The property market freeze saw home buyers hit the lowest level in 27 years in 2011 despite record low mortgage rates on offer, the Council of Mortgage Lenders announced this week.

Sadly it is an undisputed fact that the construction and property industry has been one of the biggest casualties of the UK’s slowdown. The lack of first-time buyers in the property market has had a profound knock-on effect on every aspect of the trade. Every sector from builders to architects has felt the full force of the economic crisis.

In a bid to stay afloat, many companies have been forced to cut costs, whether this is through internal restructuring or making redundancies.

Charlotte Gallagher, managing director of P3 People Management, Manchester’s leading HR consultancy, has noticed an increase in businesses within the property sector looking to reduce their overheads. She says: “The building sector has felt the full force of the financial pressure, with a lot of building projects being left unfinished or forced to scale down. A lot of businesses have had to look at potential restructuring. This might entail diversifying or looking at staffing restructure, with the possibility of redundancy.

Do you need two employees when one could do the job just as effectively?

Can they multi-task?

Are you missing an opportunity to cut costs?

These are all questions which businesses need to ask if they are to compete on every level in this challenging market.”

Consultants at P3 People Management have also seen an increase in the number of building and property firms going ‘back to basics’. Charlotte adds: “Businesses are having to compete in a very competitive market, forcing many of them to go back to basics and focus their business strategy. This will undoubtedly save them money in the short and long term helping them weather the financial storm that we are all facing.”

For help with HR issues, contact P3 People Management on 0161 941 2426 or visit www.p3pm.co.uk

Rent reviews are often regarded as one of the pitfalls of commercial property tenancy but they needn’t be cause for fear or anxiety if you seek specialist advice.

If you’ve never approached a commercial property management company previously to deal with site acquisition or lease advice, now might be a good time to ensure you have a highly experienced property consultant to fight your corner with your landlord.

The frequency at which rent reviews take place will already be agreed within the original lease and their purpose is basically to alter the rental rate according to the current market level.

Most rent reviews take place every five years but businesses are advised to seek professional guidance before the event (at least 12 months prior to the review date) so you can plan any response. It’s also useful to monitor the rental market for comparable properties to get an idea of what is realistic and acceptable to your business. Rent reviews are usually upward-only and it’s therefore wise to prepare for this eventuality, so that you’re in the best position to negotiate a better rate.

Landlords usually provide written notice that a review is to be activated and a figure will be given for the new rent. If you disagree with the sum quoted, you must appeal immediately in writing or ask your commercial property management company to oversee the objection on your behalf. The terms of your lease may detail a deadline for any appeal against rent reviews and if you fail to meet it you could be paying over the odds until the end of your lease or the next rent review.

Peter Knight, managing director of Manchester-based commercial property management company and construction consultants Knight Site Solutions Ltd, said: “Businesses should remember that a rent review is by no means a done deal, and that bargaining or negotiation is an accepted part of this process.

“It is entirely possible that a landlord will arrive at their rental figure from looking at the highest rents in a particular area and the best premises, in other words not comparing like for like. A variety of factors affect rental value in addition to size and location of premises including the conditions of a lease and whether there is maintenance or repair liability and this information should be an influencing factor to any value changes.

“Seeking the advice of a property management specialist is the best way of negotiating your position and securing a favourable rent but make sure you act early to give them time to prepare your case.”

Taking precautions to ensure the safety of your Hotel guests and staff makes moral, legal and financial sense. A poorly maintained piece of electrical equipment can seriously injure or at the very worse even kill a user.

Therefore as an employer or the owner of a business – especially in the hotel or tourist trade – to ignore the risk of faulty appliances would be unacceptable.

As well as the risk to human life, there is also the risk of a hefty fine by the Health and Safety Executive.

Steve Loofe from Manchester-based PAT testing and electrical safety testing contractors, Patman, says: “As a business you could find yourself in court facing a fine or imprisonment if you do not take your responsibilities to protect staff and customers seriously”. “Of course the real cost of accidents is much higher than this; the pain and suffering, loss of reputation if you are in the hotel or tourist industry, damaged equipment, replacement staff costs, increased insurance premiums and the potential victim’s own legal costs will far exceed any fine you are given. Taking precautions to avoid it happening to you makes moral, legal and financial sense.”

Hotel safety failings can hit the headlines

You only need to watch the news or read the newspapers to find daily examples of staff or customers being hurt by a faulty electrical appliance. A recent HSE court case heard how one employee sustained a 240 volt electric shock that broke both shoulders whilst attempting to a test of newly manufactured appliance that had been incorrectly wired to the mains lead. It turned out there had been exposed metal in the test area and there had been no PAT test of the mains lead prior to the live test.

The employers were prosecuted under The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (No 14), The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (No 3) paragraph 1 and received a fine.

Employers are required by the Health and Safety law to ensure that all of their electrical installations and portable electrical appliances are safe. Portable Appliance Testing (PAT Testing) basically involves the periodic testing of regular electrical appliances within a commercial or domestic setting such as kettles, TV’s lamps etc. to identify any possible faults which could make the equipment unsafe.

Ensure your appliances don’t end up costing you money – contact Patman on 0161 643 1424 or visit www.patman1.com

A violent and shocking court case has this week highlighted the need for professional key holders. The key holder of a social club in Swindon was assaulted by two men as he locked up the premises one night.

The pair threatened to stab the key holder if he didn’t hand over the keys, and he was forced to open the club and disable the alarm, whilst they raided the safe.

One of the attackers, a 19-year-old, is currently awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to the robbery at Swindon Crown Court at the end of March.

Adam Pollard, business development manager at Key Control Ltd, said: “Thankfully serious assaults of this kind are rare. However there are steps that employees can take to ensure the safety of their staff. Here at Key Control Services we can hold the key for you and can respond when the alarm is activated. If you are called out at 3am you may not know what situation you will find, which can be a scary prospect.”

Keyholder Safety is important

The safety of key holders is set out by the Health and Safety Executive under the Lone Worker Health and Safety. It states: “It is the employer’s duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risk where necessary”. The government has produced a leaflet on good practise for employers to consider for the lone worker, titled Working Alone in Safety. This can be viewed at www.hse.gov.uk.

Under Key Control’s key holding and alarm response services, they can hold a set of keys to your premises. If the alarm is activated, a security officer will be notified by a monitoring station and will attend to deal with the incident, check for intruders and re-set the alarm.

The company, which was set up 14 years ago by managing director Phil Thompson and looks after more than 400 companies across the country, also offers a key holder escort service where a security officer can meet a dedicated member of staff at an agreed location in the event of alarm activation. The security officer will accompany the staff member to check the premises, carry out further action as required and re-set the alarm.

Key Control also offers services to lock and open your premises.

For details of these services call Key Control Services Ltd on 01204 861331 or visit www.keycontrolservices.co.uk