Case study: How 22 Upper Ground, SE1 cut its void period with one infrastructure decision

The building

22 Upper Ground is a 40,000 square foot office building forming part of the Sea Containers development on London's South Bank. The property sits on the South West elevation of the development, benefiting from unrivalled views towards the River Thames and Waterloo station.

It is, by any measure, a strong asset. The location is central and well-connected. The space is modern and well-presented. It commands serious interest from professional services, financial, and media occupiers attracted to the SE1 market.

And yet, as its asset management team knew well, in a market where tenants have more options and more leverage than they did five years ago, having a good building is necessary but not sufficient. The connectivity question was coming up in viewings. The answer wasn't as strong as the building deserved.

The problem

The asset management team at 22 Upper Ground were managing the same challenge many landlords face in a tightened market: good enquiries that didn't always convert, and feedback that was useful only in aggregate.

Connectivity kept appearing as a thread. Not always explicitly. Tenants rarely said "we're choosing another building because the internet isn't sorted." But when the question came up and the answer was uncertain, the momentum changed. Decisions that felt close became decisions under review.

The team also knew what the independent installation route looked like. A process involving identifying ISP options, those ISPs conducting site surveys, the wayleave coordination, the 12-to-24-week timelines, etc. The question was whether there was a better model.

The decision

22 Upper Ground's management team engaged Fibre Force following an introduction through their network. The process started with a free building survey, in which Fibre Force assessed the building's riser infrastructure, mapped the connectivity requirements for each floor, and designed a plan for building-wide gigabit fibre installation.

The decision to proceed was straightforward once the survey results were understood: the installation would be managed entirely by Fibre Force, at zero cost to the building. The wayleave coordination, the equipment, the installation, and the ongoing management would all be handled by Fibre Force. The asset management team's role was to facilitate access and introduce the leasing agents.

The installation

Installation at 22 Upper Ground proceeded on the standard Fibre Force timeline. Engineers installed carrier-grade fibre across to all floors.

The wayleave (historically one of the most time-consuming parts of any connectivity project) was completed swiftly - special acknowledgement is due to the internal legal team within the 22 Upper Ground management company for their proactivity.

Within six weeks of the survey, 22 Upper Ground had a building-wide gigabit fibre network. Cabling had been run to every floor and the network was live. The leasing agents were briefed and supplied with a marketing toolkit.

The leasing impact

The change in the leasing conversation was immediate and material.

Where previously connectivity had been an open question - one that sometimes derailed discussions or added delay - it was now a feature. The leasing agents could lead with it: "Gigabit fibre is pre-installed across the building. Any new tenant is operational from day one." That sentence closes a line of enquiry that had previously consumed disproportionate attention in viewings.

Prospective tenants asking about connectivity received an immediate, confident answer. The conversation stayed on the lease terms. Deal momentum improved.

The outcome

22 Upper Ground is now marketed as an internet-ready building. The connectivity feature is prominent in listing materials, in agent briefings, and in the viewing conversation. It is one of a small number of buildings in the SE1 market that can answer the connectivity question immediately and definitively.

For the asset management team, the operational impact was also significant. They do not manage ISP contracts, connectivity complaints, or installation coordination. Fibre Force handles all of this under a 99.95% uptime SLA. The building's connectivity is off their plate.

What this means for other landlords

22 Upper Ground is one of more than 33 buildings that Fibre Force has connected across London and the UK - from 9,000 sq ft multi-let offices in Holborn to 110,000 sq ft mixed-use developments in Chelsea.

The pattern is consistent across all of them. Buildings that answer the connectivity question before tenants ask it close deals faster, attract more qualified enquiries, and experience shorter void periods. The infrastructure that makes this possible takes six weeks to install and costs the landlord nothing.

If your building has a connectivity gap (or if you're not sure whether it does) a free building survey is the right place to start.