The number of occupiers taking up office space in Manchester saw a surge last year, but only in certain parts of the city, according to the Manchester Office Agents Forum.
Offices in the south of Manchester were the most popular with business parks in Cheadle, Didsbury and Wilmslow seeing an increase of 36 per cent take-up when compared to 2011. The transactions added up to a total of 660,829 sq. ft. of office space in those areas.
In contrast office deals in the centre of Manchester remained flat at 788,265 sq. ft. Although there was little or no change in office take-up in the centre, the figure is still encouraging for the city.
Speaking of the findings, Emma Powell, a spokeswoman for the Forum, said: “When considering the lack of large transactions in the city centre, the fact that take-up reached such a positive level of close to 800,000 sq. ft. is testament to the resilience and strength of the local economy.”
Some of the deals in the city centre included companies such as Futureworks taking on 24,000 sq. ft. of office space, MoneyPlus Group taking 21,500 sq. ft. and i2 securing 22,000 sq. ft.
Last year was a good year for Manchester in terms of office deals, but can they do as well this year? Emma is optimistic that Britain’s third largest city can.
She said: “2012 proved a really positive year in light of the continuing tough market conditions in respect of the office market throughout the Manchester region. Once again Manchester has outperformed all other regional cities.
“2013 is already looking like another busy year with a number of large deals already happening.”
Would you rather have an office on the outskirts of a city or would you prefer to be in the middle of the hustle and bustle?
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