Portsmouth: Environmental consultancy moves in to the Quarterdeck

Full house is close to being called on two waterfront office complexes at one of the South’s leading marinas.

The Quarterdeck at Port Solent, Portsmouth, has now reached 100% occupancy following the latest deal by property consultancy Vail Williams LLP.

Omnia Environmental Consulting signed a five-year lease on the newly-refurbished 2,815 sq ft first-floor office at The Quarterdeck.

From left: Harnish Patel, the Omnia team, and Lee McDonald on far right

Vail Williams, which covers the Solent region from offices in nearby Lakeside North Harbour and Southampton's Ocean Village, acted for the private property fund owners of The Quarterdeck.

Omnia is a multi-disciplinary consultancy operating nationally, providing support to clients across a wide range of sectors and disciplines.

These include construction, development and infrastructure as well as planning and support services covering a range of areas such as environmental and contaminated land assessments, geotechnical engineering and more generic construction consultancy.

Omnia has seen continued growth across all aspects of its service provisions nationally, and is particularly strong in this area.

Lee McDonald, managing director and founder of the company, said: "The team in this region has expanded rapidly over the past couple of years through a lot of innovation and diversification, and they have a very strong growth forecast which we have confidence in given the investment that can be seen in so many sectors across the area.

"To accommodate this growth, help attract the very best candidates to the business and help retain our staff by creating a great working environment, we needed an amazing setting with good transport links.

"Whilst a fairly tall order, working with Vail Williams and the owners has seen us achieve this next step and we are looking forward to continuing to build our future here."

The company relocated eight miles away from Manor Court, Barnes Wallis Road, Fareham.

Harnish Patel, an associate partner for Vail Williams, said: "The refurbishment had enhanced the offices to provide a modern, versatile working environment.

"Staff retention, wellbeing and location are all important factors for progressive businesses and is one of the reasons why businesses choose to locate here."

Port Solent is strategically located at the M27 via J12 gateway to Portsmouth, providing excellent accessibility and parking.

The scheme has a waterfront setting and benefits from retail and leisure facilities which include David Lloyd Clubs, ODEON cinema, Snow & Rock, Pizza Express, Casa Brasil and a number of other national and independent operators.

Harnish added: "Business expansion has driven down the supply of quality office accommodation along the M27 corridor. As office space continues to dwindle, we are seeing prime rents increase accordingly."

Other occupiers at The Quarterdeck are recruitment consultancy STR Group, which won Large Business of the Year and Overall Business of the Year in the Portsmouth Business Excellence Awards 2019, Knight Architectural Design and travel operator TUI (UK).

The last remaining office at the marina is 25 The Slipway. The office suite is approximately 718 sq ft office and has recently been fully refurbished.