The many attractions of Bloomsbury as a place to live, work and visit is being recognised more and more. The Financial Times ran a very positive feature on Bloomsbury in June and I am pleased about the inception of the Bloomsbury Festival, taking place from 20^th to 22^nd October (see feature in this issue).  This has a wide-ranging programme of artistic and cultural events for people of all ages and interests, largely focused in and around the newly refurbished Brunswick Centre and sponsored by the developer, Allied London.  I hope that this will be well supported and will grow to become an annual event, covering a wider area, celebrating the vibrant and wide-ranging artistic activity and cultural heritage that Bloomsbury has to offer.

The attraction of Bloomsbury has brought another two new commercial tenants to the Estate since the last issue of Bloomsbury News.   Both have moved into recently refurbished office buildings - Aminex Petroleum Services Ltd. in Gower Street and Quercus Editions Ltd. in Bloomsbury Square.  It is particularly pleasing to see a publishing house returning to Bloomsbury, for so very long the home of that industry.

Elsewhere in this issue you will be able to read about the recent unveiling of the beautifully refurbished statue of Charles James Fox (1749 –1806), the famous Whig politician and anti-slavery campaigner, at the north end of Bloomsbury Square.  The ceremony was performed on 13^th September, the 200^th anniversary of Fox’s death, by the Right Hon. Michael Foot.

After a slight lull in the Estate’s refurbishment activities, we are now on site again with a project at 38 Bedford Place, converting a former office building to four residential apartments for letting.  Later in the autumn we will be starting another residential scheme, this time in Bloomsbury Square, to provide a further nine flats and maisonettes of varying sizes.  We are also working up plans for two significant office refurbishments, in Russell Square and Great Russell Street, which together will provide approaching 25,000 sq.ft. of top quality office accommodation, and another residential scheme in Gower Street, which will provide ten flats.   We have a busy period ahead of us!