Globalisation of London is set to continue, experts predict.

Take up of offices in Central London fell by 27% last year, however a doubling of demand from the technology sector suggests that the longer term outlook may fare better than earlier predictions, according to Knight Frank.

The commercial property firm found that 1.3 million square feet of office space was taken up by IT and telecoms companies in 2011,  up from 640,000 square feet in 2010.  Some of these firms included Facebook, Groupon, Nokia, Apple and Expedia. However, a slowdown in demand was recorded among other industry sectors, such as finance.

Knight Frank’s Silicon London report also highlighted that demand from technology firms covered areas like Covent Garden, Clerkenwell and Fitzrovia as well as the main tech site in the Shoreditch and Old Street roundabout postcode.

James Roberts, head of commercial research, said: “The central London office market felt the impact of the global economic slowdown last year. However, if the recent rally for equity markets continues, I believe we could see office demand pick-up again by the summer. Plus there is this additional upside from the technology sector to give us confidence. If office demand from tech firms doubles during an economic slowdown, it will be interesting to see what happens when growth improves.”

John Snow, head of central London offices, was also optimistic about the future of the office industry in the capital: “That companies, like Apple, Google, and Facebook want to be in London over other European cities is a great vote of confidence in the capital. This is a time of huge change for London, with the foreign influence growing in both the leasing and investment market. London is a business friendly environment, which is the lure for overseas companies and investors. I expect this globalisation of London to continue.”

The reports comes after research revealed that there is an excess of grade C supply.

A report concerning the availability of serviced office space in London has shown that there is limited supply within the capital.

SME’s looking to move into office space in London are set to be left peeved by the lack of serviced business centres available to them.

The study by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) also illustrates the fact that there is a greater demand for serviced office space than their is supply in London and that many areas could run of space before the end of the year.

JLL predict that the rental prices for space in London will be below average however they do expect commercial property rents to increase by 1.7% nationwide in 2012, but areas with a shortage of serviced office space like the City of London and the West End are likely to see increases of approximately 3 and 3.5% respectively.

The West End is somewhere that seems to have a particular low supply, with JJL forecasting that the space currently available in the area could be taken up in eight months due to a surprising amount of demand but also a lack of development because of the economic climate.

This new report corresponds with previous research by Cushman & Wakefield which stated that they expected that there would be a critical shortage of high-quality space between 2011 and 2013. DTZ also said that the amount of grade C office space on supply exceeds that of grade A space.

Head of UK Research at DTZ, Martin Davis said: “Contrary to our expectations grade C has a lower availability rate than grade A and B stock.

“Nevertheless, we expect this position to deteriorate in the face of continued low economic growth and competition for occupiers from better quality space.”

The group were using the office space of a former bank as an ideas workshop.

The Occupy London protesters have been evicted from the office space they were inhabiting in the City.

The protesters were using disused space owned by Swiss bank UBS on Sun Street near Liverpool Street Station but police are said to have evicted around 50 of them from the building, labelled the ‘bank of ideas’, in the early hours of this morning.

The eviction came after UBS won a legal case against the group who then attempted to occupy a new site at Leadenhall Street which was once home to the now deceased Iraqi Rafidain Bank and the former site of Midland bank at St Alphage Highwalk, however they were again evicted by police.

The group also took over but later abandoned Roman House in Barbican amid fears that the contractors employed to strip asbestos from the building would lose their jobs.

Arrests were also made at the time of the evictions with one man being held on an alleged assault and criminal damage charge, it is believed that this is a bailiff who drove his car at the protesters after being questioned by a journalist.

A statement from Occupy London said: “As the events were scaling down, at around 4am, one of the bailiffs who was being asked by journalists about the lack of identification, assaulted a photographer by punching him in the face, then got into his car and drove straight into a number of protestors and media at speed.”

The movement took control of the office space in November of last year in protest against the banking sector and the governments response to the financial crisis. It was at this point that they turned the space of the former bank into the ‘bank of ideas’.

The building had been empty after it went into administration last year.

The survey places London tenth out of 27 European cities in terms of property investment.

So far London has remained in a positive position property-wise throughout the financial crisis, but is now said to be losing some of its appeal as people are more reluctant to invest as the UK is faced with the prospect of enduring a recession.

High prices are also said to be a deciding factor, seeing London drop down to tenth place in a ranking of 27 European cities according to a survey put together by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

In the survey last year London came first in terms of investment and fourth in terms of the performance of existing properties.

The current survey saw PwC ask more than 600 brokers, investors and money managers about the London property market where they stated that there was difficulty in getting hold of assets and there is a lot of strong competition as outlined in the PwC’s report for the Urban Land Institute.

The news comes after London had previously performed well in the property market being one of the first cities to start recovering after the global financial crisis where is rose in the second half of 2009 following two years of decline.

The report comes after reports in the latter part of 2011 from Development Securities Plc suggested that more than half of the offices in the City of London’s financial district are foreign-owned suggesting uncertainty and wariness in British investors.

Of the 27 cities discussed in the survey it is predicted that just one quarter of them will experience greater investment which includes London as well as Berlin, Hamburg, Istanbul, Munich, Moscow and Stockholm.

Developer Arab Investment has failed to secure enough pre-lets for the development.

City of London office space development the Pinnacle at Bishopsgate has experience another delay in construction amid funding issues.

Upon completion the story is set to be the tallest office space in the Financial District and will comprise of 64 storeys and be around 945 ft in height.

However, due to developer Arab Investments being unable to secure enough pre-lets for the space, building by Brookfield Construction has stopped. As it currently stands the skyscraper is just seven storeys tall an indication that the building is just 11% complete with this being the second time work has ceased on the property.

Work first stopped last year but began again in September after Arab secured £500m of funding from lenders including HSH Nordbank and HSBC leaving Arab to secure pre-lets to keep construction going, however only around 10% of the building has been reportedly let.

A Reuters source said: “About a week ago building work stopped.

“The bottom line is that the Pinnacle will need looking at from a funding point of view or a sizeable pre-let which is difficult in this market.”

It has not yet been stated when work is expected to continue on the building as the current economic climate has left many businesses reluctant to tie themselves to a pre-let due to financial uncertainty as the economy may get worse. Developers have found difficulty in securing tenants in the recent months because of this to maintain their developing projects, just recently the construction of a skyscraper was delayed in Shoreditch after a pre-let tenant pulled out.

A joint venture between Aerium and Terrace Hill will see two 1960′s properties be transformed into grade A space.

Planning has been secured for the re-development of prime office space in Mayfair by a joint venture.

Terrace Hill and Aerium have collaborated to revamp 49-51 Conduit Street and 24 Saville Row after acquiring the property from Prupim last year.

The scheme will see the venture transform the two dated 1960′s blocks into one six storey building providing 22,500 sq ft of grade A office space and 9000 sq ft for retail opportunities that will span the basement and ground floors.

The venture between developer Terrace Hill and European real estate fund manager Aerium is hoped to make up for some of the lack of prime office space in the West End and they anticipate demand from both potential tenants and retailers for the highly desired area of Mayfair.

Aerium’s UK Fund Manager, Robin Carr said: “This is one of three Central London schemes we are currently undergoing as part of more opportunistic strategy.

“With a shortage of high quality office space both in terms of current supply and that forecast to come to the market, we believe that this well located, prime Mayfair property has the potential to take advantage of strong occupier demand when it is delivered onto the market.”

Work is expected to begin in the spring with the aim of having the project completed by the summer of 2013.

Development Director of Terrace Hill, Rob Lane said: “We are delighted to have secured consent for this flagship scheme. Having worked hard with our architects, the Council and local stakeholders, we feel confident that our redevelopment plans not only complement but exemplify the properties’ existing surroundings, fronting the highly sought after locations of both Conduit Street and Savile Row.

“Using our depth of in-house development and project management capabilities and benefitting from the expertise of our investment partner, we hope to deliver a high quality, attractive office scheme to the market in 2013, when we are set to benefit from a favourable supply, demand dynamic.”

The list comes after the OPLC revealed that six out of eight venues have secured post-game tenants creating 410 apprenticeships and 254 full-time jobs.

Three potential tenants have been short-listed to become long-term tenants in the Olympic Press and Broadcast centre once the summer games have finished.

Oxylane Group, UK Fashion Hub and iCITY all want to take the available space and were chosen due to their commitment in creating training and employment opportunities in the area.

The East London centre will create 575,000 sq ft of studio space on two levels and 95,000 sq ft of office space spanning five floors whilst the press centre will offer 317,000 sq ft of office space with the ground floor potentially being transformed into a retail environment.

Chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), Andrew Altman said: “We have three dynamic bids focused on the creation of thousands of jobs and training opportunities, along with links to Tech City.

“We will now go through their proposals in fine detail to make sure that they can deliver a successful ongoing legacy that will stimulate future commercial interest.”

Of the bidders, iCITY want the two buildings to be known as Innovation City and will be include cloud computing, digital education facilities and graphic design whilst the Oxylane Group who are affiliated with Loughborough University want to use the Broadcast Centre to offer space for leisure, events, research and education with the Press Centre as a hub for offices and technology.

On the other hand UK Fashion Hub want to create a fashion college and office space along with and fashion and textile manufacturing centre for buyers and wholesalers.

The winning firm will be able to move into the space in the spring of 2013.

The group now have sole control of the project which is located adjacent to Canary Wharf.

Canary Wharf Group has bought out its partners in regard to the Wood Wharf development which is set to be adjacent to Canary Wharf.

Originally the group controlled 25% of the development but now have sole control after buying out former partners British Waterways for their half and Ballymore for their 25% of the scheme.

The 16.8 acre site is set to be developed into 3.1m sq ft of office space as well as 1.25m sq ft of residential space whilst retail space and a hotel will take on 200,000 sq ft of space each.

Canary Wharf Group are said to have paid around £90m to take control of the project and will now decide when the scheme will begin.

Chairman and Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Group, Sir George Iacobescu said: “Wood Wharf’s development will mark an important evolution in the development of the Canary Wharf business, retail and residential district.

“Wood Wharf’s development will mark an important evolution in the development of the Canary Wharf business, retail and residential district.

“The acquisition terms are attractive for land with planning consent adjacent to Canary Wharf which will benefit from Canary Wharf’s considerable existing infrastructure and be complemented by Crossrail from 2018.”

At the time of planning, the 4.8m sq ft was scheme received one of London’s biggest ever planning consents and was designed by Stirk, Rogers, Harbour & Partners with Landscape Architect Martha Schwartz & Partners.

The take over by Canary Wharf Group saw British Waterways net a sum of £52.4m as well as a restructured 250 year lease that will see the company receive an annual ground rent payment of £6m by 2016, Ballymore netted £38m after the group took control.

The AXA Real Estate development Sixty London is set to be completed by 2013.

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers have appointed contractor’s Balfour Beatty to complete the office development, Sixty London.

Completion of the project will mean that the city will gain 215,000 sq ft of grade A office space in the summer of 2013 as well as 20,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor of the building.

The site, which was previously that of Bath House, is targeting an ‘excellent’ BREEAM sustainability rating and has been upgraded to receive a carbon saving of 25%.

AXA Real Estate’s UK Director of Development, Harry Badham said: “Our team has worked incredibly hard over the past year to finalise and enhance the design and specification of Sixty London and to procure a construction programme – which began last summer – that meets our 2013 delivery timetable.

“We are now very excited to hand over the final construction phase to Balfour Beatty, who have an excellent team and track record, to deliver this fantastic new prime office building.”

AXA Real Estate is also developing properties in the St Paul’s area of the City consisting of 10,000 sq ft of residential properties and 60,000 sq ft of office space with 20,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space as well as 160,000 sq ft  at 6 Bevis Marks which is in conjunction with Eurohypo and MGPA.

Balfour Beatty have managed to secure £100m of contract work across the UK including further work in the City of London and Glasgow.

Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said: “We are delighted to see encouraging signs of renewed activity in the London commercial sector and to be able to demonstrate our diverse capabilities which enable us to take advantage of such growth opportunities.

“We have been able to harness technology to create innovative solutions for our customers and look forward to working with them in delivering these first class schemes.”

The law firm have said that financial uncertainty is the reason behind their decision to reconsider.

The construction of an office tower block in Shoreditch has been stalled after the development’s main potential tenant bowed out, citing financial uncertainty.

CMS Cameron McKenna is said to have pulled out of talks to pre-let 200,000 sq ft of the tower which was set to be developed in April by Anglo-French designer Hammerson.

The development, Principal Place, is reported to cost around £485m and could now see its start delayed until a tenant can be found as CMS were originally agreed to let around a third of the building.

CMS had originally agreed to a pre-let deal with Hammerson last summer, but have stated that due to financial uncertainty they now plan to explore their leasing operations closer to the expiration of their current lease at Mitre House on Aldersgate Street in 2015.

CMS senior partner Dick Tyler said: “As a result of the current uncertainties in the financial markets, CMS Cameron McKenna has decided not to enter into a significant long-term premises commitment. The firm is therefore ceasing its current conversations with Hammerson in relation to its development at Principal Place, EC2.

“The firm proposes to postpone its decision to move until market conditions are more stable. The firm’s lease of Mitre House in Aldersgate Street expires in 2015 and it will explore its relocation options in London nearer the expiry date.”

When constructed, the scheme is set to boast shops, restaurants and residential apartments. The project was granted planning permission in July 2011 after having to revise the original 2008 edition following a campaign to save the Light Bar building on Shoreditch high Street.

Of the pulling-out of CMS, Hammerson’s Chief Executive, David Atkins said: “I have consistently said that in current conditions we would not expose our shareholders to excessive risk through building London offices on a speculative basis, which remains our policy.

“We have made good progress with the design and planning of Principal Place over the last six months, which I am confident will further improve its appeal to potential occupiers, and we continue actively to seek office tenants.”

The 51-storey skyscraper is expected to be completed two years after the date of initial construction.