Market Sloughdown
The Office blamed for property slump
Estate agents are blaming a property slump in Slough on Ricky Gervais.
They say businesses have been put off moving there because The Office so damaged the town’s image.
A third of office space in the Berkshire town, home to Europe’s biggest trading estate, is empty.
And it is feared that Slough has become synonymous with poor management and failure because the fictional Wernham Hogg was based there.
Martin Gibbons, of property firm Lambert Smith Hamptons, said: “Nearby towns like Maidenhead have enjoyed two good quarters in terms of renting office space. But Slough has been slow to respond.”
Rents for business space,which were £32 a square foot four years ago now languish at £20.
In 1937, Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman also damaged the town’s reputation with his verse: "Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough/It isn’t fit for humans now.”Published: 20 Sep 2004
