Quaywe

Noticed some workers in the old Design6 shop today doing some renovations. Being my nosey self I poked my head in the door and asked who was moving in. "A real estate agent" he replied. I cringed and walked off in a huff without so much as sticking around to hear who it was. More unwanted chav cars taking up parking spaces in our ED. Just what we need.

Just to post an objective story; I had my house valued for rental by Foxton's last week. I had an appointment booked with them and they couldn't make it that day so a week out a lovely lady rang me and asked if we could reschedule. No problem. They then called me two days before the appointment to confirm we were still on and then also called me on the morning of the appointment to confirm again. Very polite at all times. The agent that visited (Tanya) was lovely. I definitely reckon she overvalued the rental price of our place but that's what RE agents are there for isn't it? All in all a pleasant experience from the lettings team. Based on that I'm guessing that yes the sales team are swamped and yes any other RE agent offering the same would act no better.

capt_birdseye Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Here we go again! Another thread goes the way of > "new vs old". Can't we just let it lie for once?! Here here Captain!

OK I'm sure many of us have been wondering about the Woolwich Bank site since the bank "moved in with Barclays". Well add me to the list of those wondering. This is a fairly large site. Hopefully with William Hill being right next door and with three RE agents within metres of the shop it won't be another of the like of those, but nothing surprises me these days. Having confirmed that Tesco and Natwest are both actively looking I would think this would, unfortunately, be an ideal site (they think, not me!). Hopefully Southwark planning will keep making it hard for Tesco at least, due to parking issues. A giant organic, fair trade, boutique pram shop would surely be the go for that site wouldn't it? They could even have their own cr?che for the kids and a Monmouth cafe so the EDmum's can browse the prams while sipping on their latte. Has anyone heard any credible goss yet on this site and any prospective new tenants moving into our beloved "more expensive than commercial property in Angel" Lordship Lane?

nutty Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe Quaywe (and others) should go and edit and > correct earlier posts which had incorrect prices > etc (or maybe admin could do it?) Nutty - already done mate. ?79 is the full membership price INCLUDING all classes except the Pilates lab. Still the priciest gym I know of but a hell of a lot better than the ?159 I thought it was originally. Like I said - I'll be giving them a go in October/November so I can make my own mind up whether it's worth the dosh. Why not?! There's no contract! Looking forward to it actually.

Admin - is it worth putting this post at the top of the list for a while to raise awareness? Next Victim: If you got the balls (most Londoners don't) when he calls - say no - call the Police and tail him until they get there.

OK here goes: I met Elizabeth, the owner of ES Physical Health, a few months ago when they had only recently secured the building. I have to say, as the owner of a nearby flat, I was over the moon to hear ESPH was going to be occupying the building that had remained vacant for three years (and was a prime location for a big nasty chain store to move into). Apparently it stood vacant for so long because the owner (who was also living in the building) wanted to turn it into a bar/restaurant and a dense block of flats, however he couldn't get planning permission. All of this time ESPH was trying to buy the building, but not at the price the current owner was willing to consider selling it at. Sufficed to say he held out for his price, and got it in the end. As ESPH couldn't afford to buy the building they found someone else to buy it that they could lease from - you guessed it Parkhill Properties! During the negotiating process with ESPH, Parkhill had Tesco and Natwest approaching them as well. Parkhill being who they are were naturally interested in getting the best lease price they could for their newest acquisition. Both Tesco and Natwest failed to succeed in securing the building because the Southwark planning office would not give either of them planning permission due to parking issues around the surrounding streets. Tesco even went so far as to try and bully Southwark into selling them the private car park in Bassano St so they could demolish the garages in there and turn it into a supermarket car park. All the while ESPH were knocking on Parkhill's door saying "hello, we have planning permission and are ready to move in!". Finally they got it and on September 29 they open their doors. As a property owner with a vested interest in that immediate area I must congratulate ESPH for fighting off the vultures and using Parkhill to their advantage to secure the property. I dread to think of what it would have been like having a Tesco parked on that corner. It would have been another nail in the coffin of Lordship Lanes takeover by chain stores. This is not supposed to be a post on chain stores as we already have enough of these on the EDF but it is supposed to highlight the pain that ESPH has gone through to secure this property. So I popped in to the open day on the weekend and checked the place with eager anticipation. The concept looks fantastic: Pilates (3 people per class), Yoga and circuit training (around 8 per class) all run in a class based format. Additional to that is the gym upstairs which looks state of the art. On top of that is the core of ESPH's business which is the physio and rehabilitation services. All of which are accessible via private health insurance as well if you have it. All of their staff are degree educated physiotherapists with the more senior one's running the rehab and pilates/yoga. The graduates will be working in the gym. Membership is going to initially be restricted/open to 500 members. It all sounds great to me so far. Then the prices - as Curmudgeon mentioned: GYM (including basic pilates, yoga, circuit training classes) - ?59/mth off peak, - ?79 anytime (opening hrs 7am-10pm at this stage but they will open earlier if there is a demand for it). PILATES (3 people per class max) - ?99/mth going to one class per week - ?129 going to as many as you like. GYM ANYTIME + PILATES (1 per week) - ?159 GYM ANYTIME + PILATES (Anytime) - ?199 There's small discounts for couples joining together and if you pay for 12 months up front as well. Now if you're like me then you'd probably like to do maybe one class per week and have use of the gym as you want. That's going to set you back ?79 (does not include the Pilates studio). I'm (ignorantly) guessing that this is probably your average membership as well at most gyms. Before I baulked at the price I decided to take a few things into consideration; 1) This is a small family run business that does not have the purchasing power of LA Fitness or Canons, 2) They are leasing the property from Parkhill Properties, who have no doubt just shelled out a small fortune to purchase this building. We all know about the prices these guys charge. 3) all of their staff are degree qualified physiotherapists and the gym is decked out in state of the art equipment, 4) you get a very personalised service and for that price should not expect to be queuing up for machines at the gym either. 5) There is no joining fee or contractual commitment. VERDICT: While I accept all of the factors just mentioned are going to make a reasonable difference to the membership price it still doesn't make me feel any better about shelling out ?79/mth to get fit. This is month on month too. For ?79 I could get a full membership at the crappy ED Leisure Centre including (very busy) pool use AND (very busy) classes for ?42 and a (one-on-one) session with a personal trainer of my choice once a month. While ESPH could argue that their membership provides an equivalent service or better (it just might) I don't see it being they way the average person trains or spends. I wish ESPH all the best in their new venture and congratulate them in securing the location. It's a hell of a step up coming from Cambersmell (throws a hook out for Alan Dale ;-)). I AM going to join for Oct/Nov but only because I have a specific need to prepare for an event, and because I want to know first hand if all that money is really worth it. I seriously doubt however that the average ED gym goer is going to be able to justify spending that much money on their fitness. Only time will tell however and I know that if ESPH aren't getting the member numbers through the door that they want then prices will come down. I hope they are still able to remain profitable if this does happen. Then everyone wins! Good luck ESPH! Regards EDKiwi PS - This post edited to show correct details which I originally got wrong. Note that all classes except for the Pilates exercise lab are included in the full gym membership. While still the most expensive gym membership that I know of it's actually not that much more than a good city gym and although it missing a pool it has other added value which is the personalised service from degree qualified professionals. Let the market demands dictate esph's success I say. Good luck to them!

Please give me some credit Jeremy. I'm only looking at them because I have a specific need for a short term rental while I am out of the country, which Foxtons reckon they are very good at. Other agents in the area have advised they don't really do short terms lets or simply don't have the demand from their clients. I wouldn't dream of using Foxtons for anything else considering their prices (at least not until they proved they really could rent at the top of market prices). If you have any alternative suggestions for short term managed lets I would be happy to hear about them.

It's a big site - just think of how many ED prams will fit in there!

I've not used the free intro offer but have spoken to them about organising a short term/corporate rental for my house during the winter. They sounded very positive about being able to let it however don't they all. All in all it's been nice dealing with them so far from a customer service point of view, but their fees leave a little to be desired. Short hold Tenancy (6-12 months): 17%+VAT for their fully managed service Short let/corporate let (month on month): 26%+VAT Additional to these fees is the Foxtons killer ?320+VAT fee for writing up a lease (downloadable from the web for ?10) and doing reference checks (?22 using a web based company, free if you do them yourself). This fee applies to each new tenancy. Now for the short term let I'm more than happy to pay those prices based on what they think they can rent it for but it remains to be seen if that's just Estate agent sales talk or reality. I suspect it's the latter. As for the 17% that's 2% more than the most expensive agent on LL which I think it both Haart and Bushells @ 15% (though haart are negotiable). So these prices aren't unexpected, that's Foxtons after all and it's what we expect of them, and what is ultimately going to drive prices up even further in ED. I'm really interested though to see if the rental values they are quoting me are realistic, considering they are about 11.5% higher than the best price I was quoted by Bushells. Somehow I suspect they are not.

You're all nerds! ;-) Regards EDKiwi PS - Bob don't forget to enable MAC address security as well, and you really should use WPA2 instead of WEP or WPA as well as both are crackable within minutes by anyone with access to Google (however, at least that excludes your neighbour now that he has no internet access!). Your PC wireless card needs to support WPA2 though and so does your router.

broken record....record....record....record....take a hint people!

-- moved topic --

They do a great Bacon sarnie for brekky on bread which, for an East Dulwich Deli regular, looks rather familiar. I recommend the mint tea too. Oh and the scones with jam and clotted cream....MMMMMMM (tu)

Is this the corner site next to John Allen Flowers? If so I know that the infamous Parkhill Properties has bought it. What that means in terms of potential lessee I'm not sure just yet.

I'll rest easy tonight knowing that I didn't fall for the "Electricity Metre Scammer" when she came knocking on my door. Honestly, do people really still fall for that crap? This is London! A fair few people must be spitting tacks that they got sucked in to her little scams and coughed up. If there wasn't any money in it she wouldn't be doing it would she! :-S

THANK YOU Mr Administrator! The aimless wandering off topic is the disease of this lovely forum and is a real turn off. Anyone would think there's a bunch of Goldfish using this forum.

ummm, this is actually supposed to be a post about BURGERS... :-S

What's the format? (How many overs per side) Is someone supplying balls/stumps etc? Do the Oppo have a full side?

Can whoever is organising this list down of all the confirmed attendees for the ED Team so we know if you do/don't have enough players? Cheers

fffffzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....! That's the sound of me throwing a "wind up" line out to see who takes the bait. Today's winners: Android17, LuvPeckham and Baldy! Hook line and sinker! EDKiwi strikes again. ;-) Regards EDKiwi PS - I actually like going to the Bellenden Rd area a lot, even if it means having to leave ED.

Bah who cares?! Choumert Rd, Bellenden....it's all across the ditch in Peckham.

All of their furniture was made in "factories" in Indonesia and when the Tsunami hit the islands in 2004 they lost their supplier, which is why they had to close.

Ummm, isn't this supposed to be a post about a new coffee bar? Talk about going off topic. And on an old post too...nice!

FYI - It is illegal for a burger establishment to sell burgers cooked anything other than well done. As the contents of the burger meat are seen as more prone to disease then if it was a whole cut of meat it must be fully cooked. An establishment shouldn't be telling you "sure, one medium and one medium rare" when they know they have to cook it well done.