Property round-up: BCEGI; Eric Wright FM; Northspring | King St; Legacie Devs; Firstcom Europe; ORCHA; Leverhulme Est
A ground breaking ceremony was held at Church Street Place, with key representatives attending to mark the start of the development in Eccles.
BCEGI, an international property developer and construction company, has been appointed by Arelsco and managed by Silverlane Developments to deliver a multimillion-pound high rise residential tower which will be named Church Street Place.
Located on Church Street, Eccles, the development will provide 272 Build to Rent apartments across 23 storeys and will offer 7,300 sq ft of commercial space at ground level along with 19 car parking spaces and 168 cycle spaces.
Designed by Jeffrey Bell Architects and managed by Silverlane Developments, Booth King is appointed as structural engineer with Ridge providing M&E services.
Completion is expected in the second quarter of 2025.
On BCEGI’s appointment, Dongwen Yu, lead director, said: “We’ll bring our experienced focus on quality, safety, community and sustainability to the construction process, adding value at every stage of delivery.”
A representative of Arelsco said: “Our vision to build quality affordable homes, together with BCEGI’s technical expertise and construction track record, will support us in creating a truly unique development.”
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The Belle Vue facility
Eric Wright Facilities Management (EWFM) has been appointed by The Co-Op Academies Trust to provide facilities management services for its newest secondary school in Belle Vue, Manchester.
The Co-op Academy Belle Vue is an 8,500 sq m new-build school on Hyde Road which will open in November 2022, with its first intake of year 7 and 8 pupils who will move across from temporary accommodation at Connell Co-Op College. It is the latest addition to the Co-Op Academies Trust which was established in 2010 and today operates 30 academies, teaching pupils aged 3-19 across three regional hubs in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Staffordshire and Merseyside.
Under the £1m, three-year contract EWFM will deliver a range of services to the school, including both hard and soft FM services, service desk operation, planned and reactive maintenance, statutory compliance and cleaning services.
EWFM managing director, George Lilley, said: “The Co-op Academy Belle Vue is a superb new school and we are proud to have been appointed by the Trust to deliver FM services from the very start.
“We have an extensive track record of delivering high quality FM services and innovative solutions within the education sector, offering a service which provides value for money, improves pupil and staff safety and protects people’s health and wellbeing.”
Vicki England, Trust project manager for Co-op Academies, said: “Eric Wright FM will provide the reassurance we need to enable us to focus on achieving ambitious education outcomes for our students and we are very excited to be moving the Belle Vue students into their permanent new home.”
Part of the Eric Wright Group, which is based at Bamber Bridge in Preston, EWFM represents many schools, colleges and universities in the North West, providing hard and soft FM services from Chester, to Manchester and up to the Fylde Coast.
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Global digital marketing agency, Jellyfish, has taken a fully-fitted 2,500 sq ft suite on the first floor at Northspring | King St, a heritage building in a highly coveted central Manchester location.
Northspring | King Street was acquired by London-based developer Investream at the end of 2020. The building has been completely remodelled to provide four private offices, each boasting unique, dual aspect views across St Ann’s Square and along King Street. The workspace has been designed by interior design studio, Incognito, and is delivered to the highest standard, ensuring businesses who have grown up in co-working space will feel at home.
Jellyfish has more than 2,000 digital experts across 40 locations worldwide, priding themselves on redefining ‘full service’ for brands in a platform world. They combine deep platform understanding with tech, media, creativity, and data expertise to produce innovative product portfolio at the pace of demand.
Matt Shufflebottom, associate at Knight Frank, said: “We’re delighted to have acquired Jellyfish’s new offices in Manchester city centre. Both the building and Jellyfish are a great fit for each other, and the King Street location is perfect for their staff and client base.
“The office has a great outlook over St Ann’s Square and along King Street and the contemporary and bright interiors are a great fit for a creative company like Jellyfish.”
Alongside the boutique interiors, the building also boasts popular pizzeria Franco Manca on the ground floor, and stylish Cabaret bar Sonata on the lower ground level. King Street also boasts secure cycle storage, showers and changing facilities, and access to shared luxury amenities in neighbouring properties.
Mark Morris, director of Investream, said: “We’re committed to making our buildings a great place for people to work and businesses to thrive.
“All the offices are ready for occupation, with glazed meeting rooms and stylish kitchens already fitted, as well as furniture options available.”
There is now just one 2,574 sq ft office remaining at King Street. Knight Frank and Sixteen Real Estate are joint leasing agents for the landlord.
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Legacie Developments has released a first look inside the prestigious £2.5m rooftop spa towering 250ft above Liverpool with views reaching across the city skyline and Snowdonia.
Jayde Spa is situated on the top floor of Parliament Square, the £90m development from Liverpool developer Legacie.
Parliament Square is the first tower built in the Baltic Triangle area which incorporates 505 apartments and a public park plaza plus 30,000 sq ft of commercial space.
The hi-spec, New York-style apartments have a huge waiting list after rapidly reaching 100% capacity, with the rooftop spa exclusive to residents only.
The property firm teamed up with international investment company RWInvest to promote the sale of the units, and say the apartments have attracted international appeal, with 40% of buyers from Australia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Jayde Spa boasts a state-of-the-art swimming pool, gym and sauna as well as a jacuzzi, relaxation zones and a plush bar offering stunning panoramic views.
The 5,000 sq ft luxury spa cost Legacie £2.5m to build, with major institutional funding sources viewing the complex since completion and registering interest in future projects the developer has in the pipeline across the UK.
John Morley, founder and CEO of Legacie Developments, said: “This is a game-changing development for the city.
“The finishing touches speak for themselves. We have already seen huge demand in the spa with residents taking advanatge of the incredible faciltites and the extraordinary panoramic views.
“Jayde Spa is a real statement for the Legacie brand. It demostrates the quality of our work and is something we’re aiming to replicate in future developments in the region and beyond.”
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Cllr Zaman and Christian Bleakley
Firstcom Europe, the pan-European cloud technology provider, has celebrated the opening of its new European headquarters at the Parklands office complex in Bolton.
Although Firstcom Europe is a telephone company with a wide range of products, it has specialised in providing unified communications solutions, including video, messaging, voice and fax, since 2007.
Headquartered in Bolton, it operates in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the UK.
The office was officially opened on by the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Akhtar Zaman. Firstcom said it is confident it has created a modern, open plan office that is a pleasant working environment, and where it is easy to collaborate with colleagues.
According to Christian Bleakley, CEO of Firstcom Europe: “The workspace is shrouded in in our corporate branding, with abundant natural light and a generous kitchen facility. Whilst Firstcom wholeheartedly supports remote working, the company firmly believes there is also a value in office-based work to build teams and mentor colleagues.”
Firstcom Europe is a high-growth technology company that expects to benefit from Parklands’ established business facilities and excellent transport links.
The office will host the company’s UK staff across all their diverse functions as well as providing hot-desking and meeting facilities. With easy access to local amenities and subsidised gym membership, the new location has furthered Firstcom’s commitment to improving employee wellbeing and work-life balance.
Bleakley added: “The move was pivotal in enabling us to reach the next stage or our development as a company. It is also part of our drive to overcome the legacy of the pandemic and to encourage colleagues meet each other regularly in the office.
“We are proud to have created an environment our teams want to come to, rather than feel they have to attend. There is even enough space for the all-important pool table. Our partners, customers, and suppliers are welcome to visit us in our new location which we see as a statement of our confidence in the future.”
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Steve Rotheram, with Liz Ashall-Payne and William Currie, ORCHA chair, and their team
A small business started by an NHS speech therapist at her Bolton kitchen table has grown so rapidly both nationally and internationally that it has now moved into a 4,500-foot office suite in the Sci-Tech Daresbury business park.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, visited the company to celebrate its extensive new premises.
ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps, is the brainchild of founding CEO Liz Ashall-Payne, a speech therapist who became frustrated by the waiting lists at her NHS clinic. Liz and her founding partner, former NHS managing director Tim Andrews, recognised that health apps could help doctors offer more support to patients. They developed a technology to review them, measuring these new technologies against tough regulations.
Health apps which pass the stringent ORCHA review are included in app libraries, which are now used by doctors across 70% of NHS regions and increasingly across the globe.
Mayor Rotheram met team members who reflect ORCHA’s mission to nurture North West talent.
Ashall-Payne said: “It was such a pleasure to welcome the Mayor to our new home at the Sci-Tech Park and I was proud to introduce him to some of our fantastic team members.”
ORCHA grew rapidly during the pandemic, as doctors looked for alternative ways to support patients. It has continued to grow, as digital health tools are increasingly used across the NHS to help combat the elective care backlog. ORCHA has more than tripled its number of staff to almost 150 in the past 18 months.
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Nigel McGurk
Leverhulme Estate has submitted a planning application to create a “beautiful, sustainable and deliverable” housing-led development, comprising 240 new homes, in Greasby, Wirral.
Leverhulme, which is custodian to thousands of acres of land across Wirral and elsewhere, announced plans for a pre-application consultation process over the scheme last month.
The application includes family homes, flats and bungalows, and includes 72 new affordable homes.
Feedback received from the consultation showed that more than 62% of respondents recognised the need for new housing in Wirral. There was also a clear desire to see more green spaces and play areas, both of which Leverhulme is uniquely placed to deliver.
The Greasby scheme, set in 10.2 hectares, features areas of public open space including a community park offering expansive views from the highest part of the site, along with the creation of new safe walking and cycling routes, connecting homes, schools and the countryside.
Nigel McGurk, head of land and planning for Leverhulme, said: “The Leverhulme Vision has been developed over several years and follows a rigorous process of creating communities which are beautiful but also economically and environmentally resilient, something that has never been more urgent than today.”
Earlier this year, Leverhulme submitted seven further planning applications in Wirral along with an application to create a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG).
