A financial services business and a recruitment consultant are moving to Salford Quays as the pull of MediaCityUK grows ever stronger.
Acting on behalf of Peel Digital Ltd, financial services firm CWM has signed up to 8,444 sq ft on a 10-year lease at the Digital World centre.
Specialist construction recruitment firm, Building Careers UK, which has offices in Lancashire and Liverpool, has taken 3,000 sq ft on the first floor on a five-year lease, in a deal which will support the company’s expansion.
The Digital World Centre is a grade A mixed-use building located adjacent to the Lowry Outlet at MediaCityUK.
Located on the waterside, it is a quayside away from MediaCityUK and is close to both the MediaCityUK tram stop and the wide range of on-site amenities. The distinctive building provides 72,406 sq ft of office as well as on-site car parking.
Stephen Wild, managing director of MediaCityUK, said: “Following the acquisition of the Digital World Centre back in autumn last year, we have updated the building, so it is consistent with the MediaCityUK brand and very much part of our evolving community.
“It’s fantastic to see such credible businesses deciding to make their home here.”
Carl Donegan, at Building Careers UK, said: “Over the last 12 months the company has grown by 150%.
“We had looked for space in the city centre but as a recruitment consultancy with a younger workforce, it became very clear that our employees wanted to be part of the MediaCityUK vibe.
“These offices provide the optimum environment for our employees in terms of location and office specification.”
James Dickinson, director at Canning O’Neill, agents for the scheme, said: “It’s extremely encouraging to see the impact the so-called ‘BBC effect’ has had in terms of improving general demand for office space in the MediaCityUK area.
“These deals demonstrate the strengthening occupational market at MediaCityUK with a number of high profile occupiers committing to the Salford Quays area over recent months.
“As rental levels push upwards in other areas, notably the city centre and south Manchester, MediaCityUK is again looking very attractive in terms of its overall ‘offer’ in terms of value for money, amenities, public transport and parking.”
Salford Quays has had a chequered past as a business destination since it was created in the late 1980s. However, the arrival of the BBC has stimulated much greater interest. The Quays scored a strong start to 2015 with office take-up of 214,000 sq ft, up by more than 40 per cent compared to the whole of 2014.
Growth has continued through the summer, including two of the largest transactions completed:106,000 sq ft to TalkTalk at Soapworks, Salford Quays, and 27,000 sq ft to SAGE, at Exchange Quay, Salford Quays.
Data from Bilfinger GVA shows take-up throughout Greater Manchester strengthening during the second quarter of the year.
The property consultancy’s Big Nine: Quarterly review of the regional office occupiers markets reveals take-up performance of the office markets in the Big Nine cities outside London.
Manchester led second quarter out-of-town performance with 315,291 sq ft take-up, 50 per cent above the five year quarterly average, a figure boosted by Salford’s performance.
Chris Cheap, senior director at Bilfinger GVA Manchester, said: “Take-up figures for the second quarter reveal a strong demand trend. Out of town, there has been a similar success story.”
Meanwhile, Salford Quays’ Anchorage Building has changed hands again, this time for around £26m. HIG Capital has completed the acquisition of the 218,000 sq ft building, part of a surge of US investment in the UK, much of it heading for the north west.
SOURCE: M.E.N.
