Aon take ten floors in new Leadenhall Building

The first pre-let has been announced for the under-construction Leadenhall Building.

Risk mananagement and reinsurance company, Aon, have agreed to rent almost 200,000 sq ft of office space over ten storeys in the Richard Rogers designed building which has already been nicknamed the “Cheese Grater”.

The building, which will be 47 storeys tall at completion, is a joint venture by British Land and Oxford Properties.

Robert Brown, CEO Aon Limited said, “We are delighted to have chosen The Leadenhall Building as our new London headquarters. The Aon Centre at The Leadenhall Building places us at the heart of the City’s insurance sector and the building’s impressive location and offices reflect our standing as the leading global professional services firm focused on risk and human capital management.

“The UK, and indeed London, remain an integral part of Aon Corp’s strategy. The decision to move to The Leadenhall Building confirms our commitment here and offers us an ideal platform to continue to grow our business and deliver the best of Aon to our clients.”

Aon are currently based in Devonshire Square.

For Sale: Tower 42, for £290 million

The City of London”s iconic Tower 42 has been put for sale with a price tag of £290 million.

The tower at 25 Old Broad Street, originally known as the NatWest Tower, is one of six buildings in the City being put up for sale by owners Blackrock and LaSalle Investment Management.

“With limited supply and increasing demand exerting upward pressure on rents in the City market, investors can anticipate strong returns and considerable long term growth potential,” said Jeff Morton, managing director at Blackrock.

When building of the tower was completed in 1980, it was London’s – and the UK’s – tallest building; a badge of honour it kept for ten years until it was overtaken by the One Canada Square at Canary Wharf.

PropertyWeek.com lists the other buildings up for sale as:

• 20 Old Broad Street (36,000 sq ft)
• 30 Old Broad Street (49,000 sq ft)
• the Plaza Restaurant (3,500 sq ft).
• 15 Bishopsgate (46,000 sq ft)
• the grade I-listed Gibson Hall (13,000 sq ft).

 

Crossrail fencing injures pedestrian in high winds

Fencing at a Crossrail development site in the City of London came loose in today’s high winds and struck a pedestrian.

An ambulance attended the scene of the incident outside Moor House on London Wall and treated the injured passer-by.

A spokesperson for Crossrail said:

“Due to high winds, a section of fencing surrounding the Crossrail worksite at Liverpool Street became dislodged this morning and came into contact with a passing pedestrian. Crossrail is investigating the incident.”

The fencing was later secured by the site contractor, Laing O’Rourke.

Did you see the accident occur? Did today’s extreme weather cause any other incidents?

New offices proposed for UBS in Broadgate

Bloomberg to move to new City HQ

Market data giant, Bloomberg, look set to move to brand new headquarters in the City of London.

Reports say that the firm will be building a brand new landmark HQ at the old site of Bucklersbury House on Walbrook. Foster and Partners have been selected, those same reports say, to design the building which will have half a million square feet of office space.

Bloomberg are currently based at offices in Finsbury Square, in the City.

New shopping centre hit by chemical incident

London Fire Brigade were called out to a new shopping centre in the City of London early on Monday morning after a chemical incident.

Nearby roads were closed and 30 people were evacuated from the six storey One New Change in Cheapside.

Emergency serviced donned gas tight suits before entering the premises and identifying the source of the chemical incident as a floor sealant.

One man was taking to hospital with breathing difficulties.

The incident happened just three days before the opening of the new shopping centre which will be home to dozens of designer and high street brands names.

Police issue jewellery thief suspect sketch

Police have issued this sketch of a man wanted in connection with a jellewery heist on February 3rd. Jewels worth nearly £1million were stolen at knifepoint from Haynes Jewellers, Castle Court, St Michael’s Alley, near Cornhill in the raid.

DI Edelle Michaels from City of London Police who is leading the investigation said: “Witnesses have provided a clear description of one of the robbers and someone will recognise the man in the picture we’ve released today. He is suspected of involvement in a violent and frightening robbery and it’s important that anyone with information on his identity contact us.”

Police now know three men were involved in the robbery. All 3 were dressed like workmen with their faces partially covered, one in fluorescent jacket and trousers. The men took a taxi from close to the scene of the robbery to Tower Hill, where two of the gang left the cab. The third suspect stayed in the taxi and was dropped on Hackney Road at Bethnal Green.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspects, or who has information about the whereabouts of the jewellery stolen should contact City of London Police on 020 7601 2222, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

City Lights Turned On For Christmas

The City of London’s Christmas lights were switched on last night at a star studded event on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral. Big name acts such as the reformed Spandau Ballet, Little Boots, Farryl Smith and Scouting for Girls performed for crowds gathered at the Wren-designed cathedral.

The event was coordinated with Oxford St and Regent St switch on ceremonies, and sponsored by Disney’s new version of A Christmas Carol.  Stars of the movie turned on the lights at each of the three locations: Bob Hoskins at St Paul’s Cathedral, Colin Firth at Regent Street, and Jim Carrey at Oxford Street.

Couldn’t make it? Here’s a couple of Youtube videos from the event posted by paulmuchmore…

City school sex scandal

The case of Helen Goddard, the teacher accused of a lesbian affair with an underage pupil at a prestigious City girls school for Girls, came to court yesterday and she entered a plea of guilty to six counts of sexual activity with the girl between February and July this year. The maximum sentence available is 14 years though this seems unlikely, particularly as the child has expressed an intention to renew the relationship when she becomes 16 and is supported in this by her parents.

Slightly bizarrely the the judge has rules that the school cannot be named, not that the Telegraph seems bothered by that, despite the fact the school’s name was spread across the newspapers several weeks ago when the case first broke so it seems a little late for that now.

Sentencing will take place on September 21st

Rain, rain, go away.

If you trudged into the office in the rain this morning you, like me, might be wondering where the “Barbeque Summer” that the Met Office was promising back in April. Given our typically British fascination for weather the news seemed to visibly lift the faces of glum office workers and provide visions of summer frolics, happy garden parties, the delightful scent of family barbecues and lazing in pub gardens on sunny Sunday afternoons. In June we could have believed it was true with the blazing, sunny days and assorted Government health warnings so let’s just remind ourselves of that glowing press release that the Met Office put out on April 30th (not 1st) shall we?

The coming summer is ‘odds on for a barbecue summer’, according to long-range forecasts. Summer temperatures across the UK are likely to be warmer than average and rainfall near or below average for the three months of summer.

Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Ewen McCallum, said: “After two disappointingly-wet summers, the signs are much more promising this year. We can expect times when temperatures will be above 30 °C, something we hardly saw at all last year.”

Although the forecast is for a drier and warmer summer than average it does not rule out the chances of seeing some heavy downpours at times. However, a repeat of the wet summers of 2007 and 2008 is unlikely.

Well, they were right in that we’d get some “times” where temperatures were over 30 degrees as Wisley recorded a high of 31.8 degrees in June but saying he would “not rule out” some heavy downpours seems a serious underestimation in hindsight as some areas received twice their average rainfall, even in sunny June. You could probably sum up that forecast as “It might be hot, then it might not” and that “Barbecue Summer” was cooked up by some gormless intern in their press office but everyone will remember reading the “Barbecue Summer” quote in the news with, perhaps, some simmering resentment.

The BBC News website has also had enough and taken the Met Office to task:
The Met Office also says temperatures have been around or above normal, and that the end of August might be better again. It did indeed stress at the time of the summer forecast in April that the odds of a scorching summer were 65%. It explains that it coined the phrase “barbecue summer” to help journalists’ headlines. But this has come back to bite the organisation because many people do not feel like they have been enjoying a “good” summer, especially compared with previous searing years.

Indeed. According to the mean temperatures 2006 was the warmest July going and on current form this one won’t compare though with predictions like that perhaps they could get a job in the City…

Is the wet summer affecting your holiday plans?

Met Office Summer Forecast – 30th April 2009
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2009/pr20090430.html

BBC News – Met Office Cools Summer Forecast
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8173533.stm

Mean Temperatures for July to 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8127386.stm

Google News articles on “Barbecue Summer” (via bit.ly)
http://bit.ly/kNogk

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