Commercial property agents reveal ‘bumper’ results to end 2022

A NUMBER of successful large transactions helped to boost East Midlands commercial property agents Innes England’s results at the end of last year, the company has revealed.   

The deals included more than 200,000 sq ft of transactions in phase 1 at St Modwen Park Derby, the flagship industrial and logistics development on Pride Park which has seen a huge amount of activity over the last 12 months and is going from strength to strength this year.    

Another significant deal involved the letting of the final 150,000 sq ft unit at Leicester Distribution Park (LEDP), located off the A47 near Leicester city centre, to third party logistics operator XPO. Innes England, M1 and CBRE acted on behalf of property developer Graftongate and investment managers BlackRock to complete the 45-acre scheme’s final phase.   

The transactions helped to mark a successful last quarter of 2022 for Innes England, despite an unsettled second half of the year for the commercial property market – as the company’s recent Market Insite report noted.   

Peter Doleman, the firm’s head of agency, said: “What is particularly pleasing about this latest set of results is that all three of our East Midlands offices made significant contributions to the end result which incorporated both acquisition and disposal activity and demonstrated the breadth and depth of expertise offered by the Innes England team.”  

Derby’s industrial real estate take-up continued its acceleration last year, with 1.2m sq ft of space being acquired – up from 891,000 sq ft and the second-highest take-up on record, according to Market Insite. 

Nick Hosking, Innes England’s director and head of agency and development in the city, said: “Derby’s industrial figures have never been better and with demand continuing to outstrip supply we see that trend continuing this year.   

“The developer St Modwen has invested £50m into the local economy over the last 12 to 18 months, with the delivery of 300,000 sq ft of new build grade A warehousing accommodation.

“Following the success of phase 1 it is really encouraging news that St Modwen will shortly deliver the next phase with the development of a further 350,000 sq ft, given industrial supply in Derby remains extremely thin on the ground.”

The optimistic outlook continues with the recent announcement that heating technology company Vaillant is to open a production site at St Modwen Park Derby, creating more than 200 jobs.   

The custom-built site is due to open in the autumn to allow Vaillant, which has its UK headquarters at Belper, to meet increasing demand for heat pumps.   

And Swedish medical technology manufacturer Getinge has revealed plans for a new global centre of excellence for chemistry and its UK headquarters at St Modwen Park Derby.   

Nick added: “Attracting Getinge to the scheme is really positive news for Derby, enabling its continued expansion and securing valuable hi-tech jobs within the city.”  

Meanwhile, Leicestershire’s industrial take-up of four million sq ft of space in the year was ‘excellent news’ added Peter. “It can be partly explained by the county’s exposure to the national distribution market and its location for a number of sites that cater for this specific massive market.” 

The office market in Leicester topped the leader board in the industry’s Estates Gazette Radius On-Demand rankings on lettings and occupational sales transacted between October and December in 2022.   

In Nottingham, Innes England director Scott Osborne facilitated a multi-million pound transaction on behalf of Henton and Chattell, the UK’s leading distributor of ground care and garden machinery.    

The company acquired three income-producing buildings of nearly 50,000 sq ft in Abbeyfield Road as part of its ambitious expansion plans.   

Scott added: “Innes England experienced a bumper end of the year with almost half a million square feet transacted in the last quarter. We look forward to many more successful deals in 2023.” 

Innes England’s new Birmingham office – opened last year under its head of office Adam Rock – had also exceeded expectations in its first nine months on the level of instructions and turnover generated, the company said.  