Januarys the deal issue 1 by JanuarysCambridge

Issue 1

Delivering Property Solutions januarys.co.uk

We celebrate the best of 2013 A year of exciting developments signal a bright future for key Cambridge locations including the long-awaited Travelodge on Newmarket Road.

FOCUS ON: Future Business Centre â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a new innovation hub in Cambridge

welcome Our new magazine gives a round-up of what has been a busy and encouraging 2013 both for our business and the property sector in general... I can tell you it’s been quite a ride! It has been a year of growth, with new staff arriving, new Directors bedding in and a growing order book. Business confidence is undoubtedly improving and of course we are thankful to be based in such a vibrant and forward-thinking city. We take all we do for our clients very seriously and are indebted to you all for your custom, camaraderie and support. We seek to be your property advisors of choice, and I believe the range of projects in this publication demonstrate our breadth and experience. We do not however take ourselves too seriously, and above else seek to have fun and to build lasting relationships. Here’s to a great 2014 for all of our clients and contacts. Happy New Year!

contents 3 COMMUNITY Moustaches, treasure hunts and going the extra mile! 4 COMMERCIAL AGENCY Take a look back at the team’s 2013. 5 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Prestigious Cambridge College chooses Januarys. 6 PLANNING We’ve had a busy 2013 as Cambridge continues to thrive. 7 FOCUS ON: SOUTH MIDLANDS Have a closer look at the expansion of Moulton and Milton Keynes. 8 SPONSORSHIP Supporting our local rugby club for the 2013/14 season.

Our team expands...

2 | The Deal

Matt Hare

Doug Stanton

A former South Cambridgeshire District Council planning officer with ten years’ experience, Matt joined our busy planning team to bolster our service offering.

We welcomed Doug in 2013 to boost the agency offering of the business. He’s been busy building relationships with occupiers to fill vacant commercial properties.

Sam Turner

Anish Jadav

The commercial and agency team welcomed graduate Sam in autumn. Having previously impressed on work experience, they were quick to sign him up.

Planning and development student Anish joins us on a one year placement with our planning team. He will be assisting the department with its workload until the summer.

COMMUNITY

Januarys ‘Movemberistos’ raise over £1,000 for men’s health

(L-R) Colin Brown from Januarys, Dan Brown from COEL and Mark Hyde and Doug Stanton from Januarys

SIX members of the Januarys team took part in 2013’s Movember, raising £1,084 to help fund programmes for prostate and testicular cancer. Managing director Colin Brown along with colleagues Mark Hyde, Rob Harrison, Brian Flynn, Doug Stanton and Peter McKeown all grew impressive moustaches for the cause. Despite their moustaches raising

funds while simultaneously providing a physical awareness about prostate cancer, most were pleased when 1 December came around. Colin said: “Movember is a great cause and our moustaches were certainly the subject of much conversation in the office! We’d like to thank everyone who supported us throughout our challenge.”

MLM Engineers crowned Kings

(L-R) Donna Talbot from Arthur Rank, the MLM team and Graham Smith from Januarys.

JANUARYS’ first treasure hunt around Cambridge city centre last May raised a phenomenal £1,675 for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. Twenty-five local businesses including Mills & Reeve, The Cambridge Building Society, Hewitsons, COEL, Barr Ellison and the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce battled it out to be crowned Kings of Cambridge in a closely fought contest that saw engineers MLM scoop first prize. The hunt culminated at Vodka Revolution on Downing Street where the

NEWS IN BRIEF

Directors go the extra mile DIRECTORS Colin Brown and Graham Smith have both been busy getting active for causes close to their hearts. Colin embarked on a sixty mile bike ride from London to Brighton last June raising £3,266 for the Down’s Syndrome Association and Norwood. Dedicated runner Graham Smith donned his running shoes last May to raise money for his local church. He completed the Edinburgh Marathon in five hours and six minutes and raised £1,175 to help fund repair work.

Getting Wacky on the water... firm’s office was based for many years. Director and organiser of the event, Graham Smith, said: “It was great to give the teams a chance to explore some of Cambridge’s lesser-known beauty spots and raise a significant amount of money for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. An annual event could be in order!” Donna Talbot, from Arthur Rank Hospice, said: “The amount of money Januarys has raised will have a substantial impact on the work we do at the hospice as well as the wider community.”

JANUARYS and its sister company Bradshaws entered a team into the Wacky Races relay canoe challenge at Milton Country Park last June. The colourful b2b fundraiser saw the team of six battle it out on the water with eight local businesses in aid of Arthur Rank. Peter McKeown, Nick Muncey, Michael Westwood, Kirstie Watts, Anton Frost and Kirstie Barrett steered the team to seventh place in an event that raised a total of £3,500.

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COMMERCIAL AGENCY

Januarys celebrates involvement with new Cambridge enterprise hub

THE Future Business Centre (FBC) is Cambridge’s newest BREEAM rated enterprise hub, providing a range of workspaces suitable for office, research and development uses. Januarys was instructed to identify and acquire the site for the new FBC and assisted with securing funding for the scheme. Also tasked with attracting commercial, clean technology and social enterprise tenants, Januarys has been promoting the building and its environmental, social and economically

“The business culture in Cambridge is perfectly suited to the high quality working environment available at FBC”

sustainable credentials Future Business Centre is located near the Cambridge Science Park

in the local community. With its high ceilings, natural ventilation and location next to the Guided Busway on King’s Hedges Road it’s perfectly positioned to help local businesses to thrive.

Olding Road, Bury St Edmunds Client: Orchard Street IM

Broers Building, Cambridge Client: Nafield Properties

Services used: Commercial Agency

Stirling House, Waterbeach Client: Paragon Holdings Services used: Commercial Agency

Januarys’ expertise was engaged to estimate the best price for this NHS industrial distribution warehouse. It was put to market last July under private treaty. Informal best bids saw it sold for the guide price of £2.35m.

This 45,000 sq ft building was put on sale last August. Producing £930,000 in rent per annum, it was on the market for £13m.The highest bidder was the University of Cambridge who bought the property after a very short period for £13.25m.

Having bought the former MoD building for £1m through Januarys, the client has been able to add value to their purchase through clever asset management of existing office space. The building is now worth in excess of £3m.

11 Rectory Terrace, Cambridge Client: Gibson’s Services used: Planning, Commercial Agency

Peek House, Sawston Client: Chartfront Developments Services used: Commercial Agency

169-173 High Street, Chesterton Client: Managing directors of COEL Services used: Planning, Commercial Agency

A tenant requested to downsize and our professional services team dealt with the leases and dilapidations. Domino’s Pizza was secured for the vacant space and Januarys’ planning team sought change of use.

Owners of this building wanted a quick sale having previously marketed it to no avail. Januarys stepped in, advising them to sell the property at auction. It sold for £320,000. Januarys has been reinstructed to let the space.

These properties were bought with a view to achieving the most value from the land. Januarys sought planning permission for 11 houses on the plot and managed the sale of the land to Cambridge and Counties Developments.

4 | The Deal

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Januarys delivers strategic property investment for Cambridge College COMMERCIAL property consultancy Januarys has successfully acquired five student houses from two prestigious Cambridge colleges on behalf of Fitzwilliam College for the start of the new academic year.

The company, acting on behalf of Fitzwilliam College, acquired three student houses from Girton College and two from Sidney Sussex College on Huntingdon Road in Cambridge. All properties were adjacent

The purchase of the Huntingdon Road houses puts the college in a stronger position

to existing college owned housing and close to Fitzwilliam College. The college has now increased its stock of post-graduate student rooms by 36 as a result and has enabled it to meet the need for accommodation at an important time in the academic calendar. Desmond Hirsch, director of commercial services at Januarys, said: “Fitzwilliam College has put itself in a stronger position in terms of the re-configuration of its existing stock following the acquisition.” Andrew Powell, bursar and fellow at Fitzwilliam College, said: “We were very pleased to have acquired these properties in time for the new academic year. We are always thinking about sustaining and growing our student accommodation offering and this purchase has meant we are now better equipped to house students going forward.”

Januarys: one stop shop for new development EARLIER in 2013, several of Januarys’ services were enlisted by Identified Developments to enable it to construct four luxury homes on the outskirts of Cambridge City Centre. Januarys’ planning team gained planning consent for the developer to build the houses on Spens Avenue, while the initial bank finance valuation and monitoring monthly draw down valuations were completed by the professional services team. The developer required a loan to buy the plot of land and finance construction. Januarys paid the developers monthly visits to monitor progress on behalf on the bank and were encouraged by the progress being made month-on-month. The four houses sold for £1.3 million each in July 2013.

The exterior and interior of one of the newly built Spens Avenue houses

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PLANNING

Januarys enlisted by NHS

The Travelodge on Newmarket Road opened its doors earlier in 2013

Travelodge provides city with a resting place AFTER a complex, lengthy and challenging planning process Januarys was proud to see the Travelodge on Newmarket Road open its doors to the public last summer. The application for a 219 bedroom hotel was finally approved following extensive discussions with the Local Planning Authority and local residents. The scheme was criticised by local residents due to the large number of hotel rooms it planned to erect. Januarys was satisfied that, following lengthy negotiations, the application was supported by a substantial number of parties including the Joint Urban Design and Landscape team and planning officers. Januarys also engaged comprehensively with representatives from three Residents’ Associations interested in the proposal. The final design and massing has been strongly informed by the discussions with these groups. Understandably, traffic remains an issue to the Residents Associations. The location of the Travelodge, at the junction of Newmarket Road and Coldhams Lane,

6 | The Deal

is subject to congestion at peak hours. Januarys took this issue extremely seriously and produced a substantial amount of technical supporting reports to clarify what the impact of the scheme could be. S106 matters proved complex too. This included making land available “It was for highway demonstrated improvements, that the level of upgrading impact caused by crossing the hotel could be points and within the daily installing new and seasonal signal control tolerances of software. This traffic flows.” would introduce intelligent vehicle recognition systems that aim to improve local traffic flow and promote a robust transport management plan. The proposal sought to uplift an unattractive urban site, provide valuable overnight budget accommodation and regenerate of the most unloved approach into Cambridge city centre.

JANUARYS is acting on behalf of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust who have control of two hospital sites at Ida Darwin and Fulbourn. Ida Darwin is no longer fit for purpose and within the context of an overarching development plan policy, Januarys’ planning team has submitted a planning application for redevelopment of the site for housing. All services would be transferred to the Fulbourn Hospital site and for which the company has produced a development brief. The application was submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council last May and a decision is expected in February.

A note from our order book… “THE planning industry in Cambridge has remained busy during 2013. It’s been a Mark Hyde joy to see some of the projects we’ve worked on in previous years come to fruition this year. The £212m Laboratory of Molecular Biology that we successfully sought planning permission for opened its doors back last March, the £8m Cineworld development in St Neots started development early in 2013, and I doubt many of you will have missed the Travelodge on Newmarket Road that is leading the way in the regeneration of this artery into Cambridge. There is certainly an appetite for development in Cambridge at the moment and we’re looking forward to further helping the city fulfil its potential as it continues to act as a catalyst for business in 2014.”

FOCUS ON: SOUTH MIDLANDS

In demand – South Midlands

Januarys is confident that the council’s decision to refuse planning for 150 houses will be overturned

AS the economy recovers and housebuilders compete for land to develop, the South Midlands’ proximity to London and good transport links mean it’s increasingly becoming a battleground. Januarys has therefore spread its wings to Northampton, recently opening a new office ideally placed to feel the pulse in the heart of the country. With such a strong demand for residential development across the patch, Januarys Northampton is already promoting some formidable housing schemes. Mindful that sites with planning consent are sought after by PLC and large regional housebuilders, Januarys is working on more than 350 plots, including schemes in Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. Januarys Northampton partner, Robert Harrison MRICS, said: “We have been very busy over the past few months, mainly driven by the strong demand in the residential development sector. We have been acting for landowners and house builders brokering sales and purchases, as well as setting up a considerable number of land promotion agreements. We look forward to continuing our work on new and exciting projects in this region as the economy continues to recover.”

“We have been driven by the strong demand in the residential development sector.”

Moulton, Northamptonshire

South West, Milton Keynes

Januarys is confident that a Daventry District Council decision to refuse planning for 150 affordable houses on a greenfield site at Moulton will be overturned at appeal, bearing in mind the Government’s drive towards meeting housing land supply. The scheme on behalf of Hallam Land Management will also deliver new car and bus parking for Moulton School, sports pitches and a new country park on the 38 acre plot. A decision is expected early in the New Year.

A controversial scheme for 5000 houses was scrapped in 2010 by the new coalition Government. Now Januarys is leading in the preparation of a revised planning application for up to 1855 new dwellings on a 340 acre site, as well as a new school, allotments and an extension to Chepstow Country Park. The application is due to be submitted to Aylesbury Vale District Council in February.

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SPONSORSHIP

Januarys cements relationship with Cambridge Rugby Club JANUARYS has long been a staunch supporter of rugby in Cambridge. It put its name on the map in 2013 by investing more into Cambridge RUFC than ever before by becoming one of its main sponsors for the 2013/14 season. JANUARYS supported Cambridge Rugby Club at its charity black tie dinner on 16 October in aid of the Matt Hampson Foundation. Leicester Tigers and British and Irish Lions players Geoff Parling and Ben Youngs were the star guests while England and Leicester Tigers player George Chuter hosted the evening. The commercial property consultancy and its sister company Bradshaws have also provided key personnel at Cambridge Rugby Club with two cars to cement their 2013/2014 partnership.

(L-R) Peter McKeown, Geoff Parling & Ben Youngs of the British Lions, Colin Brown & Graham Smith

Craig Newby, a former New Zealand AllBlack, Leicester Tigers player and now head coach at the club, was presented with a Januarys’ branded Nissan Juke. Meanwhile, director of rugby Rowland Winter will be driving around the city in the custom designed Bradshaws’ vehicle of the same make. Colin Brown, managing director at Januarys, said: “We have been strong supporters of rugby in Cambridge for many

years and have consolidated our relationship with Cambridge Rugby Club by investing more into the club than ever before. We know how important transport is to Rowland and Craig and we are happy to help them.” Both Rowland and Craig live away from Cambridge and the cars could not have come at a better time. Rowland said: “We both have to get to the city several times so we’re very thankful to Januarys and Bradshaws.”

Steele Bodgers event is a roaring success JANUARYS celebrated a successful 2013 with its clients and close associates at the 66th annual Steele Bodgers rugby match on 27 November. The Cambridge event has embedded itself in the Cambridge professional services industry’s diary over the past ten years. Januarys was pleased to be sponsoring the Hawks’ Club marquee again where it hosted over 120 guests. Colin Brown, managing director at Januarys, said: “We look forward to hosting this traditional Cambridge event every year. We had a busy and productive 2013 and Steele Bodgers was the perfect way to say thank you to all who have had a hand in our success during the year.” A ‘guess the rugby grounds’ competition entertained guests during lunch and saw Nick Brown from HTS Estates win £50 of Marks & Spencer’s vouchers. A full set of photographs from the event can be found on Januarys’ Flickr page here http://flic.kr/ps/2FxPVt