Commercial Property Review 22 October 2014

2EPB-E01-S4

Commercial PropertyreviewIn association with

CitizenGLOUCESTER

ECHOGLOUCESTERSHIRE

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4

2 We d n e s d a y, October 22, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, October 22, 2014 w w w. bristolpost.co.ukw w w. bristolpost.co.uk

66 Queen Square where heritage meets innovation.

A new landmark building in the heart of the city, 66 Queen Square offers open plan floor plates, while integrating the period features of a Georgian terrace.

Providing 58,000 sqft over five floors, the office space is designed to maximise occupational requirements while ensuring future sustainability.

Available in spring 2015.

Flexible efficient contemporary

Available Spring 2015

0117 927 6691

Exciting times as themarket gets moving

South West’s reallymaking it happen

Andreas Lindelof, Managing DirectorDevelopment at Skanska UK.

NOW is an exciting time for Bristol andthe South West, both in terms of thecommercial property industry andwider activity as Bristol becomesEuropean Green Capital 2015.

Skanska has been actively working acrossthe South West for a number of years now,working with Bristol City Council to increasethe number of pupil places and improve fa-cilities through our schools programme.

We have completed a state-of-the-art con-struction project for Bath Spa University, whileour highways services projects in Somerset areimproving flood defences in the region too. Ofcourse, there’s also our new 60,000 sq ft Grade Aoffice development in Queen Square, at theheart of Bristol’s city centre.

We continue to recognise the strength of theSouth West region, not least because Bristol isits largest city, being recognised as one of themost prosperous cities beyond London. As theMayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, has stated,the area is a “laboratory for change.”

Bristol is doing things differently, thinkingdifferently and is prepared to take risks tomakes things happen. Skanska is helping todeliver these changes, both leading and col-

laborating where possible.Our new office development, 66 Queen

Square, Bristol, began when only one otherspeculative development was taking place. Wemade a commitment, demonstrating our beliefin the area, the attraction of the city and thetiming of the market. Now, as we prepare to ‘topout’ construction of the new building, we cansee real activity in the market with a number oflarge and smaller occupiers looking to takeadvantage of the opportunity to obtain new,high-quality, future-proofed office accommod-ation in a very attractive location.

Skanska remains committed to the SouthWest, continuing its schools programme andwider construction contracts, completing andletting 66 Queen Square and looking for furtheropportunities in the area. In demonstration ofSkanska’s commitment to the area, and ourcontinued commitment to sustainability inconstruction and development, we are proud tobe an official sponsor of Bristol 2015 EuropeanGreen Capital, along with partners First Groupand KPMG.

The fact that Bristol is the first UK city to winthis prestigious award really shows that thecity is doing things differently and is makingthings happen.

We are delighted to be able to support thearea both during this exciting time and in thef u t u re.

Welcome...

Rorie Henderson, Development Director atSalmon Harvester Properties

AS a developer, this is an exciting timeto be involved in the commercial prop-erty market in the South West. Havingacquired a 0.3 acre site in 2010 fromPwC and Lloyds Bank as part of the

Castlemore Administration, we are now seeingour 100,000 sq ft office development at 2 Glass-wharf come to fruition. The building will becompleted in December and has already takenits place in the Bristol skyline, alongside theFloating Harbour and Bristol Temple Meadss t at i o n .

When we launched the building, which sitswith the Enterprise Zone, at the end of last yearwe had fantastic support from Planning Min-ister Nick Boles and Mayor George Ferguson.It was a calculated risk but as we emerged froma recession, a risk all the same. Our £40 millioninvestment in Bristol was seen as a sign thatconfidence had returned to the wider economyand it was hoped that by building a first-classoffice headquarters, it would act as a catalystfor further investment and job creation.

To be rewarded with a top-flight professionalservices tenant prior to completion and withvery strong interest in the remainder of thebuilding, our gamble has paid off. So much so

that we have now submitted an application fora £50 million, 110,000 sq ft office developmentwith retail and basement car parking next doorat 3 Glasswharf. Subject to planning permis-sion, this building could be completed by theend of 2016.

The site used to be a glassworks, so we haveincorporated more glass into the design andgiven it a very modern finish. It will look morelike The Eye, adjacent to Burges Salmon’soffices than 2 Glasswharf. There will be 39 carparking spaces, room for bicycles and solarpanels on the roof to enhance the building’sgreen credentials. We also own a third site atTemple Quay and are considering options forthis site.

As a joint venture between Salmon Devel-opments and NFUM (National Farmers UnionMutual Insurance Co Ltd), Salmon HarvesterProperties has completed over £1 billion ofdevelopment projects to date and 2 Glasswharfis one of the jewels in our crown.

Bristol is a fantastic city to do business andi nve s t .

With clear leadership, great connectivity, atalented workforce and financial incentives,the region should be proud to have emergedfrom the recession stronger than before. Theproperty market in general is warming upagain and this is good news for local busi-n e s s e s.

THE saying goes that an Eng-l i s h m a n’s home is his castleso it stands to reason thatour business owners andmanagers will view their of-

fices and warehouses with a similarpride and passion.

And so they should. The rightenvironment, the right building, areso important to productivity for a

business. We should all be proud ofour workspaces.

During the recession, that pridewas dented somewhat. People fo-cused purely on cost, getting thebest deal often meant the cheapestdeal.

But now the economy is pickingup, so are people’s heads and theira m b i t i o n s.

We can see that in this specialCommercial Property Review forBristol, Gloucestershire and Som-erset.

On pages 6 and 7 we look at sus-tainability within developmentsand why for firms such as Skanska,it’s about more than just the bottoml i n e.

Pages 4 and 5 cover the grade A

market, the top quality offices suchas Salmon Harvester’s 2 GlassWharf where big companies canprovide offices that send a messageto staff and clients.

We also look at the thorny issue ofbusiness rates reform (pages 8 and9) and how that has effected theproperty market in the tough pastfew years.

And finally, we look at the pictureacross the region and at what is overthe horizon (pages 10 and 11). Thereis certainly plenty to talk about.

The market has been buzzing oflate in Bristol and that is nowspreading out into Gloucestershireand Somerset. Now we can build onthat momentum.

GAVIN THOMPSON

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


66 Queen Square where heritage meets innovation.

A new landmark building in the heart of the city, 66 Queen Square offers open plan floor plates, while integrating the period features of a Georgian terrace.

Providing 58,000 sqft over five floors, the office space is designed to maximise occupational requirements while ensuring future sustainability.

Available in spring 2015.

Flexible efficient contemporary

Available Spring 2015

0117 927 6691

Exciting times as themarket gets moving

South West’s reallymaking it happen

Andreas Lindelof, Managing DirectorDevelopment at Skanska UK.

NOW is an exciting time for Bristol andthe South West, both in terms of thecommercial property industry andwider activity as Bristol becomesEuropean Green Capital 2015.

Skanska has been actively working acrossthe South West for a number of years now,working with Bristol City Council to increasethe number of pupil places and improve fa-cilities through our schools programme.

We have completed a state-of-the-art con-struction project for Bath Spa University, whileour highways services projects in Somerset areimproving flood defences in the region too. Ofcourse, there’s also our new 60,000 sq ft Grade Aoffice development in Queen Square, at theheart of Bristol’s city centre.

We continue to recognise the strength of theSouth West region, not least because Bristol isits largest city, being recognised as one of themost prosperous cities beyond London. As theMayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, has stated,the area is a “laboratory for change.”

Bristol is doing things differently, thinkingdifferently and is prepared to take risks tomakes things happen. Skanska is helping todeliver these changes, both leading and col-

laborating where possible.Our new office development, 66 Queen

Square, Bristol, began when only one otherspeculative development was taking place. Wemade a commitment, demonstrating our beliefin the area, the attraction of the city and thetiming of the market. Now, as we prepare to ‘topout’ construction of the new building, we cansee real activity in the market with a number oflarge and smaller occupiers looking to takeadvantage of the opportunity to obtain new,high-quality, future-proofed office accommod-ation in a very attractive location.

Skanska remains committed to the SouthWest, continuing its schools programme andwider construction contracts, completing andletting 66 Queen Square and looking for furtheropportunities in the area. In demonstration ofSkanska’s commitment to the area, and ourcontinued commitment to sustainability inconstruction and development, we are proud tobe an official sponsor of Bristol 2015 EuropeanGreen Capital, along with partners First Groupand KPMG.

The fact that Bristol is the first UK city to winthis prestigious award really shows that thecity is doing things differently and is makingthings happen.

We are delighted to be able to support thearea both during this exciting time and in thef u t u re.

Welcome...

Rorie Henderson, Development Director atSalmon Harvester Properties

AS a developer, this is an exciting timeto be involved in the commercial prop-erty market in the South West. Havingacquired a 0.3 acre site in 2010 fromPwC and Lloyds Bank as part of the

Castlemore Administration, we are now seeingour 100,000 sq ft office development at 2 Glass-wharf come to fruition. The building will becompleted in December and has already takenits place in the Bristol skyline, alongside theFloating Harbour and Bristol Temple Meadss t at i o n .

When we launched the building, which sitswith the Enterprise Zone, at the end of last yearwe had fantastic support from Planning Min-ister Nick Boles and Mayor George Ferguson.It was a calculated risk but as we emerged froma recession, a risk all the same. Our £40 millioninvestment in Bristol was seen as a sign thatconfidence had returned to the wider economyand it was hoped that by building a first-classoffice headquarters, it would act as a catalystfor further investment and job creation.

To be rewarded with a top-flight professionalservices tenant prior to completion and withvery strong interest in the remainder of thebuilding, our gamble has paid off. So much so

that we have now submitted an application fora £50 million, 110,000 sq ft office developmentwith retail and basement car parking next doorat 3 Glasswharf. Subject to planning permis-sion, this building could be completed by theend of 2016.

The site used to be a glassworks, so we haveincorporated more glass into the design andgiven it a very modern finish. It will look morelike The Eye, adjacent to Burges Salmon’soffices than 2 Glasswharf. There will be 39 carparking spaces, room for bicycles and solarpanels on the roof to enhance the building’sgreen credentials. We also own a third site atTemple Quay and are considering options forthis site.

As a joint venture between Salmon Devel-opments and NFUM (National Farmers UnionMutual Insurance Co Ltd), Salmon HarvesterProperties has completed over £1 billion ofdevelopment projects to date and 2 Glasswharfis one of the jewels in our crown.

Bristol is a fantastic city to do business andi nve s t .

With clear leadership, great connectivity, atalented workforce and financial incentives,the region should be proud to have emergedfrom the recession stronger than before. Theproperty market in general is warming upagain and this is good news for local busi-n e s s e s.

THE saying goes that an Eng-l i s h m a n’s home is his castleso it stands to reason thatour business owners andmanagers will view their of-

fices and warehouses with a similarpride and passion.

And so they should. The rightenvironment, the right building, areso important to productivity for a

business. We should all be proud ofour workspaces.

During the recession, that pridewas dented somewhat. People fo-cused purely on cost, getting thebest deal often meant the cheapestdeal.

But now the economy is pickingup, so are people’s heads and theira m b i t i o n s.

We can see that in this specialCommercial Property Review forBristol, Gloucestershire and Som-erset.

On pages 6 and 7 we look at sus-tainability within developmentsand why for firms such as Skanska,it’s about more than just the bottoml i n e.

Pages 4 and 5 cover the grade A

market, the top quality offices suchas Salmon Harvester’s 2 GlassWharf where big companies canprovide offices that send a messageto staff and clients.

We also look at the thorny issue ofbusiness rates reform (pages 8 and9) and how that has effected theproperty market in the tough pastfew years.

And finally, we look at the pictureacross the region and at what is overthe horizon (pages 10 and 11). Thereis certainly plenty to talk about.

The market has been buzzing oflate in Bristol and that is nowspreading out into Gloucestershireand Somerset. Now we can build onthat momentum.

GAVIN THOMPSON

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


www.2glasswharf.com | www.3glasswharf.com

A development by:For more information:

Completion December 2014 www.2glasswharf.com | www.3glasswharf.com


Completion December 2014

EIGHTEEN months ago,Bristol’s office market re-ceived the boost it was wait-ing for with news of twomajor new speculative de-

velopments in the city centre – oneby Salmon Harvester at 2 GlassWharf and the other by Skanska at66 Queen Square.

Together these will providenearly 160,000 sq ft of much-neededGrade A office space in the heart ofthe city’s business district.

Bristol’s office supply has beensteadily falling over the past fiveyears. Around 300,000 sq ft of citycentre and out-of-town transactionsare in solicitors’ hands and much ofthe obsolete secondary stock, par-ticularly in the city centre, has beenconverted to residential use.

By the end of the year, it’s likelythat as much as 1 million sq ft ofoffice space will have been trans-acted. The last time Bristol sawtake-up at this level was in 2008.

This has left less than 18 months’supply of Grade A space available –not enough to meet the known500,000 sq ft plus requirements of there gion’s professional, financial ser-vices, legal, TMT and energy firmsseeking larger prestigiouspremises. Such is the pent-up de-mand for Grade A space that thefirst deal for 2 Glass Wharf has justbeen signed at a record rent of £28per sq ft, two months before prac-tical completion of the building. Asa consequence of this early success,Salmon Harvester has submitted aplanning application for the adjoin-ing 3 Glass Wharf which will offer115,000 sq ft of Grade A specificationa c c o m m o d at i o n .

The next speculative developmentto come forward will be Phase 3 atPaintworks where demolition isnow under way. The first two phasesof this scheme have created a strongfocus for the region’s thriving cre-ative sector.

In 2008 over 28 per cent of all jobsin Bristol were office-based, ahigher proportion than Manchest e r.This figure has undoubtedly in-creased since then. It goes withoutsaying therefore that cities with aplentiful office supply are betterplaced to grow existing businessesand attract new investment.

The success of these first spec-ulative schemes will no doubt act asa catalyst for further developmentand job creation over the comingye a r s.

Region’s offices aremaking the grade

Expert eyeSimon PricePartner and head ofagencyAlder King

Grade A office market Commercial property review

As the economy finallyrecovers, eyes are onthe grade A officemarket across theregion. Gavin Thompsonassesses the Bristol andSomerset scenes whileBev Hawes reports fromG l o u c e s t e r s h i re

B R I STO L

THE headlines in the city’sgrade A market have beenmade by two buildings overthe last 18 months, and nowwe can add a third.

First 2 Glass Wharf and then 66Queen Square were brought forwardas speculative schemes at the top endof the market. Following the lack ofbuilding since the recession, theschemes represented a gamble fordevelopers, Salmon Harvester andSkanska respectively.

Developing is a little like surfing,you have to time it just right and ridethe wave or risk a wipe-out. Manythought the two firms had gone tooearly but now, with a little hindsight,their bold move is looking perfectlytimed.

Accountancy firm PwC this monthagreed to lease the top floors at 2Glass Wharf and the smart money ison rival KPMG becoming the keytenant at 66 Queen Square in the nearf u t u re.

It has been enough to convinceSalmon Harvester, which owns threesites in Glass Wharf, to push aheadwith its second, to be called 3 GlassWharf, as it foresees a shortage insupply once those two headlineschemes fill-up.

Rorie Henderson, development dir-ector at Salmon Harvester, said theyhad always been confident in theBristol market.

“We have considerable interest inthe remaining space at 2 Glass Wharfand hope to announce the scheme isfully let before Christmas,” he said.

Ian Wills, director in JLL’s Bristoloffice, said the PwC move, along withTSB taking a 100,000 sq ft out-of-townspace in Almondsbury, was a positivesign. He said: “TSB Bank and PwC’srecent announcements that they aretaking 100,000 sq ft of top qualityspace between them in Bristol showthat corporate confidence is improv-ing.

“In town, there is less than 200,000sq ft of Grade A space available,which may seem considerable, butwhen you account for the fact that

almost 100,000 sq ft of refurbished orgrade A space is under offer and thereis over 350,000 sq ft of major activeenquiries out there from multi-na-tional companies, the market is un-doubtedly under pressure.

“There is of course a pipeline com-ing through with 66 Queen Squareand the major refurbishment at Nar-row Quay House both due to completenext year. But this will likely soak upthe existing demand, not necessarilyallow for more.

“So the question on everybody’slips is: what and who will start next?Whilst there are encouraging pro-spects now being marketed with 3Glass Wharf, Glassfields and AspireVictoria Street, these are likely torequire significant lettings before

they start to come out of the ground.However sentiment is moving veryquickly, particularly on the developerside and thanks in part to fundersbeing a little more willing to takerisk.

“W h at ’s more, there is a perceptionthat as things stand, choice is limitedand therefore occupiers are takingthe decision to push forward soonerrather than later.”

Away from the speculative buildsthere is refurbished grade A spaceout there.

Richard Kidd, office agency dir-ector at GVA in Bristol, said lettingolder grade A stock which has beensitting empty was proving harder.

“Look at Bridgewater House,which is 78,000 sq ft, and Temple

Back, which is similar,” he said,“They have been around for four, fiveor six years. We would like to seesome deals happening in thosep l a c e s.

“But I’m sure that will come.”Richard said the bulk of the activity

had been in the below 20,000 sq ft sizeat rents below £20, which was wellbelow the grade A level. Much of thathad been driven by taking largeamounts of older stock out of themarket under permitted develop-ment rights which has seen swathesof office space converted into flats inBristol.

For the older top-end stock, land-lords have been working hard to re-furbish or touch up to make theirproperties attractive to potential ten-

ants. At Bridgewater House, for ex-ample, owner Cubex given the site amakeover recently.

Accountancy firm BDO moved inas a tenant back in 2012 and has nowtaken the whole of the fifth floorwhile Barclays has taken the fourth,but much of the building is stillempty. The third floor isunder-going a re-fit and £3 millionin being invested to keep the site upto date with a fast-moving market.As the neighbouring Finzel’s Reachresidential and leisure developmentprogresses, it will make the area feelmore vibrant and perhaps Bridge-water House more tempting.

Nearby One Victoria Street hasalso being remodelled and is beingmarketed by Knight Frank, with

industry speculation that Spanishinsurance group MAPFRE Abraxascould be about to let the building.

There are a few other big firmswith grade A requirements aroundthe city. Law firm TLT and energyfirm EDF are talked about.

And now that PwC has made thefirst move, more deals are likely tofall into place.

Certainly, Bristol’s grade A mar-ket is back in business.

Andreas Lindelof, managing dir-ector development at Skanska UK,put it: “The Bristol market will al-ways bounce back. We took the viewthat going into Bristol as a de-veloper a couple of years ago madesense because it was just a matter oft i m e. ”

G LO U C EST E R S H I R EDEMAND for grade A office space inGloucestershire has increased overthe past three years and there havebeen a number of significant officetransactions in recent months.

And with a general lack of supplythe county is seeing renewed activ-ity in the development sector.

Robert Smith, pictured, of prop-erty consultants Bruton Knowles’Gloucester office, said: “Gloucestercity centre has been short of Grade Aoffice accommodation primarily be-cause demand has been concen-trated out of town around thebusiness parks at junction 12or 11a (of the M5). Howeverthe recent letting to TidalLagoon Power, whichhas moved into a newhead office inGloucester Quays’ icon-ic Pillar and Lucy Houseis proof that if you createthe right product you willcreate demand. Tidal wasbased in Cheltenham and topull a company out of Cheltenham ofthis size and persuade them to re-locate to Gloucester is unpreced-ented.”

Not only was it good to see one ofGloucester’s standout buildingsback in productive use, but the movebrings significant numbers of newemployees into the city centre.

“These extra employees will beshopping, eating and drinking in theimmediate vicinity – bringing muchneeded footfall, vibrancy not to men-tion revenue into GloucesterQ u ay s, ” said Mr Smith.

“The fact that High Street big hit-ters such as Coal Grill and Bar andTGI Fridays have chosen to takespace at the Quays is essential ifGloucester is to attract people andbu s i n e s s. ”

Adrian Rowley, a partner at prop-erty consultants Alder King inGloucester said: “G l o u c e s t e r s h i re ’soffice occupiers are fundamentallyafter grade A space. For most re-quirements secondary space doesnot fit the bill, irrespective of theterms it is offered on.

“G l o u c e s t e r s h i re ’s office marketis more aligned to out of town loc-ations in Gloucester, Cheltenham,Tewkesbury and Stroud where con-sented land is available and de-velopers aren’t competing withhigher value land uses as they wouldbe in city centre locations. Demand

has increased over the pastthree years with around

100,000 square feet ofknown requirementsactive in the market.

“It’s the grade Amarket where we areseeing rental growthup to £18.50p per

square foot, the firstincrease in headline

rents since 2007. Therehave been a number of sig-

nificant office transactions recently,the stand-out being the pre-let of 1420Gloucester Business Park where Ho-rizon Nuclear Power Services is tak-ing a new 52,000 square feetthree-storey building with expan-sion capabilities to provide an ad-ditional 15,000 square feet.”

Mr Rowley said Gloucestershirehad a very low supply of grade Aoffice space, particularly in the lar-ger 5,000 square feet plus range.

The county was seeing renewedactivity in the development sectorbut unlike Bristol there was littleimmediate prospect of any specu-lative development.

“The market is at tipping pointand speculative building will hap-pen – it’s just a question of when,”said Mr Rowley.

BOLD SCHEMES RIDE THE WAVE IN SHOW OF PERFECT TIMING

� The success of 2 Glass Wharf has seen developer Salmon Harvester push ahead with plans for 3 Glass Wharf

� Richard Kidd

� Bridgewater House, Bristol

SO M E R S E TACCORDING to Peter Barrett, as-sociate director at LSH, the Som-erset market hugs the M5motorway, with each junction itsown individual character.

He said there was very limitedgrade A space available, but pre-dicted speculative building wouldreturn soon.

“Portishead at Junction 19 hashad the most business with quite afew developments between 2006-8which had a lot of vacancies in thedownturn but now starting to fillup at places such as Portisfield andMarine View,” said Peter.

At Clevedon, junction 20, NorthSomerset council’s acquisition ofCastlewood “sucked up” most ofthe public sector demand such ashealth services and the police,which skewed the market. ButPeter believes there could be somedeals elsewhere in the town soon.

Next comes Weston-super-Mare,which is “probably the most ex-citing” area, according the Peter.

The Weston Gateway business

park, part of the town’s enterprisearea, is ripe for development andhoping to catch the eye of firmslooking to position themselvesbetween Bristol, the economicpowerhouse of the region, andBridgwater, where a new nuclearpower station will bring huge in-ve s t m e n t .

Knightstone Housing’s pre-letoffice was recently finished andplans are being drawn up to buildan new grade A site, EnterpriseHouse, next door. Plus there is13,500 sq ft of space within Knigh-stone’s HQ available for let.

Despite the activity furthernorth, county town Taunton re-mains a key location.

Local authorities and the Heartof the South West Local EnterprisePartnership last week unveiledtheir vision to develop a “strate gicemployment site” to the east of theM5 at Junction 25, while the ex-isting town and businesses lie tothe West. The plan aims to bring innew business and create 4,000 jobs,which will certainly mean oppor-tunities in the office market.

� The proposed strategic employment site to the east of the M5 atJunction 25

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


www.2glasswharf.com | www.3glasswharf.com


Completion December 2014 www.2glasswharf.com | www.3glasswharf.com


Completion December 2014

EIGHTEEN months ago,Bristol’s office market re-ceived the boost it was wait-ing for with news of twomajor new speculative de-

velopments in the city centre – oneby Salmon Harvester at 2 GlassWharf and the other by Skanska at66 Queen Square.

Together these will providenearly 160,000 sq ft of much-neededGrade A office space in the heart ofthe city’s business district.

Bristol’s office supply has beensteadily falling over the past fiveyears. Around 300,000 sq ft of citycentre and out-of-town transactionsare in solicitors’ hands and much ofthe obsolete secondary stock, par-ticularly in the city centre, has beenconverted to residential use.

By the end of the year, it’s likelythat as much as 1 million sq ft ofoffice space will have been trans-acted. The last time Bristol sawtake-up at this level was in 2008.

This has left less than 18 months’supply of Grade A space available –not enough to meet the known500,000 sq ft plus requirements of there gion’s professional, financial ser-vices, legal, TMT and energy firmsseeking larger prestigiouspremises. Such is the pent-up de-mand for Grade A space that thefirst deal for 2 Glass Wharf has justbeen signed at a record rent of £28per sq ft, two months before prac-tical completion of the building. Asa consequence of this early success,Salmon Harvester has submitted aplanning application for the adjoin-ing 3 Glass Wharf which will offer115,000 sq ft of Grade A specificationa c c o m m o d at i o n .

The next speculative developmentto come forward will be Phase 3 atPaintworks where demolition isnow under way. The first two phasesof this scheme have created a strongfocus for the region’s thriving cre-ative sector.

In 2008 over 28 per cent of all jobsin Bristol were office-based, ahigher proportion than Manchest e r.This figure has undoubtedly in-creased since then. It goes withoutsaying therefore that cities with aplentiful office supply are betterplaced to grow existing businessesand attract new investment.

The success of these first spec-ulative schemes will no doubt act asa catalyst for further developmentand job creation over the comingye a r s.

Region’s offices aremaking the grade

Expert eyeSimon PricePartner and head ofagencyAlder King

Grade A office market Commercial property review

As the economy finallyrecovers, eyes are onthe grade A officemarket across theregion. Gavin Thompsonassesses the Bristol andSomerset scenes whileBev Hawes reports fromG l o u c e s t e r s h i re

B R I STO L

THE headlines in the city’sgrade A market have beenmade by two buildings overthe last 18 months, and nowwe can add a third.

First 2 Glass Wharf and then 66Queen Square were brought forwardas speculative schemes at the top endof the market. Following the lack ofbuilding since the recession, theschemes represented a gamble fordevelopers, Salmon Harvester andSkanska respectively.

Developing is a little like surfing,you have to time it just right and ridethe wave or risk a wipe-out. Manythought the two firms had gone tooearly but now, with a little hindsight,their bold move is looking perfectlytimed.

Accountancy firm PwC this monthagreed to lease the top floors at 2Glass Wharf and the smart money ison rival KPMG becoming the keytenant at 66 Queen Square in the nearf u t u re.

It has been enough to convinceSalmon Harvester, which owns threesites in Glass Wharf, to push aheadwith its second, to be called 3 GlassWharf, as it foresees a shortage insupply once those two headlineschemes fill-up.

Rorie Henderson, development dir-ector at Salmon Harvester, said theyhad always been confident in theBristol market.

“We have considerable interest inthe remaining space at 2 Glass Wharfand hope to announce the scheme isfully let before Christmas,” he said.

Ian Wills, director in JLL’s Bristoloffice, said the PwC move, along withTSB taking a 100,000 sq ft out-of-townspace in Almondsbury, was a positivesign. He said: “TSB Bank and PwC’srecent announcements that they aretaking 100,000 sq ft of top qualityspace between them in Bristol showthat corporate confidence is improv-ing.

“In town, there is less than 200,000sq ft of Grade A space available,which may seem considerable, butwhen you account for the fact that

almost 100,000 sq ft of refurbished orgrade A space is under offer and thereis over 350,000 sq ft of major activeenquiries out there from multi-na-tional companies, the market is un-doubtedly under pressure.

“There is of course a pipeline com-ing through with 66 Queen Squareand the major refurbishment at Nar-row Quay House both due to completenext year. But this will likely soak upthe existing demand, not necessarilyallow for more.

“So the question on everybody’slips is: what and who will start next?Whilst there are encouraging pro-spects now being marketed with 3Glass Wharf, Glassfields and AspireVictoria Street, these are likely torequire significant lettings before

they start to come out of the ground.However sentiment is moving veryquickly, particularly on the developerside and thanks in part to fundersbeing a little more willing to takerisk.

“W h at ’s more, there is a perceptionthat as things stand, choice is limitedand therefore occupiers are takingthe decision to push forward soonerrather than later.”

Away from the speculative buildsthere is refurbished grade A spaceout there.

Richard Kidd, office agency dir-ector at GVA in Bristol, said lettingolder grade A stock which has beensitting empty was proving harder.

“Look at Bridgewater House,which is 78,000 sq ft, and Temple

Back, which is similar,” he said,“They have been around for four, fiveor six years. We would like to seesome deals happening in thosep l a c e s.

“But I’m sure that will come.”Richard said the bulk of the activity

had been in the below 20,000 sq ft sizeat rents below £20, which was wellbelow the grade A level. Much of thathad been driven by taking largeamounts of older stock out of themarket under permitted develop-ment rights which has seen swathesof office space converted into flats inBristol.

For the older top-end stock, land-lords have been working hard to re-furbish or touch up to make theirproperties attractive to potential ten-

ants. At Bridgewater House, for ex-ample, owner Cubex given the site amakeover recently.

Accountancy firm BDO moved inas a tenant back in 2012 and has nowtaken the whole of the fifth floorwhile Barclays has taken the fourth,but much of the building is stillempty. The third floor isunder-going a re-fit and £3 millionin being invested to keep the site upto date with a fast-moving market.As the neighbouring Finzel’s Reachresidential and leisure developmentprogresses, it will make the area feelmore vibrant and perhaps Bridge-water House more tempting.

Nearby One Victoria Street hasalso being remodelled and is beingmarketed by Knight Frank, with

industry speculation that Spanishinsurance group MAPFRE Abraxascould be about to let the building.

There are a few other big firmswith grade A requirements aroundthe city. Law firm TLT and energyfirm EDF are talked about.

And now that PwC has made thefirst move, more deals are likely tofall into place.

Certainly, Bristol’s grade A mar-ket is back in business.

Andreas Lindelof, managing dir-ector development at Skanska UK,put it: “The Bristol market will al-ways bounce back. We took the viewthat going into Bristol as a de-veloper a couple of years ago madesense because it was just a matter oft i m e. ”

G LO U C EST E R S H I R EDEMAND for grade A office space inGloucestershire has increased overthe past three years and there havebeen a number of significant officetransactions in recent months.

And with a general lack of supplythe county is seeing renewed activ-ity in the development sector.

Robert Smith, pictured, of prop-erty consultants Bruton Knowles’Gloucester office, said: “Gloucestercity centre has been short of Grade Aoffice accommodation primarily be-cause demand has been concen-trated out of town around thebusiness parks at junction 12or 11a (of the M5). Howeverthe recent letting to TidalLagoon Power, whichhas moved into a newhead office inGloucester Quays’ icon-ic Pillar and Lucy Houseis proof that if you createthe right product you willcreate demand. Tidal wasbased in Cheltenham and topull a company out of Cheltenham ofthis size and persuade them to re-locate to Gloucester is unpreced-ented.”

Not only was it good to see one ofGloucester’s standout buildingsback in productive use, but the movebrings significant numbers of newemployees into the city centre.

“These extra employees will beshopping, eating and drinking in theimmediate vicinity – bringing muchneeded footfall, vibrancy not to men-tion revenue into GloucesterQ u ay s, ” said Mr Smith.

“The fact that High Street big hit-ters such as Coal Grill and Bar andTGI Fridays have chosen to takespace at the Quays is essential ifGloucester is to attract people andbu s i n e s s. ”

Adrian Rowley, a partner at prop-erty consultants Alder King inGloucester said: “G l o u c e s t e r s h i re ’soffice occupiers are fundamentallyafter grade A space. For most re-quirements secondary space doesnot fit the bill, irrespective of theterms it is offered on.

“G l o u c e s t e r s h i re ’s office marketis more aligned to out of town loc-ations in Gloucester, Cheltenham,Tewkesbury and Stroud where con-sented land is available and de-velopers aren’t competing withhigher value land uses as they wouldbe in city centre locations. Demand

has increased over the pastthree years with around

100,000 square feet ofknown requirementsactive in the market.

“It’s the grade Amarket where we areseeing rental growthup to £18.50p per

square foot, the firstincrease in headline

rents since 2007. Therehave been a number of sig-

nificant office transactions recently,the stand-out being the pre-let of 1420Gloucester Business Park where Ho-rizon Nuclear Power Services is tak-ing a new 52,000 square feetthree-storey building with expan-sion capabilities to provide an ad-ditional 15,000 square feet.”

Mr Rowley said Gloucestershirehad a very low supply of grade Aoffice space, particularly in the lar-ger 5,000 square feet plus range.

The county was seeing renewedactivity in the development sectorbut unlike Bristol there was littleimmediate prospect of any specu-lative development.

“The market is at tipping pointand speculative building will hap-pen – it’s just a question of when,”said Mr Rowley.

BOLD SCHEMES RIDE THE WAVE IN SHOW OF PERFECT TIMING

� The success of 2 Glass Wharf has seen developer Salmon Harvester push ahead with plans for 3 Glass Wharf

� Richard Kidd

� Bridgewater House, Bristol

SO M E R S E TACCORDING to Peter Barrett, as-sociate director at LSH, the Som-erset market hugs the M5motorway, with each junction itsown individual character.

He said there was very limitedgrade A space available, but pre-dicted speculative building wouldreturn soon.

“Portishead at Junction 19 hashad the most business with quite afew developments between 2006-8which had a lot of vacancies in thedownturn but now starting to fillup at places such as Portisfield andMarine View,” said Peter.

At Clevedon, junction 20, NorthSomerset council’s acquisition ofCastlewood “sucked up” most ofthe public sector demand such ashealth services and the police,which skewed the market. ButPeter believes there could be somedeals elsewhere in the town soon.

Next comes Weston-super-Mare,which is “probably the most ex-citing” area, according the Peter.

The Weston Gateway business

park, part of the town’s enterprisearea, is ripe for development andhoping to catch the eye of firmslooking to position themselvesbetween Bristol, the economicpowerhouse of the region, andBridgwater, where a new nuclearpower station will bring huge in-ve s t m e n t .

Knightstone Housing’s pre-letoffice was recently finished andplans are being drawn up to buildan new grade A site, EnterpriseHouse, next door. Plus there is13,500 sq ft of space within Knigh-stone’s HQ available for let.

Despite the activity furthernorth, county town Taunton re-mains a key location.

Local authorities and the Heartof the South West Local EnterprisePartnership last week unveiledtheir vision to develop a “strate gicemployment site” to the east of theM5 at Junction 25, while the ex-isting town and businesses lie tothe West. The plan aims to bring innew business and create 4,000 jobs,which will certainly mean oppor-tunities in the office market.

� The proposed strategic employment site to the east of the M5 atJunction 25

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


Is sustainability just about being green?

Know howAlex JordanLeasing and marketingdir ectorSkanska UK

THE pressure is on businesses toface up to a raft of sustainab-ility-related issues across allareas of the property and builtenvironment sector.

Issues range from legislative and com-pliance pressures, such as the forthcom-ing Minimum Energy PerformanceStandards regulations – which will re-strict the letting of assets with poor En-ergy Performance Certificate ratingsfrom April 2018, to increased exposure togreen taxes such as the Carbon Reduc-tion Commitment framework andon-going issues around increasing re-source prices and security of energy sup-p ly.

Additionally, there is growing evidencethat buildings demonstrating strong sus-tainability principles produce additionalqualitative benefits around the improvedhealth of occupants and increased staffp ro d u c t iv i t y.

Sustainability credentials are increas-ingly being linked to market perceptionsof higher building “quality”.

Whilst there is no definitive evidenceto confirm that sustainable buildings ingeneral currently command higher cap-ital or rental values in the UK, it isbecoming increasingly apparent thatp ro s p e c t ivetenants areavo i d i n gbu i l d i n g swith poorers u s t a i n ab i l -ity creden-tials – inother words,whilst there may be no “premium forg reen” buildings there will be a “dis-count for brown” bu i l d i n g s.

The IPD EcoPAS green property indexis currently working towards demon-strating and quantifying this link in theUK, as sustainability continues to de-velop as a major issue in commercialproperty markets across the globe.

In the face of these increasing pres-sures, buildings with high sustainabilitycredentials will have reduced exposure torisks around legislative obsolescence.They will also have lower occupationaland operational/maintenance costs andwill be increasingly attractive to pro-spective tenants resulting in reducedvoid periods.

This will result in slower depreciationover the short to medium term, andpotentially higher rental and sales pricesin the longer term.

In short, embedding sustainability andresource efficiency principles into build-ings acts as a “value protector” t h ro u g hthe mitigation of the intrinsic risks inowning and operating less sustainableassets, and will undoubtedly result intheir outperforming of non-environ-mentally friendly properties over thelonger term – especially as the directionof travel of government policy and theenergy markets suggests that the pres-sures being faced now will only increaseinto the future.

Sustainable buildingsmake business sense

Expert eyeDavid EynonSenior sustainability advisorColliers International0117 917 207407557 215400

Heritage meets innovationwww.66queensquare.com


SK A N S K A’S commitment tocontribute to a more sustain-able world is resolute. One ofthe main focuses for our busi-ness is reducing energy use

in buildings and minimising the car-bon footprint of our projects – wh atthe industry calls ‘sustainable de-ve l o p m e n t ’.

We constantly push the bound-aries, working with our supplychain to develop innovative, cost-ef-fective green solutions. Regardlessof the project size, or how straight-forward or complex it may be, ourgoal is to always exceed expecta-t i o n s.

Sustainability, however, is not justabout being ‘g reen’. With all of ourprojects we look further than justsustainable construction. We thinkabout the whole life-cycle of a fa-cility. We carefully consider how we

can meet the needs of today withoutjeopardising those of tomorrow.

Take, for example, 66 QueenSquare, our new 60,000 sqft grade Aoffice building. One of just a fewcommercial developments currentlybeing built in Bristol, 66 QueenSquare combines a rebuild of QueenAnne’s House, maintaining theGeorgian façade, with the develop-ment of a new modern, more ef-ficient office space incorporatingintegrated sustainability featuresfor long-term energy efficiency.

The building is designed to meetBREEAM Excellent and EPC A andit is being built with ‘near-z ero’ en-vironmental impact using recycledand green construction materials.

This development is certainlychallenging, in terms of the energyperformance, due the requirementsto retain the original Georgianstructures and comply with thegrade two listing.

As such, although the ‘old’ part ofthe building has been built and fittedwith as many energy-efficient fea-tures as possible, including LEDlighting throughout, the require-ment to maintain single glazing inthe refurbished period sash win-dows has meant the ‘n ew ’ part of thebuilding has to compensate to agreater extent with additional sus-tainable initiatives.

However, there’s also a more pos-itive way to view these necessaryadaptations. Through our work, weare developing sustainably by pre-

serving the period features of thebuilding – being socially as well asenvironmentally responsible.

It is a social commitment to pre-serve the history of the building,while providing a comfortable en-vironment in which people can goabout their daily work.

The design, approach and methodof construction at 66 Queen Squarehas been specifically adapted to re-spect the history of the area whilemaximising the functionality anddemands of a modern office.

The re-landscaped ThunderboltSquare and new façade of the build-ing along King St further enhancethe social environment, which be-nefits not only occupiers of 66 QueenSquare but also the wider Bristolc o m m u n i t y.

Ensuring that an office is efficientin terms of its design and layout iscentral when taking a sustainableapproach to development. Efficientdesign is of increasing concern to

both occupiers and investors. Mod-ern investors understand the im-portance of future-proofing abuilding to give it longevity as ani nve s t m e n t .

The days of the single occupier25-year lease are long gone and youhave to expect that a property will beoccupied by several different busi-nesses over its lifetime.

From this point of view it is im-portant that a building remains de-sirable to prospective tenants toavoid costly void periods in the fu-t u re.

So is sustainability in develop-ment just about being ‘g reen’? No,it’s about recognising the purpose ofa building and providing a structurein keeping with its surroundings.

It’s also about delivering a spacethat is fit for use and comfortable forits inhabitants. Finally, finan-cially-speaking, it’s an investmentthat is future-proofed to be fit forpurpose for many years to come.

Housing your businessin sustainable premisesis about ethos andvalues, but it alsocarries benefits for thebottom line, as GavinThompson finds out

BEFORE the recession, de-velopers were clamberingover one another to shouttheir green credentials.Then the market has

changed. But did priorities shiftwith them?

Richard Kidd, director of officeagency at GVA in the South West,said he felt the drive for sustain-ablity had been replaced by coldhard business sense in recentye a r s.

“In 2006, 2007 when a lot of gradeA speculative build was going upthere was a real buzz about sus-tainability, recycle-ability and thel i ke, ” he said. “With the recession,the market fell away. Sustainabilityhas a price and in that marketoccupiers won’t pay that. They areless interested in whether thebricks were sourced locally.

“But what occupiers are inter-ested in is energy efficiency andkeeping the costs down and theirservice charges as low as pos-s i bl e. ”

And that has led to a much oldstock being improved to becomemore energy efficient, particularlywhile it has been standing empty inthe economic downturn. The mo-tivation is not quite the same, but atleast the results are positive for thegreen agenda.

Others would disagree withR i ch a rd ’s reading, believing thewhole sustainability package is aselling point. Or at least that theabsence of it is a turn off to busi-nesses. When Skanska designed 66Queen Square in the heart of Bris-tol, sustainability was consideredto be key. Andreas Lindelof, man-aging director development, said itwas important to future-proof thep ro j e c t .

“People may not want to pay apremium for sustainability nowbut they will see it as a requirementin future,” he said. There’s littlepoint building something now thatwill be old hat in five years’ t i m e.

But Andreas points out that adeveloper alone could not make abuilding to truly sustainable.

“You can have the greenest build-ing on earth but then you open awindow with the heating on full...”

WHEN architects Stephen Limbrickand Jeff Roberts first came across ahistoric building in the centre ofGloucester it was in a sad and sorrys t at e.

The 120-year-old former CarriageWorks building in the city’s BrutonWay had become a derelict haven fordown and outs and was on its lastle gs.

But the once proud red-brickedstructure captured the imaginationof the two men who were determinedto breathe fresh life into the land-mark building. And what their com-pany Roberts Limbrick Architectsmanaged to achieve has been held upas shining example of how new, en-vironmentally friendly office spacecan be created from a desperatelyrundown site.

The building at the northern gate-way to Gloucester had originallybeen constructed in 1894 by theGloucester Carriage and Wagon as ashowroom for the finest horsedrawncarriages – many of which were ex-ported to far-flung parts of the em-pire. In 1904 the building was sold tothe Post Office and became a sortingdepot and then was taken over byDunelm Mill as a retail outlet.

Several years ago Dunelm movedout to Gloucester’s Westgate Islandand the building fell into seriousdisrepair until Stephen and Jeff sawits potential. They had merged theirtwo businesses a few years earlierand were looking to unite in oneheadquarters whilst remaining inGloucester. Time was of the essence,the building had suffered a fire andlead had been stripped from the roof,

allowing water to pour in.The architects were determined to

restore the building as sympathet-ically as possible whilst making it assustainable as possible. The result isa light and airy office space andstudio where clever use of glass en-sures natural light provides 85 percent of the lighting.

The building includes an innov-ative heat recovery system and thereis no need for visiting clients to burnup the road miles – Gloucester rail-way station is a short walk away.

Earlier this year the CarriageWorks building was recognised bythe British Council for Offices as oneof the South West’s four finest work-places at its annual regional propertyawards. The Carriage Building wonthe award for Best Refurbished/ Re-cycled Workplace.

The BCO judges said that taking ona disused and forgotten building wasa brave decision and they were im-pressed “with the sensitivity of therefurbishment which breathes newlife into this former horse-drawn car-riage showcase building.”

Now a showcase for RobertsLimbrick Architects, the judgesadded that it was one of the bestexamples of recycling, refurbishmentand the rebirth of an existing periodbu i l d i n g .

Judging chairman Chris Kim-ber-Nickelson said: “The CarriageBuilding was a particularly impress-ive project that emerged as a clearwinner. Particularly impressive isthe way the development has been sowell received by the local com-m u n i t y. ”

Being good for the environmentcan be great for business too

SUSTAINABLE STEPS

� Supplement conventionallighting with light tubes, or ‘sunpipes’ to make the most ofsunlight during daylight hours.

� Install rain water catchmentdevices to use collected waterfor flushing toilets. If water iscaptured at the roof level, asmall hydroelectric systemcould generate power as thewater drops to ground level.

� The days of the oldthermostat on the wall arenumbered, with the arrival ofintelligent software anddevices, such as Nest, thatadjust controls according toactual and real-time buildinguse.

� Having a compost collectionin kitchen for food scraps,compostable plates and cutlery

is a simple step to cuttingwaste and can be used energygeneration.

� Provide charging points forelectric vehicles.

� Plant pollution-controllingtrees directly outside thebuilding, and include plantinginside the building to improveindoor air quality and thegeneral working environment.

� Consider solar panelsinstalled on behalf ofcommunity energy groups

� Boilers fuelled by wastevegetable oil collected andrefined from local restaurantsand cafes are becomingincreasingly common.

Tips from JLL

said Andreas. “We need tenantswho are environmentally en-lightened. It is a challenge for us toeducation tenants too.”

Nicola Perry, associate director

in property and asset managementat JLL in the city, said: “From aproperty asset management per-spective, we are increasingly seeingdemand from investors seeking to

improve the sustainability creden-tials of the buildings we managebecause they have realised thatthese have a significant positiveimpact on asset value. We are alsoseeing increased demand from oc-cupiers in this respect as they re-cognise that their businesses areunder pressure to show that theyhave the appropriate sustainabilitycredentials. The most sought aftersustainability accreditation isGRESB, the Global Real Estate Sus-tainability Benchmark.”

Her colleague Tim Harris, pro-ject management director at JLL,admits major projects to install en-ergy-efficient measures can bechallenging for some businesses,but he believes even taking one ortwo steps can make a huge impactin terms of cost and green cre-d e n t i a l s.

“Being green is finally being seenas making smart business senseand increasingly a property’s sus-tainability credentials are makingan impact on its value,” said Tim.

“Sustainability is key for us atJLL, whether we’re marketingproperties, managing facilities orworking with developers on newbuildings – ensuring it’s as envir-onmentally sound as possible, is atthe heart of what we do. And it’salso a rapidly developing world.”

Award-winners bringbuilding back to life

� Directors Jeff Roberts, left, and Stephen Limbrick at the Carriage Works site

� 66 Queen Square has been designed with the highest standards of sustainability in mind

Sustainability Commercial property review

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


Is sustainability just about being green?

Know howAlex JordanLeasing and marketingdir ectorSkanska UK

THE pressure is on businesses toface up to a raft of sustainab-ility-related issues across allareas of the property and builtenvironment sector.

Issues range from legislative and com-pliance pressures, such as the forthcom-ing Minimum Energy PerformanceStandards regulations – which will re-strict the letting of assets with poor En-ergy Performance Certificate ratingsfrom April 2018, to increased exposure togreen taxes such as the Carbon Reduc-tion Commitment framework andon-going issues around increasing re-source prices and security of energy sup-p ly.

Additionally, there is growing evidencethat buildings demonstrating strong sus-tainability principles produce additionalqualitative benefits around the improvedhealth of occupants and increased staffp ro d u c t iv i t y.

Sustainability credentials are increas-ingly being linked to market perceptionsof higher building “quality”.

Whilst there is no definitive evidenceto confirm that sustainable buildings ingeneral currently command higher cap-ital or rental values in the UK, it isbecoming increasingly apparent thatp ro s p e c t ivetenants areavo i d i n gbu i l d i n g swith poorers u s t a i n ab i l -ity creden-tials – inother words,whilst there may be no “premium forg reen” buildings there will be a “dis-count for brown” bu i l d i n g s.

The IPD EcoPAS green property indexis currently working towards demon-strating and quantifying this link in theUK, as sustainability continues to de-velop as a major issue in commercialproperty markets across the globe.

In the face of these increasing pres-sures, buildings with high sustainabilitycredentials will have reduced exposure torisks around legislative obsolescence.They will also have lower occupationaland operational/maintenance costs andwill be increasingly attractive to pro-spective tenants resulting in reducedvoid periods.

This will result in slower depreciationover the short to medium term, andpotentially higher rental and sales pricesin the longer term.

In short, embedding sustainability andresource efficiency principles into build-ings acts as a “value protector” t h ro u g hthe mitigation of the intrinsic risks inowning and operating less sustainableassets, and will undoubtedly result intheir outperforming of non-environ-mentally friendly properties over thelonger term – especially as the directionof travel of government policy and theenergy markets suggests that the pres-sures being faced now will only increaseinto the future.

Sustainable buildingsmake business sense

Expert eyeDavid EynonSenior sustainability advisorColliers International0117 917 207407557 215400



SK A N S K A’S commitment tocontribute to a more sustain-able world is resolute. One ofthe main focuses for our busi-ness is reducing energy use

in buildings and minimising the car-bon footprint of our projects – wh atthe industry calls ‘sustainable de-ve l o p m e n t ’.

We constantly push the bound-aries, working with our supplychain to develop innovative, cost-ef-fective green solutions. Regardlessof the project size, or how straight-forward or complex it may be, ourgoal is to always exceed expecta-t i o n s.

Sustainability, however, is not justabout being ‘g reen’. With all of ourprojects we look further than justsustainable construction. We thinkabout the whole life-cycle of a fa-cility. We carefully consider how we

can meet the needs of today withoutjeopardising those of tomorrow.

Take, for example, 66 QueenSquare, our new 60,000 sqft grade Aoffice building. One of just a fewcommercial developments currentlybeing built in Bristol, 66 QueenSquare combines a rebuild of QueenAnne’s House, maintaining theGeorgian façade, with the develop-ment of a new modern, more ef-ficient office space incorporatingintegrated sustainability featuresfor long-term energy efficiency.

The building is designed to meetBREEAM Excellent and EPC A andit is being built with ‘near-z ero’ en-vironmental impact using recycledand green construction materials.

This development is certainlychallenging, in terms of the energyperformance, due the requirementsto retain the original Georgianstructures and comply with thegrade two listing.

As such, although the ‘old’ part ofthe building has been built and fittedwith as many energy-efficient fea-tures as possible, including LEDlighting throughout, the require-ment to maintain single glazing inthe refurbished period sash win-dows has meant the ‘n ew ’ part of thebuilding has to compensate to agreater extent with additional sus-tainable initiatives.

However, there’s also a more pos-itive way to view these necessaryadaptations. Through our work, weare developing sustainably by pre-

serving the period features of thebuilding – being socially as well asenvironmentally responsible.

It is a social commitment to pre-serve the history of the building,while providing a comfortable en-vironment in which people can goabout their daily work.

The design, approach and methodof construction at 66 Queen Squarehas been specifically adapted to re-spect the history of the area whilemaximising the functionality anddemands of a modern office.

The re-landscaped ThunderboltSquare and new façade of the build-ing along King St further enhancethe social environment, which be-nefits not only occupiers of 66 QueenSquare but also the wider Bristolc o m m u n i t y.

Ensuring that an office is efficientin terms of its design and layout iscentral when taking a sustainableapproach to development. Efficientdesign is of increasing concern to

both occupiers and investors. Mod-ern investors understand the im-portance of future-proofing abuilding to give it longevity as ani nve s t m e n t .

The days of the single occupier25-year lease are long gone and youhave to expect that a property will beoccupied by several different busi-nesses over its lifetime.

From this point of view it is im-portant that a building remains de-sirable to prospective tenants toavoid costly void periods in the fu-t u re.

So is sustainability in develop-ment just about being ‘g reen’? No,it’s about recognising the purpose ofa building and providing a structurein keeping with its surroundings.

It’s also about delivering a spacethat is fit for use and comfortable forits inhabitants. Finally, finan-cially-speaking, it’s an investmentthat is future-proofed to be fit forpurpose for many years to come.

Housing your businessin sustainable premisesis about ethos andvalues, but it alsocarries benefits for thebottom line, as GavinThompson finds out

BEFORE the recession, de-velopers were clamberingover one another to shouttheir green credentials.Then the market has

changed. But did priorities shiftwith them?

Richard Kidd, director of officeagency at GVA in the South West,said he felt the drive for sustain-ablity had been replaced by coldhard business sense in recentye a r s.

“In 2006, 2007 when a lot of gradeA speculative build was going upthere was a real buzz about sus-tainability, recycle-ability and thel i ke, ” he said. “With the recession,the market fell away. Sustainabilityhas a price and in that marketoccupiers won’t pay that. They areless interested in whether thebricks were sourced locally.

“But what occupiers are inter-ested in is energy efficiency andkeeping the costs down and theirservice charges as low as pos-s i bl e. ”

And that has led to a much oldstock being improved to becomemore energy efficient, particularlywhile it has been standing empty inthe economic downturn. The mo-tivation is not quite the same, but atleast the results are positive for thegreen agenda.

Others would disagree withR i ch a rd ’s reading, believing thewhole sustainability package is aselling point. Or at least that theabsence of it is a turn off to busi-nesses. When Skanska designed 66Queen Square in the heart of Bris-tol, sustainability was consideredto be key. Andreas Lindelof, man-aging director development, said itwas important to future-proof thep ro j e c t .

“People may not want to pay apremium for sustainability nowbut they will see it as a requirementin future,” he said. There’s littlepoint building something now thatwill be old hat in five years’ t i m e.

But Andreas points out that adeveloper alone could not make abuilding to truly sustainable.

“You can have the greenest build-ing on earth but then you open awindow with the heating on full...”

WHEN architects Stephen Limbrickand Jeff Roberts first came across ahistoric building in the centre ofGloucester it was in a sad and sorrys t at e.

The 120-year-old former CarriageWorks building in the city’s BrutonWay had become a derelict haven fordown and outs and was on its lastle gs.

But the once proud red-brickedstructure captured the imaginationof the two men who were determinedto breathe fresh life into the land-mark building. And what their com-pany Roberts Limbrick Architectsmanaged to achieve has been held upas shining example of how new, en-vironmentally friendly office spacecan be created from a desperatelyrundown site.

The building at the northern gate-way to Gloucester had originallybeen constructed in 1894 by theGloucester Carriage and Wagon as ashowroom for the finest horsedrawncarriages – many of which were ex-ported to far-flung parts of the em-pire. In 1904 the building was sold tothe Post Office and became a sortingdepot and then was taken over byDunelm Mill as a retail outlet.

Several years ago Dunelm movedout to Gloucester’s Westgate Islandand the building fell into seriousdisrepair until Stephen and Jeff sawits potential. They had merged theirtwo businesses a few years earlierand were looking to unite in oneheadquarters whilst remaining inGloucester. Time was of the essence,the building had suffered a fire andlead had been stripped from the roof,

allowing water to pour in.The architects were determined to

restore the building as sympathet-ically as possible whilst making it assustainable as possible. The result isa light and airy office space andstudio where clever use of glass en-sures natural light provides 85 percent of the lighting.

The building includes an innov-ative heat recovery system and thereis no need for visiting clients to burnup the road miles – Gloucester rail-way station is a short walk away.

Earlier this year the CarriageWorks building was recognised bythe British Council for Offices as oneof the South West’s four finest work-places at its annual regional propertyawards. The Carriage Building wonthe award for Best Refurbished/ Re-cycled Workplace.

The BCO judges said that taking ona disused and forgotten building wasa brave decision and they were im-pressed “with the sensitivity of therefurbishment which breathes newlife into this former horse-drawn car-riage showcase building.”

Now a showcase for RobertsLimbrick Architects, the judgesadded that it was one of the bestexamples of recycling, refurbishmentand the rebirth of an existing periodbu i l d i n g .

Judging chairman Chris Kim-ber-Nickelson said: “The CarriageBuilding was a particularly impress-ive project that emerged as a clearwinner. Particularly impressive isthe way the development has been sowell received by the local com-m u n i t y. ”

Being good for the environmentcan be great for business too

SUSTAINABLE STEPS

� Supplement conventionallighting with light tubes, or ‘sunpipes’ to make the most ofsunlight during daylight hours.

� Install rain water catchmentdevices to use collected waterfor flushing toilets. If water iscaptured at the roof level, asmall hydroelectric systemcould generate power as thewater drops to ground level.

� The days of the oldthermostat on the wall arenumbered, with the arrival ofintelligent software anddevices, such as Nest, thatadjust controls according toactual and real-time buildinguse.

� Having a compost collectionin kitchen for food scraps,compostable plates and cutlery

is a simple step to cuttingwaste and can be used energygeneration.

� Provide charging points forelectric vehicles.

� Plant pollution-controllingtrees directly outside thebuilding, and include plantinginside the building to improveindoor air quality and thegeneral working environment.

� Consider solar panelsinstalled on behalf ofcommunity energy groups

� Boilers fuelled by wastevegetable oil collected andrefined from local restaurantsand cafes are becomingincreasingly common.

Tips from JLL

said Andreas. “We need tenantswho are environmentally en-lightened. It is a challenge for us toeducation tenants too.”

Nicola Perry, associate director

in property and asset managementat JLL in the city, said: “From aproperty asset management per-spective, we are increasingly seeingdemand from investors seeking to

improve the sustainability creden-tials of the buildings we managebecause they have realised thatthese have a significant positiveimpact on asset value. We are alsoseeing increased demand from oc-cupiers in this respect as they re-cognise that their businesses areunder pressure to show that theyhave the appropriate sustainabilitycredentials. The most sought aftersustainability accreditation isGRESB, the Global Real Estate Sus-tainability Benchmark.”

Her colleague Tim Harris, pro-ject management director at JLL,admits major projects to install en-ergy-efficient measures can bechallenging for some businesses,but he believes even taking one ortwo steps can make a huge impactin terms of cost and green cre-d e n t i a l s.

“Being green is finally being seenas making smart business senseand increasingly a property’s sus-tainability credentials are makingan impact on its value,” said Tim.

“Sustainability is key for us atJLL, whether we’re marketingproperties, managing facilities orworking with developers on newbuildings – ensuring it’s as envir-onmentally sound as possible, is atthe heart of what we do. And it’salso a rapidly developing world.”

Award-winners bringbuilding back to life

� Directors Jeff Roberts, left, and Stephen Limbrick at the Carriage Works site

� 66 Queen Square has been designed with the highest standards of sustainability in mind

Sustainability Commercial property review

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


RATEPAYERS shouldhave been looking for-ward to a revaluationof their properties inApril 2015 but this has

now been delayed by two yearsto 2017.

If this had gone ahead, rate-payers would have had theirproperties revalued based onmarket levels as at April lastyear and many would have ex-pected to see their rateable val-ues drop due to the recentre c e s s i o n .

The government’s reason atthe time for delaying the re-valuation was to provide busi-ness with certainty ands t ab i l i t y.

However, I sense many wouldhave preferred to see the re-valuation go ahead and the po-tential uncertainty this wouldbring in order to reap the be-nefits of paying less!

The criticisms of the existingbusiness rates system, whichhave been widely expressed,principally stem from the factthat businesses are still beingcharged based on pre–re c e s -sionary levels of value fromApril 2008 and these will notnow be adjusted for a furthertwo and a half years to take intoaccount changes in the mar-ke t p l a c e.

The solution would be morefrequent revaluations to reflectthe economic swings busi-nesses face. The cynic in mebelieves that the government ishoping that values will recoverin the next two years in time forthe next revaluation – m ay b ethey will be right!

In the meantime whilst busi-nesses have to live with theirexisting rates bills they shouldtake two simple steps to ensurethey are claiming back any-thing they are due:

1.The government estimatesthat it will be paying back£576 million this year as a res-ult of appeals so businessesmust make sure they are claim-ing their share through chal-lenging their rateable values –but make sure you review itfirst since the Valuation OfficeAgency can increase as well asreduce values.

2. Secondly, check with thecouncil whether you are en-titled to rates relief – the totalawarded this year is estimatedto be £3.3 billion nationally.

This could be for vacant orpartly vacant premises, a retailproperty discount or ‘smallbusiness rates relief ’, which forsome means that with rateablevalues of less than £6,000 norates are payable and then up to£12,000 there is a sliding scale ofre l i e f.

Business rates -have they losttheir credibility?

Know howJeremy Baileydirector at JLL in Bristol0117 927 6691w w w. j l l . c o . u k

The commercialproperty market, like thegeneral economy, isrecovering but headwinds remain that couldblow it off course.Among them is thequestion of businessrates. Gavin Thompsonre p o r t s

BUSINESS rates – you eitherlove them or hate them. Ifyo u ’re the Treasury, youlove them and if you’re abusiness you hate them.

The reason Government has beenreluctant to reform rates is that it is abroadly stable tax in uncertain eco-nomic times. If a company’s profitsfall, it pays less corporation tax, if itbuys fewer goods or services and itpays less VAT but its business ratesgo up based on an annual formula,unless they move to a property with alower rateable value. The Treasuryhas been able to rely on around£27 billion a year throughout a timewhen income tax receipts, for ex-ample, have dropped significantly.

Businesses, however, hate them. Adegree of that will be simply becausefew people enjoy paying tax. Seeingyour hard-earned pounds and pen-nies taken away by your local counciland sent off to Whitehall is a bitannoying, to say the least.

But with business rates their arelegitimate gripes. Rates are based onthe rateable value of a property, thisis the figure the property could havebeen let for on a set date, the currentdate being April 1 2008. It should bere-done every five years, but this isnow overdue and won’t happen until2017. That means businesses havebeen paying rates based on peakpre-recession property valuesthroughout a time when those valueshave fallen significantly.

Another gripe is that the rise inrates is set using retail price infla-tion, RPI, which is generally thehigher rate of inflation, comparedwith CPI. September’s RPI, whichwill be used for next year’s increase,was 2.3 per cent while CPI fell to 1.2per cent.

Rates expert and retail campaignerPaul Turner-Mitchell said: “NextApril should have seen new rateablevalues apply to all properties whichwould have redistributed the liabilityfor business rates fairly among rate-payers according to rental value oftheir properties as of April 2013.

“Whilst shops, cafes, restaurantsand pubs with a rateable value of lessthan £50,000 will continue to benefitfrom the £1,000 discount next year, afreeze would at least go a little way ofaddressing the inherent unfairnesswhich has been created.”

He said the RPI figure means busi-ness rates across all sectors will in-crease by £515 million nationally,with the average shop paying£13,076.66 (before the temporary re-lief) meaning an increase of £300.76.

Sam Holliday, business develop-ment manager for the Federation of

Small Businesses in Gloucestershireand the West of England, said therewas a universal feeling that businessrates were not fit for purposes andneeded reform.

“The problem is, however, that withany major reform there will inev-itably be winners and losers and nopolitician wants to risk upsetting po-tential voters so close to an election,”said Mr Holliday.

“Realistically therefore I don’tthink we can expect to see anythinghappen in the short-term to correctthe problem.

“Small businesses need to feel theGovernment is not over taxing themso that enterprise and entrepreneur-ship can be allowed to flourish andthat principle should be at the heartof any reform.

“Ahead of any reform we also wantto see the temporary doubling of

small business rate relief made per-manent so that the smallest busi-nesses in can play their part inhelping to grow the economy andcreate jobs without having to pay adisproportionate amount of tax.”

While small businesses might notbe big movers in the property market,disproportionate rates discouragesthem from taking either a first steponto the property ladder out of theback-bedroom and into an office orfrom an Ebay shop into bricks andmor tar.

Some of those small businessesmight otherwise go on to becomebigger businesses. From smallacorns, the corporate giants of thefuture grow. Or something like that.

A recent survey by accountantsBishop Fleming found just how muchbusinesses across the South Westhate rates. More than half (50.5 per

cent) of those surveyed have seenrates rise to almost match their prop-

UNFAIR BUSINESS RATES HOLDING

erty rent, almost a fifth (18.1 per cent)report that they’re now paying asmuch or more in business rates asthey pay in rent. The fact they can’treduce the rates bill has put pressureon landlords to accept less rent or seetenants go bust.

Crucially, 89 per cent report thatincreased rates have hampered theirability to invest in growth.

The accountancy firm’s managingpartner Matthew Lea, who has beenleading the charge on calls for ratesreform, said: “This underlines whywe are campaigning for this tax to bereformed. The Government is expect-ing the recovery to be driven by thesmall business sector, but that po-tential for recovery is stifled by theiniquities of business rates – the onlytax that is index linked and guar-anteed to rise, irrespective of how abusiness is performing.”

That has had a direct influence onthe property market.

Alan Morrish, partner at AlderKing, said: “Business rates are basedon rental values in 2008 when theworld was a very different place.

“The delay in the revaluation hashad a marked effect on the retailsector in particular. Householdnames such as Woolworths, Habitat,Blockbuster and Jessops are no more.Walk around any shopping centretoday and you will notice the numberof empty units. Increasingly we shoponline, preferring Amazon toA d a m s.

“In some locations, retail rentshave plummeted since 2008. Almostany landlord large or small will tellyou about the impact of businessrates and how a deal to a prospectivetenant has fallen over after the tenanthas found out his future rates li-

ab i l i t y. ”Ben Batchelor-Wylam from agency

Colliers International said: “Gover n-ment would argue the cost of lightingour streets, running hospitals, re-pairing schools, etc have not fallensince the revaluation in 2010 and iswhy a very reliable tax like businessrates is very important.

“However, businesses want Gov-ernment to share in the burden intough times, anything else appearsout of touch.”

But he warned even a revaluationwould not necessarily mean lowerp ay m e n t s.

“A revaluation of every rateablevalue is a double edged sword,” saidBen. “If Government had undertakena revaluation in 2015 the balance ofpayments would result in redistrib-uted tax from those where rentalvalues (the basis for rateable value)

have fallen to those where rental val-ues have increased – a Robin Hood taxif you will.”

Whatever your view – and at theBristol Post we’ve been strongly call-ing for reform – nothing will changethis side of the general election andprobably not before 2017. Until thenbusinesses are encouraged to lookinto what they are paying and wheth-er they have grounds for appeal.

Businesses across the former Avonarea alone paid £490.3 million in rateslast year, not taking into accountspecific relief such as small businessrelief, according to figures suppliedby rates experts CVS CommercialValuers. Add to that £336 million inGloucestershire and £245 million inSomerset elsewhere.

Yet three quarters of firms do notappeal, that’s a lot of money you couldall be saving.

Matthew Lea, BishopFleming

“The Government isexpecting the recovery tobe driven by the smallbusiness sector, but thatpotential for recovery isstifled by the iniquities ofbusiness rates – the onlytax that is index linkedand guaranteed to rise,irrespective of how abusiness is performing.”

BACK ECONOMIC RECOVERY

� Offices to let, Victoria Street, Bristol BRAL20141018C-005_C

� Chancellor George Osborne

Business rates Commercial property review

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


RATEPAYERS shouldhave been looking for-ward to a revaluationof their properties inApril 2015 but this has

now been delayed by two yearsto 2017.

If this had gone ahead, rate-payers would have had theirproperties revalued based onmarket levels as at April lastyear and many would have ex-pected to see their rateable val-ues drop due to the recentre c e s s i o n .

The government’s reason atthe time for delaying the re-valuation was to provide busi-ness with certainty ands t ab i l i t y.

However, I sense many wouldhave preferred to see the re-valuation go ahead and the po-tential uncertainty this wouldbring in order to reap the be-nefits of paying less!

The criticisms of the existingbusiness rates system, whichhave been widely expressed,principally stem from the factthat businesses are still beingcharged based on pre–re c e s -sionary levels of value fromApril 2008 and these will notnow be adjusted for a furthertwo and a half years to take intoaccount changes in the mar-ke t p l a c e.

The solution would be morefrequent revaluations to reflectthe economic swings busi-nesses face. The cynic in mebelieves that the government ishoping that values will recoverin the next two years in time forthe next revaluation – m ay b ethey will be right!

In the meantime whilst busi-nesses have to live with theirexisting rates bills they shouldtake two simple steps to ensurethey are claiming back any-thing they are due:

1.The government estimatesthat it will be paying back£576 million this year as a res-ult of appeals so businessesmust make sure they are claim-ing their share through chal-lenging their rateable values –but make sure you review itfirst since the Valuation OfficeAgency can increase as well asreduce values.

2. Secondly, check with thecouncil whether you are en-titled to rates relief – the totalawarded this year is estimatedto be £3.3 billion nationally.

This could be for vacant orpartly vacant premises, a retailproperty discount or ‘smallbusiness rates relief ’, which forsome means that with rateablevalues of less than £6,000 norates are payable and then up to£12,000 there is a sliding scale ofre l i e f.

Business rates -have they losttheir credibility?

Know howJeremy Baileydirector at JLL in Bristol0117 927 6691w w w. j l l . c o . u k

The commercialproperty market, like thegeneral economy, isrecovering but headwinds remain that couldblow it off course.Among them is thequestion of businessrates. Gavin Thompsonre p o r t s

BUSINESS rates – you eitherlove them or hate them. Ifyo u ’re the Treasury, youlove them and if you’re abusiness you hate them.

The reason Government has beenreluctant to reform rates is that it is abroadly stable tax in uncertain eco-nomic times. If a company’s profitsfall, it pays less corporation tax, if itbuys fewer goods or services and itpays less VAT but its business ratesgo up based on an annual formula,unless they move to a property with alower rateable value. The Treasuryhas been able to rely on around£27 billion a year throughout a timewhen income tax receipts, for ex-ample, have dropped significantly.

Businesses, however, hate them. Adegree of that will be simply becausefew people enjoy paying tax. Seeingyour hard-earned pounds and pen-nies taken away by your local counciland sent off to Whitehall is a bitannoying, to say the least.

But with business rates their arelegitimate gripes. Rates are based onthe rateable value of a property, thisis the figure the property could havebeen let for on a set date, the currentdate being April 1 2008. It should bere-done every five years, but this isnow overdue and won’t happen until2017. That means businesses havebeen paying rates based on peakpre-recession property valuesthroughout a time when those valueshave fallen significantly.

Another gripe is that the rise inrates is set using retail price infla-tion, RPI, which is generally thehigher rate of inflation, comparedwith CPI. September’s RPI, whichwill be used for next year’s increase,was 2.3 per cent while CPI fell to 1.2per cent.

Rates expert and retail campaignerPaul Turner-Mitchell said: “NextApril should have seen new rateablevalues apply to all properties whichwould have redistributed the liabilityfor business rates fairly among rate-payers according to rental value oftheir properties as of April 2013.

“Whilst shops, cafes, restaurantsand pubs with a rateable value of lessthan £50,000 will continue to benefitfrom the £1,000 discount next year, afreeze would at least go a little way ofaddressing the inherent unfairnesswhich has been created.”

He said the RPI figure means busi-ness rates across all sectors will in-crease by £515 million nationally,with the average shop paying£13,076.66 (before the temporary re-lief) meaning an increase of £300.76.

Sam Holliday, business develop-ment manager for the Federation of

Small Businesses in Gloucestershireand the West of England, said therewas a universal feeling that businessrates were not fit for purposes andneeded reform.

“The problem is, however, that withany major reform there will inev-itably be winners and losers and nopolitician wants to risk upsetting po-tential voters so close to an election,”said Mr Holliday.

“Realistically therefore I don’tthink we can expect to see anythinghappen in the short-term to correctthe problem.

“Small businesses need to feel theGovernment is not over taxing themso that enterprise and entrepreneur-ship can be allowed to flourish andthat principle should be at the heartof any reform.

“Ahead of any reform we also wantto see the temporary doubling of

small business rate relief made per-manent so that the smallest busi-nesses in can play their part inhelping to grow the economy andcreate jobs without having to pay adisproportionate amount of tax.”

While small businesses might notbe big movers in the property market,disproportionate rates discouragesthem from taking either a first steponto the property ladder out of theback-bedroom and into an office orfrom an Ebay shop into bricks andmor tar.

Some of those small businessesmight otherwise go on to becomebigger businesses. From smallacorns, the corporate giants of thefuture grow. Or something like that.

A recent survey by accountantsBishop Fleming found just how muchbusinesses across the South Westhate rates. More than half (50.5 per

cent) of those surveyed have seenrates rise to almost match their prop-

UNFAIR BUSINESS RATES HOLDING

erty rent, almost a fifth (18.1 per cent)report that they’re now paying asmuch or more in business rates asthey pay in rent. The fact they can’treduce the rates bill has put pressureon landlords to accept less rent or seetenants go bust.

Crucially, 89 per cent report thatincreased rates have hampered theirability to invest in growth.

The accountancy firm’s managingpartner Matthew Lea, who has beenleading the charge on calls for ratesreform, said: “This underlines whywe are campaigning for this tax to bereformed. The Government is expect-ing the recovery to be driven by thesmall business sector, but that po-tential for recovery is stifled by theiniquities of business rates – the onlytax that is index linked and guar-anteed to rise, irrespective of how abusiness is performing.”

That has had a direct influence onthe property market.

Alan Morrish, partner at AlderKing, said: “Business rates are basedon rental values in 2008 when theworld was a very different place.

“The delay in the revaluation hashad a marked effect on the retailsector in particular. Householdnames such as Woolworths, Habitat,Blockbuster and Jessops are no more.Walk around any shopping centretoday and you will notice the numberof empty units. Increasingly we shoponline, preferring Amazon toA d a m s.

“In some locations, retail rentshave plummeted since 2008. Almostany landlord large or small will tellyou about the impact of businessrates and how a deal to a prospectivetenant has fallen over after the tenanthas found out his future rates li-

ab i l i t y. ”Ben Batchelor-Wylam from agency

Colliers International said: “Gover n-ment would argue the cost of lightingour streets, running hospitals, re-pairing schools, etc have not fallensince the revaluation in 2010 and iswhy a very reliable tax like businessrates is very important.

“However, businesses want Gov-ernment to share in the burden intough times, anything else appearsout of touch.”

But he warned even a revaluationwould not necessarily mean lowerp ay m e n t s.

“A revaluation of every rateablevalue is a double edged sword,” saidBen. “If Government had undertakena revaluation in 2015 the balance ofpayments would result in redistrib-uted tax from those where rentalvalues (the basis for rateable value)

have fallen to those where rental val-ues have increased – a Robin Hood taxif you will.”

Whatever your view – and at theBristol Post we’ve been strongly call-ing for reform – nothing will changethis side of the general election andprobably not before 2017. Until thenbusinesses are encouraged to lookinto what they are paying and wheth-er they have grounds for appeal.

Businesses across the former Avonarea alone paid £490.3 million in rateslast year, not taking into accountspecific relief such as small businessrelief, according to figures suppliedby rates experts CVS CommercialValuers. Add to that £336 million inGloucestershire and £245 million inSomerset elsewhere.

Yet three quarters of firms do notappeal, that’s a lot of money you couldall be saving.

Matthew Lea, BishopFleming

“The Government isexpecting the recovery tobe driven by the smallbusiness sector, but thatpotential for recovery isstifled by the iniquities ofbusiness rates – the onlytax that is index linkedand guaranteed to rise,irrespective of how abusiness is performing.”

BACK ECONOMIC RECOVERY

� Offices to let, Victoria Street, Bristol BRAL20141018C-005_C

� Chancellor George Osborne

Business rates Commercial property review

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


After a long, slowbuild-up, the Westcommercial propertymarket has come to life.Gavin Thompson looksat what will power it inthe months ahead

THE region’s commercialproperty market could beabout to go nuclear. The plansfor a new nuclear power plantin Bridgwater have been in

the pipeline for some time, but therecent announcement by theEuropean Commission that it hascleared state aid rules removes thebiggest obstacle in its path.

While energy firm EDF is trying tobuild a supply chain principally with-in Somerset, the impact of HinkleyPoint C will be felt far beyond thecounty. Following the announcement,James Durie, executive director ofBusiness West, described it as a“massive boost for Bristol and theSouth West”.

He said: “Businesses in our regionwill be a vital part of the supply chainopportunities on offer for this £16billion project, with the possibilitythat it could create up to 25,000 jobs.

“With a project of this magnitudeand its long-term timescale manyconstruction organisations arealready on board and benefiting butthe impact of this will be felt far andwide beyond the construction in-d u s t r y. ”

The commercial property marketis one of those areas set to feel theuplift as the size of the investmentbrings new companies into the area.

Those considering investing off theback of Hinkley will get additionalencouragement from the longer-termprospect of a new reactor in SouthGloucestershire at Oldbury, in a Hita-chi-led project.

EDF itself is believed to be lookingfor a new regional base, and beinglinked to every major office devel-opment from Devon to Gloucester-shire. But other firms will come too.

Jeremy Richards, head of JLL’sBristol office, said: “We ’ve alreadyseen this, with a major letting inGloucester earlier this year by Ho-rizon Nuclear Power, just one of agrowing number of commercial prop-erty deals in this sector.

“EDF and many of their suppliershave significant requirements for of-fice space in the region as a result ofthis project.”

Developer Dowlas announced lastweek a 260,000 sq ft office building inWe s t o n - s u p e r- M a re ’s EnterpriseArea. The firm’s Gemma Day said:“With renewed economic activity andparticularly investment in the nuc-lear industry we are confident thatthe building will be fully let in thenear future.”

The combination of big infrastruc-ture investment – the electrificationof the rail line from Bristol to Londoncutting 20 minutes off journeys to thecapital is another – with the im-proving economy adds up to a pos-itive year in the office market.

Deals are starting to happen in anumber of sectors. For example, the

newly re-established bank TSB ismoving out of the city centre to largerpremises at Keypoint in the Almonds-bury Business Park outside Bristoland Broadcom signing a 10-year leaseon 25,230 sq ft at nearby 910 AztecWe s t .

In short to medium term, the thingthat holds the market back could besupply. Chris Grazier of HartnellTaylor Cook LLP, joint letting agentwith CBRE on the TSB deal, said:“Keypoint is a prominent office build-ing overlooking the M4/M5 inter-change and its letting reflects thesignificant presence TSB has in theBristol community.

“Its letting in turn means the sup-ply of good quality office space inNorth Bristol is depleted and com-panies looking to move in the shortterm will have a limited stock toc o n s i d e r. ”

Steve Lane, senior surveyor at JLL,agrees. He said he expected Bristol to

see the highest amount of take-up insquare footage in 2014 since 2001, butis concerned about supply for 2015.

In the first half of 2014, take-up forthe city’s out-of-town market totalled220,000 sq ft – 35 per cent higher than

the five-year six-monthly average.Thirty-nine transactions over 1,000sq ft – of which six were more than10,000 sq ft – took place in the first halfof 2014.

This was double the figure for thesame period in 2013.

Steve said: “It is very encouragingto see a marked uplift in demand inthe out-of-town office market, whichhas been very subdued for the last fewye a r s.

“The challenge now will be a lack ofstock to meet the increased demand,particularly given the fact that thereare currently no out-of-town schemesunder construction in Bristol.”

He said refurbishment schemessuch as 740 Aztec West would help,but more was needed.

“The 740 Aztec West project willalso encourage other landlords anddevelopers to consider similarschemes once they see its success,”said Steve.

Out-of-town demand will be keyfurther up the M5 too.

Adrian Rowley, a partner in theGloucester office at property consult-ants Alder King, said: “Gloucester-s h i re ’s office market is more alignedto out of town locations in Gloucester,Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Stroudwhere consented land is availableand developers aren’t competing withhigher value land uses as they wouldbe in city centre locations.

“Demand has increased over thepast three years with around 100,000square feet of known requirementsactive in the market.”

Another area driving the West mar-ket forward is logistics and distri-bution. Road links to the South Westand West Midlands and beyond viathe M5 and London or South Wales onthe M4 make the region a hot spot forthe sector.

Recent developments include the175,000 sq ft cold store being built for

THE M5 corridor is thebackbone of the SouthWest, so it is no surpriseto see the developmentindustry re-engaging

and directly targeting this areafor growth. In theory thatsounds encouraging, but simplyfilling in the gaps doesn’t makegood planning.

Environmentalists had feareda corridor of solar farms, butthe emerging reality issomething quite differentwhich can positively boost ourlocal and regional economy, de-livering jobs and much neededhomes. Yet development is oftenperceived as remote from es-tablished communities and pub-lic transport nodes, meaningpeople are forced to take to theircars; while local residents con-tinually campaign against theworrying idea of new blanket,faceless housing enshroudingthe countryside. With carefulplanning an appropriate bal-ance can be struck.

The reality is that from junc-tion 13 at Stroud to junction 21at Weston-super-Mare, there is acommitment to deliver in excessof 25,000 new homes by 2026,complemented by 170ha of newemployment land – in additionto the 650ha already at Severn-side & Avonmouth EnterpriseZone. The trick will be to deliverjobs and necessary infrastruc-ture in parallel to ensure suc-cessful communities emerge.

While at first glance thegrowth along the M5 appearsspread and apportioned, on fur-ther inspection the develop-ment hotspots remain Bristolcentric – with more than 10,000of the new homes, over 50 percent of the new employmentland, a major new leisure des-tination with The Wave, togeth-er with a new Deep Sea Port atAvonmouth focused on two mo-torway junctions less than twomiles apart. Good news for theBristol economy, but what aboute l s ewh e re ?

Looking forward, we need toseriously consider if there is adifferent way to deliver growth– could a new large communitybased on the Garden City prin-ciples create a more sustainablesolution? And how can Bristoland its hinterland really delivera City Region message whileensuring it doesn’t miss out onpremier division status as West-minster edges closer towards aregional model of governance.

A clear vision and leadershipworking across administrativeboundaries is required as theregion defines how and where itwants to grow and what legacyit wants to create for futureg enerations.

Planning can helpdevelop right legacy

Expert eye

Jo DavisSenior director, [email protected]

retail food chain Farmfoods inSevernside, near Bristol.

The temperature controlled distri-bution centre at Central Park is beingbuilt by Roxhill, the developmentpartner of Central Park’s owners,Delta Properties, and is due for com-pletion by the end of the year.

Paul Hobbs, director of industrialAgency at GVA in the city, said: “It’stherefore no surprise that as the mar-kets return, we see businesses choos-ing locations such as Central Park asthe hub for their distribution andlogistics expansion in the region.

“The latest Bristol take-up figuresfor industrial property suggest astrong first half of the year, withrental growth also predicted for thenext six months.

“With limited speculative develop-ment taking place in the region, theability to fast-track developmentsuch as the Farmfoods centre at Cent-ral Park will no doubt appeal to com-

panies serving the changing retailmarkets and the resurgent tradecounter sector.”

Farmfoods will be the second lo-gistics occupier at the 600-acre Cent-ral Park, joining pallet distributioncompany Chep UK.

The region is already home to thelandmark Morrison’s depot in Som-erset, which was recently soldon a leaseback deal to Aviva Invest-m e n t s.

The rise of internet retail will onlydrive this further, as businesses com-pete to deliver next day or same day tomeet customer demand.

Tim Davies, head of Colliers In-ter national’s Bristol office, said mostactivity in the region’s industrial sec-tor has been design and build ini-tiatives over the last few years.

“Predominantly, this has beencaused by the lack of funding forspeculative development as reces-sionary pressures all but removed

lending from the market,” he said.“In addition to this, occupiers have

become far more sophisticated in theway they operate and therefore stand-ard boxes don’t always provide theoptimum solution.

“These specific operational re-quirements can be catered for in‘bu i l d - t o - s u i t ’ developments wherebythe occupier can effectively designthe exact building for the way theywo rk .

“Many of the requirements that arecoming to the market have got spe-cific operational requirements andthat could well be satisfied if build-ings are designed and built to meetthis criteria. For example, Asda willhave a different format than Co-op orWa i t ro s e. ”

Colliers head of forecasting WalterBoettcher said: “The trends Tim men-tions in logistics is also increasinglyobvious in the manufacturing sectorwhere shortages of high quality ex-

pansion space, especially for suppli-ers, is leading large corporates tobegin pooling resources.

“We continue to see strong growthand low inflation. This time last yearwe had barely passed the point wherethe media was convinced we wereheading for a triple-dip recession.Whether by luck or judgement eco-nomic confidence is rising.

“The recovery appears to be morebalanced than before and increasingcapital investment is making it mores u s t a i n abl e.

“One thing is clear: these are notshort-term problems, the recovery islooking increasingly robust with pur-chasing manager indices showingthat the South West moving in con-cert with the West Midlands througha period of sustained strong expan-sion. With confidence up and com-panies increasing capital investmentdemand for quality space will con-tinue to intensify.”

The final driver for the market inthe coming year will be residential.Last week BAE Systems and AlderKing submitted plans to turn theFilton Airfield site to the north ofBristol into 2,675 homes.

There are significant new housingdevelopments around the northernfringe of the city, including in Emer-s o n’s Green and Cribbs Causeway, aswell in North Somerset, clusteredaround the edge of Wes-t o n - s u p e r- M a re.

Most such schemes bring indus-trial and office space too as plannerslook to create communities wherepeople can work, rest and play.

Dave Mace, regional senior direct-or at GVA, summed up the outlook.

“Without doubt there has been asignificant shift in sentimentthrough most of the property sectorsin our region over the past 12 monthsand a definite air of optimism,” hesaid.

“Unquestionably this has beenfuelled by improved occupier demandand a seemingly insatiable appetitefrom cash-rich investors switchingtheir attention away from Londontowards the stronger regionalc e n t re s.

“This has already kick-startedsome speculative development butnevertheless the spectre of chronicunder supply overshadows some ofthe markets and unless addressedwill stifle growth.

“Investment in infrastructureplays a crucial role in boosting de-veloper and investor confidence andthe significance of projects such asHinkley Point and the electrificationof the Bristol-London rail-line shouldnot be underestimated. Whilst publicsector purse strings remain tightlydrawn we are already seeing throughour Local Enterprise Partnershipsthe effectiveness of the private andpublic sectors working closely togeth-e r.

“Crystal ball gazing is always dan-gerous but all the economic indic-ators show that our region with itsdiverse strong economy, unrivalledinfrastructure and quality of life isbest placed to take advantage of therecent upsurge.

“It’s now down to all of us, privateand public sector alike, to grasp theopportunity by releasing more landand bringing forward more devel-opment – carpe diem.”

POWERING AHEAD: SEIZE THE DAY

� Artist’s impression issued by EDF of the how the new Hinkley Point C station will look

James Durie, executivedirector of Business West

on Hinkley Point

“Businesses in ourregion will be a vital partof the supply chainopportunities on offer forthis £16 billion project,with the possibility that itcould create up to25,000 jobs.

AND GRASP OPPORTUNITIES

� Tim Davies and Walter Boettcher from Colliers at the M Shed

� The Morrisons distribution centre at Dunball, Bridgwater, was recently sold

Market forecast Commercial property review

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


After a long, slowbuild-up, the Westcommercial propertymarket has come to life.Gavin Thompson looksat what will power it inthe months ahead

THE region’s commercialproperty market could beabout to go nuclear. The plansfor a new nuclear power plantin Bridgwater have been in

the pipeline for some time, but therecent announcement by theEuropean Commission that it hascleared state aid rules removes thebiggest obstacle in its path.

While energy firm EDF is trying tobuild a supply chain principally with-in Somerset, the impact of HinkleyPoint C will be felt far beyond thecounty. Following the announcement,James Durie, executive director ofBusiness West, described it as a“massive boost for Bristol and theSouth West”.

He said: “Businesses in our regionwill be a vital part of the supply chainopportunities on offer for this £16billion project, with the possibilitythat it could create up to 25,000 jobs.

“With a project of this magnitudeand its long-term timescale manyconstruction organisations arealready on board and benefiting butthe impact of this will be felt far andwide beyond the construction in-d u s t r y. ”

The commercial property marketis one of those areas set to feel theuplift as the size of the investmentbrings new companies into the area.

Those considering investing off theback of Hinkley will get additionalencouragement from the longer-termprospect of a new reactor in SouthGloucestershire at Oldbury, in a Hita-chi-led project.

EDF itself is believed to be lookingfor a new regional base, and beinglinked to every major office devel-opment from Devon to Gloucester-shire. But other firms will come too.

Jeremy Richards, head of JLL’sBristol office, said: “We ’ve alreadyseen this, with a major letting inGloucester earlier this year by Ho-rizon Nuclear Power, just one of agrowing number of commercial prop-erty deals in this sector.

“EDF and many of their suppliershave significant requirements for of-fice space in the region as a result ofthis project.”

Developer Dowlas announced lastweek a 260,000 sq ft office building inWe s t o n - s u p e r- M a re ’s EnterpriseArea. The firm’s Gemma Day said:“With renewed economic activity andparticularly investment in the nuc-lear industry we are confident thatthe building will be fully let in thenear future.”

The combination of big infrastruc-ture investment – the electrificationof the rail line from Bristol to Londoncutting 20 minutes off journeys to thecapital is another – with the im-proving economy adds up to a pos-itive year in the office market.

Deals are starting to happen in anumber of sectors. For example, the

newly re-established bank TSB ismoving out of the city centre to largerpremises at Keypoint in the Almonds-bury Business Park outside Bristoland Broadcom signing a 10-year leaseon 25,230 sq ft at nearby 910 AztecWe s t .

In short to medium term, the thingthat holds the market back could besupply. Chris Grazier of HartnellTaylor Cook LLP, joint letting agentwith CBRE on the TSB deal, said:“Keypoint is a prominent office build-ing overlooking the M4/M5 inter-change and its letting reflects thesignificant presence TSB has in theBristol community.

“Its letting in turn means the sup-ply of good quality office space inNorth Bristol is depleted and com-panies looking to move in the shortterm will have a limited stock toc o n s i d e r. ”

Steve Lane, senior surveyor at JLL,agrees. He said he expected Bristol to

see the highest amount of take-up insquare footage in 2014 since 2001, butis concerned about supply for 2015.

In the first half of 2014, take-up forthe city’s out-of-town market totalled220,000 sq ft – 35 per cent higher than

the five-year six-monthly average.Thirty-nine transactions over 1,000sq ft – of which six were more than10,000 sq ft – took place in the first halfof 2014.

This was double the figure for thesame period in 2013.

Steve said: “It is very encouragingto see a marked uplift in demand inthe out-of-town office market, whichhas been very subdued for the last fewye a r s.

“The challenge now will be a lack ofstock to meet the increased demand,particularly given the fact that thereare currently no out-of-town schemesunder construction in Bristol.”

He said refurbishment schemessuch as 740 Aztec West would help,but more was needed.

“The 740 Aztec West project willalso encourage other landlords anddevelopers to consider similarschemes once they see its success,”said Steve.

Out-of-town demand will be keyfurther up the M5 too.

Adrian Rowley, a partner in theGloucester office at property consult-ants Alder King, said: “Gloucester-s h i re ’s office market is more alignedto out of town locations in Gloucester,Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Stroudwhere consented land is availableand developers aren’t competing withhigher value land uses as they wouldbe in city centre locations.

“Demand has increased over thepast three years with around 100,000square feet of known requirementsactive in the market.”

Another area driving the West mar-ket forward is logistics and distri-bution. Road links to the South Westand West Midlands and beyond viathe M5 and London or South Wales onthe M4 make the region a hot spot forthe sector.

Recent developments include the175,000 sq ft cold store being built for

THE M5 corridor is thebackbone of the SouthWest, so it is no surpriseto see the developmentindustry re-engaging

and directly targeting this areafor growth. In theory thatsounds encouraging, but simplyfilling in the gaps doesn’t makegood planning.

Environmentalists had feareda corridor of solar farms, butthe emerging reality issomething quite differentwhich can positively boost ourlocal and regional economy, de-livering jobs and much neededhomes. Yet development is oftenperceived as remote from es-tablished communities and pub-lic transport nodes, meaningpeople are forced to take to theircars; while local residents con-tinually campaign against theworrying idea of new blanket,faceless housing enshroudingthe countryside. With carefulplanning an appropriate bal-ance can be struck.

The reality is that from junc-tion 13 at Stroud to junction 21at Weston-super-Mare, there is acommitment to deliver in excessof 25,000 new homes by 2026,complemented by 170ha of newemployment land – in additionto the 650ha already at Severn-side & Avonmouth EnterpriseZone. The trick will be to deliverjobs and necessary infrastruc-ture in parallel to ensure suc-cessful communities emerge.

While at first glance thegrowth along the M5 appearsspread and apportioned, on fur-ther inspection the develop-ment hotspots remain Bristolcentric – with more than 10,000of the new homes, over 50 percent of the new employmentland, a major new leisure des-tination with The Wave, togeth-er with a new Deep Sea Port atAvonmouth focused on two mo-torway junctions less than twomiles apart. Good news for theBristol economy, but what aboute l s ewh e re ?

Looking forward, we need toseriously consider if there is adifferent way to deliver growth– could a new large communitybased on the Garden City prin-ciples create a more sustainablesolution? And how can Bristoland its hinterland really delivera City Region message whileensuring it doesn’t miss out onpremier division status as West-minster edges closer towards aregional model of governance.

A clear vision and leadershipworking across administrativeboundaries is required as theregion defines how and where itwants to grow and what legacyit wants to create for futureg enerations.

Planning can helpdevelop right legacy

Expert eye

Jo DavisSenior director, [email protected]

retail food chain Farmfoods inSevernside, near Bristol.

The temperature controlled distri-bution centre at Central Park is beingbuilt by Roxhill, the developmentpartner of Central Park’s owners,Delta Properties, and is due for com-pletion by the end of the year.

Paul Hobbs, director of industrialAgency at GVA in the city, said: “It’stherefore no surprise that as the mar-kets return, we see businesses choos-ing locations such as Central Park asthe hub for their distribution andlogistics expansion in the region.

“The latest Bristol take-up figuresfor industrial property suggest astrong first half of the year, withrental growth also predicted for thenext six months.

“With limited speculative develop-ment taking place in the region, theability to fast-track developmentsuch as the Farmfoods centre at Cent-ral Park will no doubt appeal to com-

panies serving the changing retailmarkets and the resurgent tradecounter sector.”

Farmfoods will be the second lo-gistics occupier at the 600-acre Cent-ral Park, joining pallet distributioncompany Chep UK.

The region is already home to thelandmark Morrison’s depot in Som-erset, which was recently soldon a leaseback deal to Aviva Invest-m e n t s.

The rise of internet retail will onlydrive this further, as businesses com-pete to deliver next day or same day tomeet customer demand.

Tim Davies, head of Colliers In-ter national’s Bristol office, said mostactivity in the region’s industrial sec-tor has been design and build ini-tiatives over the last few years.

“Predominantly, this has beencaused by the lack of funding forspeculative development as reces-sionary pressures all but removed

lending from the market,” he said.“In addition to this, occupiers have

become far more sophisticated in theway they operate and therefore stand-ard boxes don’t always provide theoptimum solution.

“These specific operational re-quirements can be catered for in‘bu i l d - t o - s u i t ’ developments wherebythe occupier can effectively designthe exact building for the way theywo rk .

“Many of the requirements that arecoming to the market have got spe-cific operational requirements andthat could well be satisfied if build-ings are designed and built to meetthis criteria. For example, Asda willhave a different format than Co-op orWa i t ro s e. ”

Colliers head of forecasting WalterBoettcher said: “The trends Tim men-tions in logistics is also increasinglyobvious in the manufacturing sectorwhere shortages of high quality ex-

pansion space, especially for suppli-ers, is leading large corporates tobegin pooling resources.

“We continue to see strong growthand low inflation. This time last yearwe had barely passed the point wherethe media was convinced we wereheading for a triple-dip recession.Whether by luck or judgement eco-nomic confidence is rising.

“The recovery appears to be morebalanced than before and increasingcapital investment is making it mores u s t a i n abl e.

“One thing is clear: these are notshort-term problems, the recovery islooking increasingly robust with pur-chasing manager indices showingthat the South West moving in con-cert with the West Midlands througha period of sustained strong expan-sion. With confidence up and com-panies increasing capital investmentdemand for quality space will con-tinue to intensify.”

The final driver for the market inthe coming year will be residential.Last week BAE Systems and AlderKing submitted plans to turn theFilton Airfield site to the north ofBristol into 2,675 homes.

There are significant new housingdevelopments around the northernfringe of the city, including in Emer-s o n’s Green and Cribbs Causeway, aswell in North Somerset, clusteredaround the edge of Wes-t o n - s u p e r- M a re.

Most such schemes bring indus-trial and office space too as plannerslook to create communities wherepeople can work, rest and play.

Dave Mace, regional senior direct-or at GVA, summed up the outlook.

“Without doubt there has been asignificant shift in sentimentthrough most of the property sectorsin our region over the past 12 monthsand a definite air of optimism,” hesaid.

“Unquestionably this has beenfuelled by improved occupier demandand a seemingly insatiable appetitefrom cash-rich investors switchingtheir attention away from Londontowards the stronger regionalc e n t re s.

“This has already kick-startedsome speculative development butnevertheless the spectre of chronicunder supply overshadows some ofthe markets and unless addressedwill stifle growth.

“Investment in infrastructureplays a crucial role in boosting de-veloper and investor confidence andthe significance of projects such asHinkley Point and the electrificationof the Bristol-London rail-line shouldnot be underestimated. Whilst publicsector purse strings remain tightlydrawn we are already seeing throughour Local Enterprise Partnershipsthe effectiveness of the private andpublic sectors working closely togeth-e r.

“Crystal ball gazing is always dan-gerous but all the economic indic-ators show that our region with itsdiverse strong economy, unrivalledinfrastructure and quality of life isbest placed to take advantage of therecent upsurge.

“It’s now down to all of us, privateand public sector alike, to grasp theopportunity by releasing more landand bringing forward more devel-opment – carpe diem.”

POWERING AHEAD: SEIZE THE DAY

� Artist’s impression issued by EDF of the how the new Hinkley Point C station will look

James Durie, executivedirector of Business West

on Hinkley Point

“Businesses in ourregion will be a vital partof the supply chainopportunities on offer forthis £16 billion project,with the possibility that itcould create up to25,000 jobs.

AND GRASP OPPORTUNITIES

� Tim Davies and Walter Boettcher from Colliers at the M Shed

� The Morrisons distribution centre at Dunball, Bridgwater, was recently sold

Market forecast Commercial property review

EPB-

E01-

S4

12

� A NEW dawn for Kingsway inGloucester has started withcommercial properties on thebusiness park finally beingmarketed.

Consultants Bruton Knowles hasbeen appointed with Alder King tomarket commercial opportunities.

About 2,000 Kingsway homeshave already been built, as well as acommunity centre and shopsincluding Asda and Tesco Express.

Now Gloucestershire developerRobert Hitchins is pressing aheadwith the commercial area of the site.

Robert Smith, of Bruton Knowles,said the business park will help tore-energise the expanding Kingswaydevelopment and provide hundredsof jobs. “The new Asda store hasalready created about 230 jobs andbrought a brown field site back intoeconomic use, but this is clearly thetip of the iceberg,” he said.

“The location takes full advantageof the wide range of local amenitiesand a skilled workforce.”

He added: “Kingsway BusinessPark is a sustainable developmentwith excellent connectivity andtransportation links for pedestrians,cyclists, road and bus users.”

� The elegant Georgian officesknown as 70 Prince Street inBristol’s commercial centre havebeen let to the IndependentBusiness Centre’s Limited followinga deal brokered by ColliersInternational. IBC Ltd has taken alease of 2,277 sq ft at 70 PrincesStreet on a ten year term.Prominently located close toBristol’s commercial heartland, theself-contained offices are withineasy walking distance of city centreamenities such as Broadmead andCabot Circus as well as a range ofbars, restaurants and hotels.

Colliers International officesdirector James Preece commented:“The faster-than-expected recoveryis feeding considerable demand fornew office space at the smaller endof the market and elegant, wellequipped offices such as 70 PrincesStreet are being snapped up inBristol.

“The serviced office option whichwill be delivered by IBC Ltd will

provide small or start-up companiesthe chance to base themselves in abeautiful period property just astone’s throw from some of Bristol’smost iconic landmarks.”

� Property consultants Alder Kinghas let an industrial unit inPortishead to British power toolcompany CEL UK which requiredadditional capacity for its designand development centre.

Previously based on HarbourRoad Industrial Estate, thecompany, which develops,manufactures andmarkets highquality powertools, gardentools, floorcare productsandhouseholdappliances,had outgrownits premises butwished to remainlocal. It has nowrelocated to Unit 3Harbourmead in Portishead,p i c t u re d .

“CEL wanted to remain local butdiscovered that there’s a distinctlack of quality industrial space inPortishead,” said Emma Smith ofAlder King’s industrial agency team.

“However after viewing this unit,they swiftly agreed terms to securethe premises and we completed the

transaction within two months,enabling them to relocate as quicklyas possible.”

The modern end of terrace unit,owned and previously occupied byNovatech, provides 5,041 sq ft ofwarehouse/trade counter space.

� TWO regional firms have movedinto new premises at AshchurchBusiness Park, Tewkesbury.

According to property consultancyAlder King, which has let the twounits, it is another sign of animproving commercial market in thecounty. Premises at Unit 29 havebeen let to Battery Megastore, theUK online battery retailer, as its new

headquarters. The secondbuilding, Unit 30, has been let toBB Fabrications Ltd, anexpanding aluminiumfabrications business previouslybased in Ledbury in

Herefordshire. Battery Megastorehas taken over 11,000 sq feet of

office and industrial space on afive-year lease, having relocatedfrom its previous base atTewkesbury Business Park. Thecompany, which has Europeanbranches in Amsterdam, Caen andBarcelona, supplies a wide range ofbatteries, chargers, inverters andaccessories for differentapplications including cars, trucks,motorbikes, jet skis and caravans.

Battery Megastore’s commercialsales executive Paul Collins said:

“The new building offers largerwarehousing and office space, allunder one roof, with great access tothe M5 and M4. It’s a great stepforward for us, allowing us to keepexpanding our sales in the UK andE u ro p e . ”

BB Fabrications has taken the5,493 sq ft Unit 30 on a 10-yearlease so it can continue to expandand be geographically closer tosuppliers and customers.

� C h i l d re n ’s day nursery, HappyDays Day Nursery Limited hasagreed to take the lease on BarrattHouse, Almondsbury BusinessCentre, near Bristol.

Happy Days Nurseries has 16centres located throughout Cornwalland Devon and this is their firstacquisition in the Bristol area.

It is due to open in the two-storeyoffice building in January 2015,following the completion of theconversion works. The 5,422 sq ftbuilding will accommodate 100children from the age of 0-5 yearsand will open 7am to 7pm Mondayto Friday.

Mark Barden of CaissonInvestment Management, managingthe site for the owners, The IOGroup, said: “We are delighted towelcome Happy Day Nurseries toour Park, it will provide a highquality service for all the officeoccupiers in the locality as well asfor our existing tenants on the parkand will be an additional attractionfor businesses looking to move tothe area.”

Natalie Bennett of letting agents,Hartnell Taylor Cook LLP added:“We expect Happy Days to be seenas a positive facility forcompanies looking tomove into the estate.”

� Plans areprogressing for a new£4 million healthcentre in Eastville,Bristol, pictured. Twopractices, EastvilleMedical Practice andMaytrees Practice, areintending to create a new,state-of-the-art medical centreadjacent to their existing premises

in East Park. With the land purchasenow complete, work can progress tothe next phase with RydonConstruction shortly to commenceon site. Specialists in the primarycare property market, GVA Health inBristol has been supporting thepractices on the funding and theprocurement process, and willcontinue in a project managementrole throughout development.

The two practices will bedeveloping their new centre on landwhere the former Eastville Day CareCentre once stood. The land hasbeen sold to the GPs by NHSProperty Services Limited, theproperty company formed in 2013to handle the NHS property estate.Frank Convery, director at GVAHealth, said: “This is a time offar-reaching reform for NHS primarycare. These new facilities will enableboth practices to provide a modernand efficient service to their patientsfor many years to come.”

� THE former lorry park next to theKingsmeadow roundabout inCirencester has been sold toWhitbread in a deal brokered byBruton Knowles on behalf ofCotswold District Council.

The 1.5 acre site is to bedeveloped as a 60-bedroomPremier Inn and a Beefeaterrestaurant. Robert Anthony, ofBruton Knowles’ Gloucester office,said the prominent site, next to theA419 and A429, had generatedinterest from a wide range of leisure,retail, commercial and evenresidential occupiers.

Richard Pearson, acquisitionmanager for Whitbread Hotels and

Restaurants, said:“Regenerating the former

lorry park site will createabout 50 new jobs in thelocal area, around halfof which will be offeredto those who havebeen long-termunemployed.”

Plans had beenpreviously drawn up to

use the Kingsmeadow siteas a depot for waste lorries but

they were shelved in favour of a sitein South Cerney.

� LAW firm Thrings has appointedtwo new solicitors to itsfast-growing commercial propertyteam as a result of continued growthand a series of new client wins.

Associate Steve Schofield andsolicitor Beth Nicholls will furtherstrengthen Thrings’ c o m m e rc i a lproperty and construction offeringacross the firm’s four main UKoffices in Bristol, Bath, Swindon andLondon.

Steve joins Thrings after spendingmore than 11 years atGuildford-based Stevens & Bolton,where his clients included a FTSE100 distribution and outsourcingcompany and one of the UK’slargest estate agency groups.

In addition to specialising incorporate occupancy, Steve hasadvised developers and landownerson site assembly, developmentagreements, pre-lets and disposals,and banks and borrowers on realestate finance and developmentdeals.

In his new role, he will act for anumber of Thrings’ small andmedium-sized residential clients ondevelopment and investmentmatters, as well as providing

strategic advice on corporateo c c u p a n c y.

Beth arrives having qualified as asolicitor in September. She dealtwith a variety of commercial andresidential property transactions –including leases and licences – inher first legal role at RochmanLandau in London beforecompleting her training withA s h f o rd s .

Warren Reid, head of commercialproperty at Thrings, said: “I m p ro v i n geconomic conditions and aresurgence in the South Westcommercial property market has ledto increased levels of activity formany of our existing clients. Thishas created an opportunity forThrings to expand its offeringto clients and reaffirm itscommitment to theregional market.”

� G l o u c e s t e r s h i re - b a s e dlaw firm BPE Solicitorshas welcomed a newtrainee solicitors toCheltenham head office.

Harriet Willmore, pictured,originally from the Cotswolds,has taken up her first seat in BPE’s

commercial property team, havingpreviously worked as a legal advisorto a recruitment company inM a n c h e s t e r.

She said: “It’s great to be part ofsuch an entrepreneurial firm likeBPE.

“I’ve already been assisting othercolleagues during all stages of theconveyancing process and I’mexcited for the opportunities that lieahead.”

� Jennifer Angus, a graduateplanner at property adviser GVA inBristol, has received a prestigiousnational award from the Royal TownPlanning Institute (RTPI) for her MSc

Urban Planning Dissertationp ro j e c t .

Jennifer’s thesis wasselected as thewinning entry in the‘Excellence in SpatialPlanning Research’student category.The dissertation

investigated whether‘meanwhile’ uses have

been embraced byEnglish local authorities as

a legitimate approach to planning

and urban development in uncertaineconomic and social conditions.

Also referred to as temporary,interim or pop-up uses, ‘meanwhile’use involves the consciousutilisation of vacant land orbuildings as an alternative toleaving spaces stagnantand unused.

Dr Michael Short, asenior lecturer inPlanning and UrbanConservation whosupervised Jennifer,said: “The award is welldeserved, as Jennifer’swork is bothground-breaking andinnovative. The research is notonly of the best academic standard,it also provides crucial evidence forplanners and the ever-changingplanning system to address.”

� Property consultancy Alder Kinghas made two new appointments inits Bristol office to serve a growingnumber of new instructions.

Lucy Round has been appointedas a senior surveyor in the practice’sinvestment department.

Lucy has relocated from London

where she worked for Sainsbury’sSupermarkets in its propertyinvestment team.

Previously Lucy worked for CBREspecialising in London and south

east business space CapitalMarkets.

Laurie Marsh has beenappointed to AlderKing’s buildingconsultancy team inBristol. Laurie joinsfrom the propertymanagement divisionof Ocean Lettings in

Bristol.She transferred to

building surveying aftercompleting a Post Graduate

Diploma in Building Surveying at theUniversity of West of England.

Martyn Jones, senior partner atAlder King, said: “We are verypleased to welcome fresh newtalent and resource into the firm.

“Lucy and Laurie will help usserve a growing portfolio of clients,particularly within our buildingconsultancy team which has seen asignificant increase in projectmonitoring and dilapidations workacross the UK.”

News digest Commercial property review

People

� The Kingswaydevelopment inGloucester

Commercial Property Review 22 October 2014

Documents

bristol city council

themayor of bristol

new office development

bristol isits largest

bristol andthe south

official sponsor of

new building

uk city