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The best and the worst of the regional office markets in Q1

By Stacey Meadwell on May 16, 2012 3:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Knight Frank released its amusingly named ROMP report yesterday (that's Regional Office Market Presentation - just don't google ROMP on its own on your office computer - well maybe a colleagues) in which it compares and contrasts the market performance in 11 regional cities around the UK. 

One of the most interesting graphs within the report shows Q1 2012 take up vs the average quarterly take up for 2011 ie how well has each city done this year so far? Now you have to look at the figures in context but before we do that here is how the 11 cities rank in terms of take up in Q1 2012 vs its 2011 quarterly average:

  1. Leeds +50%
  2. Glasgow +32%
  3. Edinburgh +23%
  4. Manchester -5%
  5. Liverpool -11%
  6. Bristol -16%
  7. Sheffield -29%
  8. Cardiff -40%
  9. Aberdeen -165%
  10. Birmingham -209%
  11. Newcastle -376%
Now the context bit, Leeds had a good 2011 but it was its first year of increased take up since 2007 and the Q1 figure includes one particularly large deal of over 60,000 sq ft (Medical Protection Society's purchase of 2 & 3 Victoria Place). 

Glasgow and Edinburgh on the other hand, while having had storming starts to Q1 compared to everywhere else, actually didn't have great 2011 for office take up so they are coming from a lower base.

The flip side of that is Aberdeen which looks like it has had a terrible start to the year when in fact it had a phenomenal 2011 recording the highest average quarterly take up of all 11 cities and it still ranks the fifth highest take up for Q1 2012.

And then there is Newcastle, while there was a brief filip last year, office take up in the city actually peaked in 2004. Ouch.

Stoford and Savills crowned EG's Wales and South West victors

By Nadia Elghamry on May 4, 2012 8:53 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
p824003124-3.jpgSavills and Stoford were crowned Wales and South West's property finest at the EG regional awards yesterday. At a sumptuous lunch at Cardiff's Parc Hotel for RICS Wales awards, the pair picked up gongs for property adviser and property company of the year Wales and South West. 

The award is the second year running that Savills (pictured bottom left) has been crowned regional champion and echoes two other regional wins from the agent last night
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with Savills picking up EG gongs in the  North West and South East.

For Stoford (pictured top right) the prize is quite an accolade. The West Midlands-based developer was, up until last year, a relatively unknown name on the Wales and South West scene. Director Dominic Stokes said he was "delighted" to have won the votes of so many readers. Stokes added that with the firm's home markets going quiet, Wales and the South West "are where we see our growth." 

Over 6,000 readers voted in the regional awards. EG's national awards will take place at the London Hilton on Park Lane in December. Click here for more details. 
Pictures copyright of EyeImagery

Other EG regional award winners reports:

Listen: Wales and South West key growth market for Stoford

By Nadia Elghamry on May 3, 2012 4:19 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Stoford is backing Wales and the South West for growth. That's quite a statement from the West Midlands based developer who up until a year or so ago were basically unknown in either region.

Stoford director Dominic Stokes said today that despite being a relative newcomer to the scene it hoped mega deals done to date would put it in a good place to build on their reputation. 'The Midlands is very quiet, it's good to see in Wales and the South West there are a number of occupiers and that's where we see our growth," he said.

Developers Stoford debuted in Wales when it became the surprise winner of the fight for Admiral Insurance. The deal to build the insurers new 215,000 sq ft HQ was the biggest of the year in Cardiff in 2010 and had been expected to be landed by Wales stalwarts MEPC/Rightacres at Callaghan Square. However, Stoford's having done a deal with Land Sec held the key city centre site - adjoining the St David's shopping centre - on the David Street car park. The deal was a relief, says Stokes, 'the region was foreign to us and it was challenging,' he said not least from the expenditure it involved.

In Avonmouth the developers are just putting the finishing touches to the Co-ops 435,000 sq ft mega distribution centre. It's regional profile has blossomed and this year it won EG's property ompany of the year not just in its home region of the West Midlands but was voted by local property professionals as property company of the year in Wales and the South West.  Stokes picked up this latter award at the RICS Wales awards ceremony at the Parc hotel today. 

However, Stokes said spec development was a definite 'no'. "We generally don't buy up land and hold it but prefer to work with occupiers and identify sites for them." This will be its strategy going forward in Wales. 'We hopefully off these deals and the award built up a rapport with local agents...and we've now got a project to show people.'

Listen to Stokes talk about this and more by clicking on the podcast below.

A full report on the Wales market will be published in this Saturday's EG



Exclusive images of Bristol Glassfields

By Nadia Elghamry on April 27, 2012 8:00 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
smallGlassfields, Avon - Exterior E 300dpi.jpgThe race for occupiers is definitely hotting up in Bristol. In this week's mag we report on how HDG Mansur's Bridgewater House and UK and European Investment's Templeback are going head to head in the fight for occupiers. Both say they are optimistic about the market going forward. Both say they are unwilling to compromise with a soft deal. And, while the latest numbers for Q1 can't quite back that optimism up there are several occupiers floating around the market. 

So too for Royal London Asset Management that has just released new images of its Glassfields  scheme as part of the relauch of the 350,000 sq ft Temple Way development. They've given us the first look at those images and you can see one of them here. In part the relaunch has been buoyed by the £5m cash injection into the Enterprise Zone - which the scheme is part of. But with a planning permission dating back to 2007 many agents would like them to get on and build. 

And how will Bridgewater House and Templeback fare? would they build given their time again? All the answers are in tomorrow's magazine.

Bristol office agents predict the year ahead

By Nadia Elghamry on April 27, 2012 12:00 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
This week we publish our Bristol, Bath and Swindon Focus in the magazine. But if you can't wait until tomorrow then there's a sneak peek at how the Bristol office agents think the market will pan out this year. Just click below to listen.


EG Bristol Question Time

By Stacey Meadwell on March 30, 2012 8:10 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
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This is quick summary of the key questions and answers at this mornings EG Bristol Question Time. There will be further coverage on EG.com and in the magazine.

Panel:
(JS) John Stacey, Asset Management Director, UK and European Investments
(BD) Bonnie Dean, Chief Executive, Bristol and Bath Science Park
(PH) Paddy Hales, Director, UK Investment Savills
Chair: (DW) Damian Wild, editor, Estates Gazette

Q How does the panel expect the Mary Portas proposals to impact on the High Street? (Stephen Jones, Western Retail)

PH Idea of bringing political will back to the High Street is good, question is has the horse already bolted? Making parking cheaper would be great if we could implement it. In the SW we lack out of town - don't have oversupply so maybe high streets have got a chance to bounce back. Go to some towns you do worry whether they will bounce back. 

JS Shopping patterns have fundamentally changed, as much as we should encourage regeneration of the high street finding the occupiers is going to be the hardest thing and we have to do what we can to facilitate that. 

Continue reading EG Bristol Question Time.


Bridgewater House Bristol close to signing tenant

By Nadia Elghamry on March 29, 2012 11:35 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
BWH .jpgBridgewater House was a huge gamble. Developers HDG Mansur took the decision to spec build the 110,000 sq ft office building to shell and core back in March 2010 - a decision it had prevaricated about for quite a while. 

Now, with the chips down everyone is keenly watching the building to see if that gamble will pay off. 

The building completed to shell and core in May last year and BDO took space in the building at the end of 2011 but, at just shy of 9,000 sq ft, it was hardly the vote of confidence the market needed to justify the grand gesture HDG made. Now, Michael Baker, senior managing director and head of development in UK and Europe, says another deal is in the offing, and it is in discussions for a much larger signing of between 30-35,000 sq ft. In the current market that would be a Big Deal.

So who might it be? Local agents seem to know little about this deal. Many think it might dovetail nicely with a 30,000 sq ft requirement Cushman & Wakefield is handling. The London-based agent has kept the name behind that requirement very close to it's chest but it is hardly imminent said one Bristol agent as it has only just asked for proposals.

Others circling the market are Canada Life looking for up to 40,0000 sq ft to exploit a lease expiry and BPP with a 40,000 sq ft requirement which most agents think would sit nicely at Bridgewater House. Babcock and Brown had been looking for 20,000 sq ft but is now thought to be under offer at Aztec West out of town. Balfour Beatty is the only other name on agents lips but the 20,000 sq ft requirement is said to be under review. 

A signing at Bridgewater House would be much more than just a boost for the take up numbers. Many Bristol agents think that with enquiries improving, getting a chunk of this building away will make other developers think very seriously about delivering stock into the starving Grade A market. Getting funding however, is quite another issue.

We'll be analysing this as well as the wider Bristol, Bath and Swindon market in detail in magazine on 28th April.

Related stories:

Pics: EG Bristol Focus reception

By Stacey Meadwell on February 27, 2012 9:08 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
A bumper crowd of more than 65 of Bristol's property professionals turned up for our annual lunch reception at the Hotel du Vin last Friday. 

Alder King were announced winners of the EGi deals competition with the firm's Thomas Dugay taking the dealmaker crown.

You can find the synopsis for our Bristol, Bath & Swindon Focus by clicking here. Nadia also asked a few people about their thoughts on an arena for Bristol and you can listen to what they had to say on a podcast here.

Listen: Bristol Arena needed now

By Nadia Elghamry on February 24, 2012 10:22 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Cardiff has it all. You don't often hear a Bristol agent say that. He was talking about an arena for the city and how Bristol needs a big venue now.

You only need to look at the crowds for the six nations rugby the other weekend in Cardiff to see what the benefits could be.


Many property people think that it's a disgrace that the South West's capital city is without a major venue.

We grabbed some of Bristol's leading property agents and developers at the EG reception today what they think, where an arena should go and what the council should be doing to make it's arena dream a reality.

Click below to listen to what Martin Booth at Knight Frank, Chris Grazier at Hartnell Taylor Cook and Phil Morton at CBRE had to say.

Pics: Sharks in the room at the BPAA annual dinner

By Stacey Meadwell on February 10, 2012 11:03 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The Bristol Property Agents Association dinner was as lively as ever last night. Out-going president Jayne Rixon (the first woman president in the association's history) got a raucous welcome of cheers and wolf-whistles as she took to the stage at the Thistle Grand. 

She counts among her achievements in her year long presidency, making the cycling event the most popular charity fundraiser. It finally overtakes the golf tournament. Be warned, those who participate, there are plans to add a 100 mile route this year.

Guest speaker Monty Hall also went down a storm with tales of being taken out in a small boat to swim with sharks by a legless guide (and no I don't mean they'd been drinking).

The partying went on into the wee small hours, the amount of drink not helping those still scratching their heads trying to work out how the roaming magician had removed their ties without them realising. Neither did it help those coming up with snazzy marketing straplines for their buildings. 'Bristol's best tertiary space' was a personal favourite I heard from one enthusiastic landlord, probably not a winner in the cold light of day though. 

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