Good Start to 2010 for Goodman - property group secures two new occupiers at Oxford Business Park
12 January 2010
Global property group Goodman has secured two major lettings at Oxford Business Park. Oxfordshire County Council and leading plant hire firm HSS Hire Service Group Ltd have both signed 10 year leases at the Park, taking a combined 20,300 sq ft of industrial and office space.
HSS has taken Building 6500 on the Park, which comprises 14,460 sq ft of industrial space set within its own grounds, to relocate its expanding Oxford operation from its current site in Botley. The new premises, let on behalf of Goodman by agents Carter Jonas, will also be used to establish a new employee training centre.
Oxfordshire County Council has taken 5,818 sq ft of office space at Building 4440 Nash Court to relocate its Children’s Services department, previously based at Knights Court, Oxford. The council was advised by Mouchel.
James Raven, Goodman’s UK Business Parks Development Director, said: “This double letting represents a flying start to the year for Goodman and demonstrates our ability to offer customers a complete property solution that continues to provide occupiers with a compelling case to relocate their businesses to Goodman business parks. We look forward to welcoming both HSS and Oxfordshire County Council to Oxford Business Park.”
Despite the economic downturn and subsequent impact on the UK office market, Goodman has developed a consistent pipeline of enquiries from organisations in both the public and private sector which have an appetite for high quality, sustainable workspace. This has helped it to secure a succession of significant lettings over the last twelve months, equating to well over half a million sq ft of workspace let at Goodman business and science parks across the UK in 2009. The company, which owns, develops and manages out of town and city centre office parks also reports high customer retention rates, with an ERV (Estimated Rental Value) renewal figure of 82%.
Raven continued: “It is a tremendous achievement for our team to have secured such an impressive portfolio of new occupiers, while working incredibly hard to deliver exceptional levels of customer service which ensures our existing customers stay with us.”
Oxford Business Park offers accessibility to major transport infrastructure and superior on-site amenities. The park is in close proximity to the A34 and M40, and a regular bus service to the city centre and rail station. It provides excellent amenities including a David Lloyd Health & Fitness Club; a day nursery; a restaurant and hotel; an adjacent retail park with a selection of shops including Boots, a Tesco superstore, Marks & Spencer Simply Food and a petrol station, set within a well managed environment.
Goodman has a track record of creating mixed-use environments such as Hatfield Business Park, Gloucester Business Park and Oxford Business Park. It has delivered superior business space solutions for blue-chip customers including Cadbury Schweppes, GMAC, T-Mobile, Oxfam and NATS.
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About Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Goodman Group, comprised of the stapled entities Goodman Limited and Goodman Industrial Trust, is the largest industrial property group listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the largest listed industrial property groups globally.
Goodman’s global property expertise, integrated own+develop+manage customer service offering and significant fund management platform ensures it creates innovative property solutions that meet the individual requirements of its customers, whilst seeking to deliver attractive long-term returns for investors. In Europe, Goodman has offices in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Turkey.
Please visit: www.goodman.com
For further information on Goodman please contact:
Joanna Reid 020 7269 9348 jo.reid@fd.com
Richard Stocks 020 7269 9355 richard.stocks@fd.com