For a few months we've been enjoying the services of husband and wife team, Cleggs Cleaning & Maintenance who have been looking after our properties in Wrexham.  Adrian Clegg, a larger than life, Yorkshire man has been brushing, scraping, ripping and skipping for us.  Whilst his wife has welded her mop and duster about.  And what a wonderful impact they have made.   The transformation has most recently been felt at The Regent, Offices & Business Centre on Regent Street where the wooden bench and external Wall Art originally carved by Simon O'Rourke, Tree Carving 5 years ago was looking very tired.  The bench in particular was possibly beyond repair after 5 years of no maintenance and the battering of fierce winds and rain.  You can see what state the bench was in; the wall sign wasn't any better. ​

Thankfully our handy restoration man, Adrian has brought both the sign and bench back from the brink by carefully sanding down, filling, painting and varnishing to bring out the best in pieces.  

We're absolutely delighted with the results and heartily recommend Adrian for Gardening, Groundwork and maintenance on commercial and residential properties.  Contact Adrian here for your cleaning, maintenance and 
restoration needs.

Until next time, take care!

​Joanna

We worked through the Bank Holiday weekend and finally at tea-time on Monday evening, I put down my tools to prepare for the Grand Opening of The Regent Offices and Business Centre in Wrexham.

It would be a lie to say it wasn’t a close run thing, as the last two weeks of the project were spattered with obstacles from start to finish.  However, with persistence and help from friends and family, the mountains became stepping-stones leading to a brilliant celebration.

​And so, at 1.00 pm it was a great honour to receive our guests and Mayor of Wrexham, Councillor David Bithell accompanied by The Mayoress Mrs Virginia Bithell for the official opening on Tuesday 27th August.

The weather was shining down brightly, the place was packed with friends and family and what a wonderful afternoon it was to celebrate bringing an unloved Edwardian building back to life with dignity and purpose; transforming it from a dying wreck to ‘Space to Thrive’.

​The Mayor & Mayoress took a tour of the building and enjoyed seeing the Wall Art and sitting on the bench created by Simon O’Rourke Treecarving.

Now it’s all over and the next phase of business begins; I find this quote by William Wilberforce, whom one of our conference rooms is named after, quite an inspiration, I hope you like it:

“Accustom yourself to look first to the dreadful consequences of failure; then fix your eye on the glorious prize which is before you; and when your strength begins to fail, and your spirits are well nigh exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution, and call forth in renewed vigour the fainting energies of your soul.”  William Wilberforce.
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Until next time, Happy Officing.  Joanna x

Another month has passed and now we’re moving firmly into the decorating stage of our new Office Development at 67 Regent Street, Wrexham.

Copious paint colour charts, wallpaper samples and carpet tiles were until recently cluttering my dining room table, now the important decisions are made, they’re stacked in a pile alongside the numerous light fittings.
At last, the kitchen is being fitted and should be complete by the end of the week, it’s all gradually coming together, despite all the extras I’ve needed to add in along the way.  I have to admit that the washrooms have proved a little tricky to fit but this hasn’t caused delays.   The scaffolding is only just coming down this week as I’ve taken the long term view; dealing with any potential niggles now, rather than literally having a deluge of problems later.  It’s safe to say the roofs are no longer leaking like sieves; we’ve completely re-roofed The Regent with reused and reclaimed slates – it’s watertight.
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As the project moves forward, I get lovely emails from suppliers, a favourite one this week held a picture of the newly completed Wall Art by Simon O’Rourke Tree Carving:

More updates soon, until then, take care in the sun.

Joanna x

Time has flown since my last post and I’m very pleased to say we’re making great strides in completing a fabulous resource for Wrexham.   The recent welcomed sunshine has really helped us with the concrete bases for the ‘Parlour’ and the ‘Snug’.   Graham, of Gravitas Commercial has been looking after his setting concrete like an expectant parent, staying on very late – just in case.    Meanwhile, the first fixes are well under-way and ceilings repaired and preserved where possible.

Off site, I’ve placed an order with renewable energy company Dulas for some spectacular integrated Solar PV panels to cover one of the roofs.   As you’ll see from my tweets I’ve been darting here and there,  looking at all sorts of fixtures and fittings to get the right look and feel for the space both inside and out.
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Looking at the outside, I’ve commissioned Simon O’Rourke Tree Carving to make a carved piece of wall art for the patio area.   The design below is based on the branding by  Mako Creative and will be in either redwood or sweet chestnut with the dark R extruded from the surface, and the tail of it along with the words, ‘space to thrive’  recessed. 

​I can’t wait to post a picture of the finished work of art, I hope you like Simon’s sketch.

That’s all for now, happy officing!

​Until next time, Joanna x