We have the Power!

Ensuring your business has a reliable supply of energy and contingency measures in place in the event of a power failure is critical for maintaining operations and reducing commercial risk.

Research by energy services and solutions provider Centrica shows that power resilience is seen as one of the top-four business risks, only narrowly beaten by financial, market and cyber-crime risks. All well and good you might say, but despite the risk, many businesses still fail to plan effectively for such events. Indeed, almost 75% of 1,500 business leaders surveyed admitted that they were under-prepared to deal when it comes to the increasing threat of power supply disruption.

The concept of energy resilience – whereby a company has reliable sources of energy and contingency measures in place to alleviate potential energy shortages or failures – is not a new one. But there is no denying that it has assumed far greater prominence during the last 12 months as the energy market has gone through major turbulence.

The unfolding energy crisis has coincided with the Grid’s annual assessment of Great Britain’s resilience to disruption to electricity supplies, with the key “margin” figure falling to its lowest in five years.

Indeed, Number 10 has refused to guarantee there will be no power cuts in the UK this winter amid warnings that thousands of businesses could be hit by outages. The government has drawn up plans for rationed electricity if supply issues deteriorate.

Organisations must be as prepared for such eventualities as much as possible. At Portland House, we recognise this; it is why we have invested in a market leading power infrastructure as we prepare to open for business in September. We understand the need for our tenants to have access to a secure and reliable power source at all times.

Portland House is the only office building in Newcastle with private, dedicated, landlord-owned emergency power provision. We have a 100kVA Uninterruptable Power System (“UPS”) and 560 kVA diesel generator that will kick into life the moment there’s a mains failure. All occupiers will benefit from continuous power to key building systems as well as lighting to communal areas.

We are due to be certified WiredScore Gold. WiredScore is the global digital connectivity certification system that allows landlords to assess, improve, benchmark and promote their buildings. As part of this commitment, the building’s two dedicated telecommunication rooms will also have uninterrupted power to ensure connectivity to our Virgin UDC and Exponential-E using BT Openreach lease line is never compromised.

Occupiers will also have the option to back-up their heating and cooling systems, small power, and lighting in the event of failure.

As you think about your next office move, it’s perhaps more important than ever before to consider how your business would be affected by a mains power cut and the advantages of plugging into a back up generator and UPS. The need for highly reliable backup power in buildings cannot be overstated.