Advice leads to rent increases and full occupation

Expert advice from leading property consultancy Kirkby Diamond has enabled the owners of a Bedford office building to achieve 100% occupancy and significant rent increases.

Agents from the Bedford office of Kirkby Diamond, which also has offices in Luton and Milton Keynes, worked with the owners of West One, Bromham Road, to help secure tenants for 9,000 sq ft of vacant space on the ground and second floors.

Nathan George, commercial agency surveyor of Kirkby Diamond, said because large rental voids were impacting on the profitability of the building, he advised the owners of this modern, air-conditioned office, to divide and refurbish the top floor into four separate suites.

All units, which measure between 609 sq ft and 706 sq ft, have now been let to new tenants, including Govia Thameslink Railway, which teaches train drivers.

In a positive sign for the Bedford office market, agents achieved a rent of £11 per sq ft for some of the suites – far exceeding the original quote of £5 per sq ft.

A lease was then secured for the vacant first floor office and the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle has now been completed with the leasing of the ground floor suite and basement to Sodexo, which agreed a new 10-year lease.

“The increase in rent that we achieved for our client is indicative of the increasingly buoyant office market in Bedford,” said Nathan.

“Once the top floor had been divided into four different units, we saw a steep rise in enquiries from growing businesses, which we were confident would happen because Bedford has a dearth of good quality office suites of this size.

“The quality of the suites is complemented by the fact that it also has excellent transport links, being on the A4280, which is the main east-west link through Bedford to Northampton.”