QuoinStone Outlook Bulletin 2: October 2021
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In the second in our bulletin series, we shine a light on the Oxford office market, expand on the work we are doing to encourage deeper engagement with our tenants and provide our thoughts on the thorny issue of getting back to the office.
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Oxford Market Update
We work across geographical markets within the office sector and there can be stark differences in performance. In our work with Brockton Everlast on their Seacourt Tower property we are seeing how the dynamics of high demand and low supply are pushing rents to new levels in the Oxford area. This is in stark contrast to other regions where supply is approaching historically high levels with no end in sight to the release of more and more grey space. It seems that the regions are the winners in this race and companies now see renewed value in satellite offices close to people’s homes.
Return to Office
This is closely related to the feverish debate about what return to work looks like. Having engaged with our own tenants and spoken to colleagues and contemporaries, it is clear that we are nowhere near knowing how the dust will settle. Larger companies are looking to settle the debate over protracted time periods of 18-24 months or more to give their businesses time to experiment and adapt.
This understandably slow realisation that the new world order will be a complex one to grapple with, will mean that the impact on the office market and the resulting turmoil will take considerable time to play out. Whilst this will be challenging, we see myriad opportunities coming from the uncertainty.
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QuoinStone News
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PropTech Enabled Platform
As we continue to build out our asset management business, we remain focussed on which areas of PropTech will be important for the future of the industry. Any opportunity to apply new technology to inefficient or ancient processes is being embraced by our team and over time, our aim is for QuoinStone to become a leading light.
Tenant Experience
As with our CatA+ fitout work, we continue to embrace working practices that are the future of good quality commercial asset management and tenant engagement is becoming a staple part of our offering. Our work with Equiem is just beginning and we expect their platform to be a winner for tenants, their staff and us alike. The depth of understanding that we will gain and the breadth of services that we will be able to offer, in partnership with our property managers, MAPP, will be a great addition to all stakeholders.
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PropTech Partnerships |
By cutting through the sometimes deafening noise surrounding PropTech, we are searching for and finding great businesses at various stages of their journey that we can engage with now and bring into our platform.
Desk Management
Our focus includes how the office will be used in the future, and the role of desk and resource management will become a critical factor in efficient use of often smaller office footprints. We are seeing a number of players emerge in this field as technology is being repurposed to this complex task.
Air Quality
Another burgeoning area is the relatively new topic of live air quality monitoring in office settings. Staff are now more aware then ever of what they can expect and demand of their companies and with the employee/employer dynamic shifting under our feet, we need to be able to demonstrate safe environments.
Both these areas are particularly nascent, and we will let you know who we partner with as we search for the best in class technology providers.
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Equiem
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Having worked hard with the team at Equiem, and in particular Cali Hyde and Sebastien Stoner, to define the role for the technology at Telephone House in Shoreditch, we are excited to be starting with the onboarding process. The potential for the tenant engagement experience in offices is enormous and the benefits are easy to see. With real time building information, event scheduling and payment processing, the tenant experience will be immediately enhanced. Our direct relationship with the tenants and their staff will also be enriched as we enable more immediate dialogue and reporting.
We expect this to be a positive feedback loop with our service providers gaining better exposure to our tenants and in turn making their models more viable to keep coming back and offering more and better services. Whilst we’re not trying to recreate a full-service flexible office environment, service levels across existing office stock must improve to keep pace with and compete with the substantial weight from the flex providers.
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F&B
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As we gradually return to the office, I am sure many are starting to think of their stomachs (I tend to start thinking about lunch immediately after breakfast)!
Some of the bigger, well-known brands may have weathered the storm, but where are the independents?
Our occupiers at Telephone House have told us that they are really keen to see our pop-up vendors return so that they can pick up their morning coffee and pastry or a healthy wrap at lunchtime. We aim to provide a broad range of amenities and we are delighted to be welcoming some longstanding food vendors (and some new ones) back. We are also pleased to see the return of the food stalls to Leonard Circus and to hear that their trade is improving. What is clear however, is that these food traders still need to see an increase in footfall in order to return to full profitability.
As we all know an army marches on its stomach, so we can hope for the variety to return soon!
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We’re now into Q4 2021 and at times the Covid story seems to have unfolded in the blink of an eye. Yet, fully 2 years after the first effects were being felt across the globe, we’re a long way from normality. Despite all of the damage done, we will continue to seek out the positives and we see great opportunities over the next few years. We have ambitious plans in the pipeline and look forward to being able to share more soon.
Tim & Steve
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Tim Struth MRICS
CEO
Tim is co-founder responsible for business growth & transaction execution
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Steve Howling MRICS |
CIO |
Steve is co-founder responsible for asset management & investment strategy |
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