Prime Guildford office building snapped up by Seneca Property

Growing real estate investor Seneca Property has boosted its portfolio with the acquisition of a prime office building in the centre of Guildford.

It has bought Tempus Court - a modern five-story building spanning 25,000 sq ft close to the town's railway station.

In 2015, the building previously traded for £10.5m, but now it has been marketed with an asking price of £6.5m by Knight Frank, which acted as advisor to the seller, Columbia Threadneedle.

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North-west based Seneca Property was founded in 2017 by chartered surveyor Jeff Morton and chartered accountant Chris Bullough.

It is the property investment arm of the Seneca group of specialist investment and lending companies and has pumped more than £200m into a broad range of opportunities across different sectors with a typical deal size of between £2m and £20m.

Morton, the CEO, said: "We’re delighted to add Tempus Court to our growing portfolio.

"This prime Guildford asset aligns perfectly with our strategy of acquiring high-quality office buildings in strategic locations, which we believe represent excellent long term value. We have a further £25m to invest on suitable opportunities."

Bullough, Seneca Property's managing director, added: "2024 has been Seneca’s most successful ever year with income and occupancy at record levels throughout our office estate, as tenants are attracted by the quality of the product and service we offer.

"We believe Tempus Court is perfectly positioned to benefit from this same management approach over the coming years."

This latest purchase follows Seneca’s recent acquisition of The Place, Maidenhead and reinforces the company's strategic focus in this sector.