SURVEYOR SAYS THANKS A MILLION TO EXPANDING INDUSTRIAL MARKET


February 2, 2015

Industrial/Warehouse News

Expanding East Midlands businesses wanting to make the most of a growing economy helped a Nottingham surveyor hit the million mark last year. 

Tim Gilbertson, a Director in the industrial team at FHP Property Consultants, has personally sold or let 1.1 million square feet of industrial space during 2014 – one of the highest figures he has ever recorded. 

The deals have involved expansion among major PLCs, large national businesses and ambitious limited companies, with firms operating in the all-important manufacturing sector at the forefront of demand for space. 

Gilbertson says the 1.1 million square feet of space was spread across a total of 32 separate deals in the East Midlands. 

This is a smaller number of deals than he saw during some of the boom years.  But he said: “I’ve done more than 50 deals in a year before, but many of those involved smaller occupiers taking perhaps 5-10,000 sq ft of space.  This time round it has been fewer deals but with each involving occupiers taking significantly larger amounts of space.” 

While the market for industrial premises has been dominated by retailers looking for distribution warehouses, Gilbertson says that most of his deals related to manufacturing and engineering businesses, some working in the supply chain for global premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover. 

Many occupiers were looking for 50,000-100,000 sq ft of space or more, with two deals involving manufacturing companies taking 110,000 sq ft. 

Gilbertson said: “There’s a potentially positive picture underneath all this because my hope is that the expansion of these larger businesses will trickle down to the smaller suppliers who work with them.  That could encourage an increase in demand for smaller industrial space and build some momentum for new development. 

We really need that because the dynamics of property development are still quite challenging.  Getting people to build without an occupier signed up involves a leap of faith at the best of times, but these upfront costs are rising by the week at the moment because of inflation in the building industry. 

So the message needs to get out there – we’re in the fastest-growing part of the UK and the opportunities are there, but people need to act fast and be flexible about the way deals are structured to make things happen.” 

He added:  “One thing that has helped is the attitude of Local Authority Economic Development Teams. They might be struggling with funding, but most Local Authorities are trying to assist and indeed I have the recent experience of Ashfield, Bolsover and Mansfield trying to give help where it counts by getting planning through as quickly as they can on a new unit scheme.” 

Evidence of how far the commercial property market has moved on since the downturn ended in 2013 can be seen in the reduced incentives landlords are willing to offer potential occupiers, with rent-free periods built into deals falling and rents and capital values rising. 

Gilbertson says that 2015 is shaping up to be another million square foot year: “It’s definitely possible,” he says. “I’ve got some significant deals already proceeding and it looks to me like they will be larger transactions. 

“I know there is further demand out there and I am really keen to hear from property owners interested in putting their sites on the market.  The mismatch between occupiers wanting to expand and available sites means there are strong opportunities to create real value.” 

For further information please contact Tim Gilbertson at FHP Property Consultants on 0115 950 7577.

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