Breaking the mould in Uxbridge
The Charter Building is attracting a diverse range of forward thinking businesses to the west London town
Tucked down a short laneway next to Uxbridge station, The Charter Building doesn’t shout loudly about its presence in the west London town. But the new office building is having a huge impact.
Developed by a joint venture partnership between Landid and Brockton Capital, The Charter Building which launched to the market earlier this year, comprises 240,000 sq ft of design-led, high-spec, contemporary workspace and has quickly become a vibrant hub for a clutch of local, national and global businesses.
Developed speculatively, the building has had no trouble attracting tenants, with five businesses so far taking space. Global tech firm TraceLink, which provides a digital platform for pharmaceutical businesses to track and trace products throughout their supply chain, was one of the first to sign up, agreeing to take 8,500 sq ft on the ground floor of the building.
Tracelink, which has its US headquarters in Massachusetts, launched its new office in September, with the event attended by foreign secretary and local MP Boris Johnson. The tech firm will make its new Uxbridge home its European HQ and plans to create roles for 55 new employees in the office across sales, services, marketing and administration during 2017, more than doubling its workforce in the UK.
“We are very excited to get an occupier of the quality of Tracelink into the building,” says Chris Hiatt, Landid director. “They are exactly the kind of forward thinking progressive business that our buildings are designed for.”
Alongside Tracelink, another tech firm Jazz Networks also took space. Jazz Networks is a local tech startup that is growing fast. The business, which took 4,500 sq ft in The Charter Building, utilises artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide data security solutions.
“It is a really vibrant mix of businesses,” says Hiatt. “And Spaces bring their own innovative workspace offering to the Uxbridge area which will also foster a buzzing community in the building.”
Already The Charter Building has played host to an array of business-focused events. Last month over 1,000 women who work in the tech industries came together for an event to celebrate the role women play in tech and the wider STEM sector. The event, held on Ada Lovelace Day, included talks and workshops aimed at sharing knowledge and learning and was attended by global tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
“Uxbridge is a great location and has a vibrant tech and startup community – as does west London and the wider Thames Valley. Sometimes people think it’s all about Shoredtich and central London but that really isn’t the case,” says Hiatt.
A range of further events are planned for the building around the themes of tech, including a hackathon and a coding event. “This is all part of what we do – we don’t just develop office buildings we want to create great places to work and that
means putting on events for occupiers and the local business community,” says Hiatt.
“The Charter Building really is a unique office development – not only is it the largest new office in Uxbridge, it’s one of the largest in London and the South East. We have taken a very tired 1980s building and completely transformed it and the results are remarkable.
“We have 240,000 sq ft with some of the largest office floors on the market – around one acre floor plates – which offer an extraordinary workspace. But what I love about the building is while it is big – effectively it’s a ground-scraper – it sits seamlessly within its town-centre surroundings. You don’t quite realise when looking at it how big it really is, so it’s quite a surprising building in many ways.”
“The building has been designed to foster collaboration, co-working and creativity so we think it is a perfect fit for contemporary forward-thinking businesses.”
And with the building rapidly attracting tenants, it looks like businesses agree.
But it’s not only about events; the building also has Portico providing concierge services for the occupiers. “No job is too small – or too big for the Portico people and I think the occupiers really appreciate the service they provide,” says Hiatt.
The two tech firms are to be joined by leading biotechnology company Regeneron, which uses the power of science to bring new medicines to patients in need. The business, which has its headquarters in New York, is taking 13,000 sq ft in the building.
Italian coffee company Lavazza has also taken space and is joined by Spaces, a company that provides flexible workspace and co-working facilities for startups, small and micro businesses and larger businesses in need of additional space.
