| the west midlands
THE BIRMINGHAM BOOM B
By Ashley Hudson, head of office, Knight Frank Birmingham
irmingham is now thriving as a top UK destination for businesses and young professionals, as revealed in Knight Frank’s recent annual Birmingham Report. During a particularly turbulent period economically, the number of active businesses in Birmingham this year was up 13.5% on 2016 levels, three times the UK growth rate. The rapid growth in business numbers is unsurprisingly having an effect on employment: the West Midlands has increased workforce jobs by 110,000 over the year to June 2017,
Ashley Hudson
the largest rise in the UK by some margin. Birmingham continues to undergo significant redevelopment and refurbishment in order to house these businesses, delivering schemes such as Paradise Circus, 103 and 55 Colmore Row and Snow Hill, which promise a mixed-use environment of office, retail and leisure in
HUGE GROWTH IN URBAN LOGISTICS SPACE NEEDED
huge increase in urban logistics property space is required across key centres across Europe in the next few years to meet the exponential growth of eCommerce and the resultant need for last mile delivery in cities, according to a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield.
A The Urban Logistics report uses
Cushman & Wakefield’s ‘Urban Space Model’ – developed in partnership with P3 Logistic Parks – to quantify total urban logistics space requirements in Europe’s top eCommerce markets based on current and future online sales volumes. David Binks, Head of UK Logistics & Industrial agency at Cushman & Wakefield, “Urban logistics is set to be one of the most significant growth markets of the next few years as eCommerce continues to grow across the Midlands. Every additional mile adds to the cost and speed of delivery. There is no doubt that demand is there, however, securing the necessary consents to develop suitable facilities in city centres is bringing its own significant challenges.”
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covenants in high quality buildings, rental growth and yields higher than those in London.
The proportion of overseas investment
in the West Midlands has remained significant, accounting for just under 30%
NEW FACTORY
specialist manufacturer with growing order books has commissioned leading contractor Morris Property to build a new factory at Telford’s Hortonwood West industrial estate. Bakerbellfield, which supplies
A
commercial interiors for airports, rail, office and education sectors, will invest around £1.6m in the project, including land costs. It needs the additional space after outgrowing its 50,000ft² manufacturing facility on the estate, which it will retain. Morris Property starts work on site this month (November) at Hortonwood 6 to deliver the new 20,000ft² unit with offices, car park and service yard. Completion is expected next spring. Peter Baker, Chairman of
Bakerbellfield, said: “Our workload has increased enormously with future orders coming in. We did look for alternative premises to give us more space but we could not find the right size. “We decided on a purpose-built factory and chose Morris Property because of its experience and reputation for quality work. It is also a family business like we are and shares similar values.”
The development will create seven to ten skilled jobs and also allow for future expansion.
the CBD area, putting focus on lifestyle to ensure the location remains attractive to occupiers and their employees alike. As this redevelopment continues and the appeal of Birmingham increases, commercial investors are continuing to flood in, with eyes on the city’s strong
of commercial deals over the 12 months to September 2017.
The proportion of overseas
investment in the West Midlands has remained significant, accounting for just under 30% of commercial deals over the 12 months to September 2017.
Birmingham has cemented its place as the location for businesses looking to relocate outside of London. The city has seen significant change over the past 10 years and that has not gone unnoticed by investors and occupiers alike. Both office and industrial markets are going from strength to strength and we expect to see a rise in office values fuelled by rental growth.
The attraction of the market can, to some extent, be underpinned by the tremendous pool of talent that Birmingham affords to modern business. This talent is one of the principle reasons occupiers continue to move into the city. This demand and job creation has already resulted in significant changes to the city’s environment and the next three years will see the city continue to mature. The city and developers have reacted well, providing more innovative buildings based on staff attraction and retention with amenity and wellbeing firmly in focus. Today’s developers are taking a customer- centric view on their offer which is attracting new business to Birmingham.
BUSINESS PARK OFFICE INVESTMENT SOLD IN OFF-MARKET DEAL
uartz Investments has sold its freehold investment in a 26,000 sq.ft office building at Birmingham Business Park in an off market deal. Advised by Birmingham independent
Q
commercial property agency KWB and FSP, Stratford-upon-Avon-based Quartz Investments sold 1320 Solihull Parkway, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham, West Midlands, B37 7YB, to Threadneedle for £5.65 million. CBRE advised Threadneedle. 1320 Solihull Parkway is a modern,
self-contained office building, recently comprehensively refurbished to Grade ‘A’ standard. It is fully let to Vector GB Limited and BCA Logistics who took a new 10 year lease on 20,774 sq.ft of office space on the ground and first floor in August 2017, in a deal advised by KWB and JLL. Quartz Investments acquired the building in June 2016 and carried out a full refurbishment to attract a new tenant.
With offices in Birmingham and
Solihull, KWB is an independent firm of Chartered Surveyors.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2017
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