It was with great excitement at the end of 2017 that we announced Chichester House was due to become Belfast’s first WiredScore Certified Office Development.

WiredScore Certification is a trusted international benchmark developed to bring about the best digital infrastructure as part of commercial real estate development. Certified buildings are built with the tenant in mind and boast features such as internet security and failsafe measures, systems to allow for future changes in technology, as well as enhanced and effective internet connectivity.

WiredScore was set up in New York in 2013, with early support from the city’s former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and has already become well-established in major cities and business centres around the world including London, Paris and Berlin. In recent months, Dublin and Toronto were added to WiredScore’s roster, with a significant uptake in certification in both cities.

The benefits of WiredScore

Increased productivity

Reliable internet connection is a must for businesses not only to ensure productivity levels are high but also that staff morale remains at its best. Firms have reported that connectivity issues lead to stress and have a measurable impact on productivity in the workplace. What’s more, according to research by Imperial College and research firm Opinium, internet downtime costs businesses across the UK approximately £7 billion last year due to lost productivity and additional overtime.

The majority of businesses recognise digital connectivity as an integral part of their everyday working life, but to date, there has been very little information available to tenants in Northern Ireland about the quality of internet connectivity in office spaces. As a result, here at Causeway Asset Management, we developed our Future-Fit Space concept, that encompasses WiredScore certification amongst a number of other factors and puts connectivity and technological building advancements at the forefront of all our building design.

A competitive edge

Not only does WiredScore certification coming to Belfast allow us to benchmark our offerings against other global cities, it also allows us to create a competitive advantage. The Internet is among the top three most important factors for tenants who are searching for office space, along with cost and location – and the more competitive we are on all three fronts the better the opportunity for potential investors.

Plus, as the impending roll-out of 5G comes over the horizon, Belfast has the opportunity to position itself on the global stage as a ‘smart city’ following leading cities such as Toronto, a city that has just agreed to develop a slice of its waterfront with the help of Google’s Sidewalk Labs. The introduction of WiredScore certified buildings is a great start in achieving these exciting smart goals as proponents of 5G herald the ‘fourth industrial revolution’.

Once certified at the end of this year, Chichester House will be continuously bringing its digital infrastructure up to speed with some of the leading buildings around the world. And, it is plans like these, that will continue to make Belfast an attractive location for global companies considering a base in the UK.