A letter from the Rock's valuer

Many Rock shareholders will have recieved a letter late last week from Andrew Caldwell, which readers will know was the independent valuer involved in the Rock case. In it, he details his newly established team and more importantly sets out an outline of his proposed procedure. Due to the different accounts involved this is a chance for all to read up on the latest.

Letter to Rock Shareholders

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Government

Rock HQ: up for rent

It may be the ‘finest building in the North’ but The Tower, (pictured left) the 10- storey office block building commissioned by Northern Rock at Gosforth in Newcastle is very much empty these days.

At NRSSG, we’ve learnt that The Tower is being marketed by two Newcastle agents asking for rent totalling at least £2.25m a year, with a view to leasing offices for 10 – 15 years.

Northern Rock said at the end of August that it would dispose of both The Tower, designed by Red Box Architects, and its new building at Rainton Bridge in Sunderland, though details of arrangements for the latter have not yet been announced.



Property consultants Gavin Black and GVA Lamb & Edge said they were seeking tenants for the Tower, at rates of at least £18 per sq ft. Northern Rock is also seeking tenants for space in other Regent Centre buildings – Bulman House, Horsley House and Eldon House.

Gavin Black said: “The views from the building are absolutely stunning, to the Sage headquarters and on to the Cheviots.

“I think it is the finest office in the North. There has been a lot of thought gone into it, as it was designed for owner occupiers. It’s excellent, without being ostentatious.

“The design is excellent in ‘green’ terms too – there is zonal control of the heating and lighting. We believe we are offering a broad range of high quality space for occupiers, much of it with work stations in situ and therefore ready for immediate use, and in a very good location. We are optimistic that this will lead to many new occupiers coming to Regent Centre.”

GVA Lamb & Edge director Tony Wordsworth said:

“The Tower is a fine office building. It provides grade A space with stunning views and is unquestionably a landmark building with open plan floorplates of around 12,500sq ft, with the benefit of onsite car parking. It has been finished to a high standard, providing excellent space with an emphasis on sustainability.”

Annual Report on EU banking structures

The European Central Bank (ECB) publishes today its annual report on EU banking structures. The report, which has been published every year since 2002, reviews the main structural developments in the EU banking sector in 2007 and the first half of 2008. It also contains two special features on the incentive structure of the 'originate and distribute' model of financial intermediation and the on a survey of EU banks on major risks on the year ahead (covering the period from spring 2008 -spring 2009.