don’t want to limit your choice by setting out too many requirements. The same is true of commercial property, it seems. After a switch to hybrid working, Co-Op noted that it has some spare space at the top of its new, purpose-built headquarters at One Angel Square in Manchester. Avison Young was appointed to lease the top 9th to 14th floors. “Obviously, it’s difficult to say what sort of business we won’t consider,” Rupert Barron, head of the Manchester office agency team, told us, “but they would obviously have to be an ethically good business, with good ESG standards, etc. There might be people that they would feel uncomfortable with because it might not fit with their corporate culture.” So, sound ethics, high environmental standards, and a suitably co-operative nature and you’re in? Not quite. As Barron adds: “Clearly, if Sainsbury’s came along or Tesco’s that might not necessarily fit…”
Full power Ranger
A $1bn dollar deal in our inbox is always going to catch Diary’s attention, but when it involves a company with a name that’s as gloriously American as apple pie, then there’s just one word for it: yeehah! We are talking about Ranger Global Real Estate Advisors, LLC, “a leading investment advisory firm focused exclusively on the management of global listed real estate portfolios” – a 46% ownership stake in which has been acquired by the Vancouver-based QuadReal Property Group. As if there were any doubt about Ranger Global’s homeland, the release informs us the company was co-founded by Andrew J. Duffy and F. Scott Tuck, “West Point classmates and U.S. Army Rangers”. We’ll say it again: yeehah!
The greater resignation?
Much has been made of the pandemic-influenced “great resignation” – the idea that WFH experiences during Covid-19 has inspired swathes of employees to reevaluate their lives and resign from their jobs en masse. Well, according to one global recruiter, it has only just begun – with wages set to be the next reason for widespread walkouts. “The Great Resignation yet to happen,” according to Robert Walters, the firm telling us that its survey results reveal that, while 72% of professionals expect a pay increase in new year, only a quarter of employers plan to give them. You don’t have to be a maths whizz to know that adds up to some disappointed staff, and the firm predicts that this “Great Pay Divide” will kick resignations into high gear in February, post-January appraisals. The Robert Walters 2022 UK Salary Guide surveyed 6,000 white collar workers and found that a bullish 59% feel “very confident” about job opportunities in their sector, even with the government’s renewed call to work from home. What will all this mean for property? Has reading this emboldened you to ask for a raise? If so, best of luck – meanwhile, Diary is resigned to being right here for you still in 2022.
