The regeneration of Bournemouth town centre passed a significant milestone today as an official turf cutting heralded the formal start of building work on a five-storey apartment block overlooking Horseshoe Common.

The £12 million development, on the former council-owned surface car park at Leyton Mount, will house 64 flats and a 290 sq m (3,120 sq ft) commercial unit suitable for a café or restaurant.

Businesses, council leaders and project partners all welcomed the plan during its public consultation stages as a way of improving safety in and around the Common and rejuvenating nearby Old Christchurch Road.

The project is being led by The Bournemouth Development Company (BDC), Bournemouth Council’s delivery partner for its 20-year Town Centre Master Vision.

BDC, a public-private partnership between the Council and Morgan Sindall Investments, secured planning permission in 2012.

Duncan Johnston, BDC Development Director, said: “The redevelopment of the Leyton Mount car park will be a catalyst for improvement at Horseshoe Common and the streets, paths and open spaces that lead to and from it.”

The start of work has been welcomed by Councillor John Beesley, Leader of Bournemouth Council. He said: “Leyton Mount is a central part of our co-ordinated approach to improving the town centre. The development will help increase the vitality of the area, make it a more pleasant place for people to visit, and stimulate economic activity and employment.”

Funding for the scheme includes a £5 million investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)’s Get Britain Building programme.

Elizabeth Wright, HCA Area Manager, said: “This is an important project for Bournemouth and the wider economy because of its focus on creating a better, more successful town centre.
“The new jobs and investment it will create will help give a boost to the local economy which our funding will support. It is great news that work is starting and that we can look forward to seeing the vision for this project being turned into reality.”

Building work will be carried out by teams from the Poole office of Morgan Sindall Construction, with sub-contractors sourced from the local supply chain as far as possible.

Paul Gale, area director for Morgan Sindall, said: “This regeneration project is an important investment in the future of Bournemouth and will increase the town’s commercial infrastructure and residential provisions, providing a vital boost to the town in a variety of ways.”

Other companies involved in the scheme include the Bournemouth planning consultancy Terence O’Rourke and the Ferndown office of building services engineers, Hoare Lea.

Mandy Payne, President of Bournemouth Chamber of Trade & Commerce, said: “This is the start of a co-ordinated series of improvements to breathe new life into the town centre in the midst of still challenging economic conditions. Making better use of car park sites will help to generate vibrancy and economic prosperity by increasing the number of people living and working here.”

The start of work at Leyton Mount comes just weeks after site clearance and construction began on two other BDC projects, both at neighbouring Madeira Road.

Also a former council-owned car park, part of the Madeira Road site will be redeveloped into three blocks of accommodation for 378 students at the Arts University Bournemouth.

Alongside will be a 382-space multi-storey car park, specifically designed to ensure the permanent provision of public parking in the area.

The combined development value of the Leyton Mount and Madeira Road projects is £40 million

Keeping your staff engaged and motivated in tough times is one of the topics being discussed in the latest business breakfast briefing by the South Coast office of accountancy and investment management firm Smith & Williamson.

The complimentary event, being held at the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel, Southampton Road, Portsmouth, also looks at the impact of the Chancellor’s recent Budget on local businesses and fundamental changes to financial reporting.

From 7.30am to 9am, including full English breakfast, the briefing takes place this Tuesday (May 21).

Speakers from the firm will be Trevor Hayman, associate director, tax, Julie Mutton, partner, assurance and business services, and Andrew Edmonds, head of Southampton assurance and business services.

For more details contact abigail.rudge@smith.williamson.co.uk

Hotels in Southampton reported a subdued performance in March, according to preliminary hotel figures released by business and advisory accountancy firm BDO LLP [data previously compiled by PKF Accountants & business advisers, which merged with BDO LLP at the end of March 2013].

Southampton hoteliers saw a 0.6% drop in room rate to £51.52, compared with £51.84 in March 2012, and a 3.1% decline in occupancy from 69.5% to 67.4%, which resulted in a room yield reduction of 3.7% from £36.04 to £34.72.

In Portsmouth, by contrast, although hotels saw the price paid for hotel rooms drop 1.5% to £63.14, occupancy levels rose from 74.1% to 75.5% and room yields increased 0.4% from £46.48 to £46.67 across Portsmouth.

London’s hotels also face a difficult time as rooms yield declined by 5.4% from £101.83 to £96.32, with a drop of room rates by 4.5% to £122.53, compared with £128.30 a year ago and a reduction in occupancy from 79.3% to 78.6%.

Chris Driver, Audit Director at BDO LLP commented: “This is the fifth consecutive month in which regional hotels have outperformed their London counterparts, which is the opposite of what we have seen for much of the past few years.

“It has been a tough market for many hoteliers in Southampton but as we enter the bank holiday season, we should hopefully see improved visitor numbers across the south coast to enjoy some sunshine and long weekends away.”

Commercial property developer Jansons Property has appointed joint agents to find a potential occupier for its site on the Basingstoke Road in Reading.

Locally based Haslams and London agent Rapleys have been instructed to find tenants for the site, which is immediately next to the Morrison’s supermarket, at the junction with Rose Kiln Lane.

The site is currently a 60,000 sq ft office centre but Jansons is considering redevelopment options to build a food store on the site, or space for drive-thru restaurants and other shops or restaurants.

There may be only one candle on the cake, but there’s a significant number of deals to celebrate as Carter Jonas celebrates the first anniversary of its return to the commercial property market in Winchester.

Managed by chartered surveyor Paul Russell and assistant surveyor Keith Enters, the division actually brought a wealth of experience in the Hampshire commercial property field to the Jewry Street office, Paul having spent 30 years in practice in Southampton and Keith fresh from running a Carter Jonas commercial office covering north Hampshire.

“We are very active in lease renewals and rent reviews but there is less consistency than there used to be,” comments Paul. “It takes years of skill and experience to interpret limited comparable evidence when setting or agreeing terms but my many years in the area before joining Carter Jonas has given me a good library of knowledge.

“The strength of the market is shown by limited good stock available in Winchester as the city continues to be popular, although some property types are more in demand than others.”

Keith Enters points to the variety of deals done during the year, from finding a home for a language school in Southgate Street to helping the internationally known Moss Bros move to a larger store in the High Street. He and Paul have also taken time to find a new home for the Carter Jonas residential lettings team in Winchester, luckily next door to the current Jewry Street office.

Along the way, he has also moved Utopia Wines into a redundant Stockbridge bank and let a storage compound at Belbins in Romsey as well as making his own contribution to keeping Winchester’s retail units occupied.

“When compared with other urban centres, Winchester has a far lower ratio of empty retail premises – good for landlords and owners wishing to sell but harder to negotiate strong terms in favour of tenants when the boot is on the other foot,” comments Keith.

A Dorset businessman is celebrating after being shortlisted for two prestigious awards just a year after taking on the managing director’s role.

Paul Fox, 42, is in line to win the Institute of Directors’ Director of the Year for a small or medium-sized business, and also the Corporate Responsibility award, both in the South West region.

Mr Fox, from Ferndown, Dorset, heads Merryhill Envirotec, the Romsey-based asbestos removal company.

He was shortlisted for both awards and the winners will be announced at the IoD ‘Entrepreneurs’ Dinner’ on June 6 in Bristol. The victors will then go through to a national final.

Despite difficult economic conditions in the construction sector Mr Fox oversaw a rise in net profit before tax of an astonishing 79 per cent compared with the year before he took the reins.

And sales shot up by 7.5 per cent, which enabled the firm to take on more staff and traineeships.

Mr Fox also gained the rare Chartered Director status, the first ever person in his industry to do so.

The company is involved in dangerous work, which is one of the reasons why Mr Fox was so pleased to be shortlisted for the Corporate Responsibility award.

Merryhill is at the forefront of many ethical and sustainability initiatives and secured funding to look at ‘sustainability best practice’, the results of which it shares with other firms.

The company has also implemented a more flexible working environment with two members of staff able to work from home, saving 12,000 miles of travel each year and reducing Merryhill’s carbon footprint.

It has joined the Supply Chain Sustainability School, a virtual learning environment set up some major UK companies to help construction sub-contractors further develop their sustainability competencies.

Mr Fox, who also gives his time free to Dormen – a business mentoring scheme in Dorset – said: “It is a great honour to be short-listed for these awards.

“It reflects well on everybody at Merryhill who have worked incredibly hard during tough economic times.

“We are determined as a company to act in a responsible way at all times, with regard to our staff, the environment and society as a whole.

“We have joined numerous schemes to help us achieve this and to have our efforts recognised through me being short-listed is very pleasing.”

MAJOR expansion is on the cards for a Dorset company after planners gave the go-ahead to a £7 million biogas plant.

Work on building the facility, which will convert 45,000 tonnes of food waste and locally sourced maize into gas, is due to start this month at Eco Sustainable Solutions’ Parley site. Completion is expected in 2015.

The anaerobic digester (AD) plant will produce about 4.4 million cubic metres of gas annually which Eco estimates will provide 3,000 homes with energy.

It will form part of a renewable energy park covering 25 acres at Eco’s Chapel Lane site. Currently 17 acres of land is used for organics recycling.

The company has already received planning permission for a £14 million biomass generating station at Parley.

The station, which will be fuelled by 25,000 tonnes of waste wood, is expected to be operational next year. It will provide approximately 2.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity per annum.

The final part of the renewable energy park is a solar energy farm which will use photovoltaic panels capable of directly converting sunlight into electrical current.

Christchurch planners approved the £15 million farm in March and work is now underway on the scheme.

It will cover an area the equivalent of 65 football pitches and generate approximately 20 MW of low carbon ‘green’ electrical power, meeting the electricity needs of about 5,000 homes.

The AD plant was given the green light by Dorset County Council’s planning committee after officers recommended the scheme for approval.

Trelawney Dampney, Eco’s Managing Director, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have cleared this final hurdle. It’s now full steam ahead on creating one of the UK’s largest renewable energy parks on a purpose-built site.”

He added: “This represents a major expansion for Eco and we’re very excited to finally be able to put our plans into action.”

Founded in 1994, Eco employs 50 people and has an annual turnover of £10 million.

The company owns and operates the UK’s leading purpose-built site for organics recycling and renewable energy generation, currently processing 250,000 tonnes of organic material each year across four facilities.

The £36 million renewable energy park is expected to create up to ten new jobs.

Acting on behalf of a private landlord, Goadsby have let the 5th floor of Dean Park House to Decoded Solutions Ltd on a new 5 year lease. The 5th floor of this six storey office building extends to approximately 2,629 sq ft and the landlord was offering a rental incentive of only £7.50 per sq ft exclusive, subject to overall lease terms.

Tom Chapman, Goadsby Business Space commented “Decoded Solutions were previously located in smaller premises in Bournemouth and were looking for an open plan office of between 2,500 and 3,000 sq ft to enable them to expand their business operation. Parking was also important to Decoded Solutions so Dean Park House was ideal for them as it benefits from good visitor parking along with allocated parking.”

An expanding supplier of products to the rural community is the latest business to move into a thriving business park in Wiltshire.

Countrywide, which operates 53 country stores nationwide, has opened a trade store at Minton Distibution Park, London Road, Amesbury, by the A303.

The company, which has had a record financial half-year, signed a 10-year lease on 1,591 sq m (21,000 sq ft), creating five jobs.

Countrywide is the latest business to occupy Minton Distribution Park – Vitacress, Europe’s leading grower and packer of ready-to-eat salads, recently doubled its footprint on site with plans for a high-tech packaging plant.

Minton Distribution Park is owned by the Minton Group, which operates 25 commercial sites across England, with 150 people working for eight companies on site locally.

Countrywide’s trade store, on the right side of the main building, has been opened in association with H&C Pearce & Sons, one of the largest agricultural farm supply businesses in central and southern England.

Maureen Driver, Senior Asset Manager, Minton Group, said: “The arrival of Countrywide’s trade premises is the latest good news for the distribution park, which is thriving on the back of companies who continue to grow.

“They benefit from best-value rents and flexible space to accommodate further growth without having to go through the trouble and cost of relocation down the line.”

She added: “Countrywide is in a strong market – government figures show that nearly 10 million people live and work in rural places, which make up 86% of England.

“This is the first time we’ve had a trade outlet on premises, complementing the office, manufacturing and research and development facilities, and we anticipate strong footfall as word spreads.

“The park is becoming very much an employment hub, with valuable local jobs being created on the back of current occupiers expanding their products and services despite the difficult global economy.”

Mark Stephens, Countrywide’s regional manager, said: “Creating a trade and distribution hub here in Amesbury makes strategic sense as the site has excellent road links to and from the South-West, Midlands and South Coast.”

He added: “We’re grateful to Maureen for a warm welcome and ensuring the moving in process was a smooth one – they acted to the letter and have our best interests in mind.”

Countrywide, which has a 100-year heritage, stocks products spanning the farming, smallholder, equestrian, rural business and country home sectors.

The company already has office space at Minton House, which comprises nine suites over three floors at the main entrance to Minton Distribution Park.

Minton Distribution Park, which has eight companies on site, has flexible industrial, warehouse, distribution and office space available, with rents from £3.50 a sq ft.

Other occupiers include Hama, one of the world’s leading accessory companies in photo, video, audio, computer and telecommunications, NanoSight, an award-winning bio-tech company which specialises in break-through technology that allows the tiniest of particles in fluids to be seen, sized and counted in minutes, and data cleansing specialist CCR.

Salisbury-based commercial property consultancy Myddelton & Major is the sole agent for Minton Distribution Park.

Financial details of Countrywide’s lease were not disclosed.

Goadsby and Bartle Pye have, on behalf of a private landlord, let 1A Poundbury West Industrial Estate to Qwikfast Ltd. These superb detached premises extend to 3,502 sq ft and have a 5.6 metre eaves height, 4 loading doors and a large car-park. The quoting rental was highly competitive at £22,500 per annum exclusive.

Chris Wilson, Director Goadsby commented “Qwikfast are a local trade and DIY supplies company and the new premises will facilitate the expansion of their company.”