Tata Communications is a global provider of telecommunications solutions and services. The $2.9bn company which is headquartered in Mumbai and Singapore, has 8,500 employees across 38 countries and is part of the $103.3bn Tata Group. Its telecommunications network spans the globe and includes more than 500,000 km of subsea fibre and more than 210,000 km of terrestrial fibre.

Background

Having helped Tata Communications previously to relocate its offices from London Docklands to the City of London, McCalmont-Woods was re-appointed to acquire a second new office to serve as Tata Communications new European HQ. The catalyst for this second office move was Blackstone’s purchase from Mitsui Fudosan of 20 Old Bailey, EC4 with its plans to extend and reposition the office property requiring all of the existing occupiers to vacate the building at lease expiry.

The brief was to identify circa 15-20,000 sq ft office space which might be leased for a maximum 5-year term. And, in order to mitigate the cost of fitting-out the new offices (from a landlord’s standard Cat A finish) McCalmont-Woods was again tasked with identifying pre-fitted office accommodation which could be adapted to meet Tata’s specific occupational needs at minimal cost.

Outcome

McCalmont-Woods successfully concluded terms for Tata Communications to acquire 16,600 sq ft fully fitted space at Vintners’ Place, 68 Upper Thames Street, EC4 on a new 4.5 year sublease from Getco Europe Limited. Since the premises had only been occupied by the former tenant for a very short period, Tata was able to benefit from a virtually brand new in-situ office fit-out which provided all the necessary structured cabling, comms room, kitchens, private offices, boardroom and meeting rooms, office reception area and office furniture.

The highly favourable terms agreed at 20 Old Bailey and Vintners’ Place represented a 50% rental discount, which taken together with the significant capex savings on two office fit-outs, produced a combined cost saving across the two subleases of circa £5.25 million.

Julie Woods-Moss, CMO & CEO Nextgen Business
“Nick did a fantastic job of finding Tata a great property in Central London. We had tight budgets and tight timelines and Nick over-delivered in spite of our constraints.”

Vinod Kumar, Managing Director and CEO
“This is probably the best office we have in the whole world.”

 
Orsted (formerly known as DONG Energy) is a renewable energy company headquartered in Denmark employing 5,600 people including over 900 in the UK. Its shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen and in 2017 the group’s revenue was DKK 59.5 bn (EUR 8.0 bn).

Brief

McCalmont-Woods was tasked with developing a property strategy for DONG Energy in London which recognised that the business occupied circa 50,000 sq ft under six leases due to expire within a short 2-3 year timespan and which leases were all held from different landlords.

With headcount in London expected to grow significantly beyond the existing lease expiry dates it was important to identify a new headquarters building that would be capable of meeting the businesses’ future growth needs and which was available to lease within the timescale identified. In addition the new HQ building would also be required to meet various exacting technical, environmental and sustainability requirements in keeping with the businesses’ corporate image and standards.

Outcome

Against the backdrop of an increasingly tight London office market characterised by low levels of supply and high levels of occupier demand, McCalmont-Woods was successful in identifying and securing 81,000 sq ft Grade A offices for Orsted in an award-winning building at 5 Howick Place, Victoria, SW1 some 18 months ahead of lease expiry, on highly competitive terms.

Brent Cheshire, UK Country Chairman
“We are delighted to have leased this new state-of-the art office. This reflects the rapid growth of our business and our commitment to the UK where we have invested over £5 billion in the last decade. The new office space will give us a great opportunity to bring together all 400 of our London-based staff, with all the benefits that improved collaboration can bring. Securing this accommodation also ensures that we remain in Central London, close to our key Government and business stakeholders.”

Reach plc is the largest national and regional news publisher in the UK with a leading portfolio in Ireland. It creates engaging, relevant content which is distributed through newspapers, magazines and digital platforms – playing a central role in its audiences’ daily lives. Its national and regional brands have a long heritage of being trusted sources of the latest news, information, sport and entertainment, offering a range of opportunities to connect brands with consumers. With one of the biggest monthly multi-platform audiences in the UK, Reach’s national and regional news brands are prominent champions, campaigners and changemakers.

Background

In Q4 2013 Canary Wharf was awash with over 1.7 million sq ft available offices (ignoring ‘grey’ space which accounted for an additional 12% floorspace) and it was into this market that Reach wished to reduce its office footprint by disposing of circa 27,000 sq ft surplus offices at One Canada Square, E14 (the UKs tallest building) for the remaining 4.5 years under its lease. With prime rents flatlining for 10 quarters McCalmont-Woods recommended quoting a deep discounted rent of £17.50 per sq ft (from £40 per sq ft rent passing) to pique the interest of potential occupiers.

Outcome

McCalmont-Woods concluded a letting to High Speed Two (‘HS2’), the government funded company responsible for developing and promoting the UK’s new high speed rail network, on 16,410 sq ft in May 2014. Then, six months later, McCalmont-Woods persuaded HS2 to lease the 10,521 sq ft balance of Level 19. The successful disposal of the entire surplus floor under two subleases, with rent payable from day one, produced a combined cost saving to Reach of circa £5,750,000.

Mike Shaw, Group Services Director
“We have had a long-standing business relationship with Nick McCalmont-Woods, where he has acted for us appertaining a number of difficult and delicate property transactions, within our London portfolio. In all respects the work undertaken by Nick has been done in an utterly professional and conscientious way and he has a unique ability to understand his clients requirements from day one, without being overawed by the task at hand.”