Bristol offices hold firm despite economic headwinds – Avison Young

By Peter Davison

5 December 2022

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Trinity Quay Bristol

Prime rents in Bristol city centre are holding firm at £42.50 per square foot, reflecting the resilience of the city despite economic headwinds strengthening, according to strategic real estate adviser Avison Young.

The firm has just released its Big Nine review of the regional office market for Bristol, which shows that take-up in the city during Q3 2022 was up from the last quarter at 131,197 sq ft.

This has surpassed the totals for the same period of 2020 and 2021, which were both impacted by the Covid pandemic and resulting national lockdowns.

Office availability is around a quarter below long-term average levels and supply of Grade A space remains very limited pending delivery of new developments under construction.

Cubex’s 110,000 sq ft Halo is due to complete imminently but is already 88 per cent pre-let to Osborne Clark and Deloitte.

Following that, CEG’s 184,000 sq ft EQ and Umberslade's 20,270 sq ft CARGO Work are both due to complete before the end of the year. The former is already 45 per cent let to Arup and Payment Sense.

Notable deals in Q3 included West of England Combined Authority's new 19,817 sq ft office at 70 Redcliffe Street, and Canada Life taking 13,260 sq ft at No1 The Distillery at an average rent of £37.25 psf.

The TMT & Creative sector continued strongly in the city, accounting for almost a quarter of take-up.

Paul Williams, director at Avison Young in Bristol, said: “As economic headwinds intensify, it is interesting to note that occupiers are still seeking out the best space which is driving demand for new Grade A accommodation, as well as a wave of comprehensive refurbishments of older buildings such as the Crescent Centre, 100 Victoria Street and Tower House.

"As occupiers consider their space requirements and focus on the need to attract and retain the best staff, the level of headline rent has become less of a factor in the overall relocation decision.

“Confidence remains high, with take-up levels expected to exceed the 5-year average in both city centre and out-of-town markets by the end of the year.”

The Big Nine report for Bristol can be read in full at https://www.avisonyoung.com/experience/research-uk/big-nine-q3-2022/

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.