In conjunction with CBRE we have let four more units at Lakeside Industrial Estate in Redditch on behalf of Centurion Properties and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Property Trust.

The latest lettings mean the estate is now fully let – a significant achievement and something rarely seen, even in a strong market.

Stride Supplies Ltd agrees 10 year lease

In the latest deals, the UK’s largest spring wire stockholder, Stride Supplies Ltd, has agreed to lease the recently refurbished 17,600 sq ft Unit 7 on a 10 year lease with no break option, which is unusual in the current marketplace and a welcome addition to the estate’s ever-improving investment value.

Stride Supplies distributes all grades of spring wire to manufacturing customers in the UK, Europe and the Far East. Founded in Manchester in 1984, the company is relocating from the Monkspath Business Park in Solihull.

Lease re-gear agreed for Clement & Street Design Build Ltd

Meanwhile international exhibition stand company, Clement & Street Design Build Ltd, has re-geared its lease of Unit 9 - a 6,815 sq ft unit on a 10 year lease with a five year break. Clement & Street designs and builds custom made exhibition stands and graphics for trade exhibitions in the UK and globally.

Further units acquired

Gunnebo Industries, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of fasteners, nails, screws, plugs and expanders, with its headquarters in Sweden, has agreed to acquire Unit 8, extending to 15,543 sq ft, also on a 10 year lease with break options, while Midland Metal Solutions has acquired the 5,357 sq ft recently refurbished Unit 4 on a five year lease.

67% of the estate let over last 12 months

Alex Carr, Associate Director in our Birmingham Industrial and Logistics team said: “Since we acquired the estate for the client in February 2010 we have now re-geared or let 67.7 per cent - nearly 138,000 sq ft - of the total floor area on Lakeside. We have also achieved 10 leases of 10 years, three of which have no break clauses.

“We have comprehensively refurbished 37 per cent of the accommodation on the estate, and these units have been let within six months of the practical completion of the work. Furthermore, Unit 8 was placed under offer before the completion of the refurbishment. This emphasises the importance of high quality refurbishment as a key factor in attracting tenants in today’s market.”

Average rent on the increase

Jon Ryan Gill, Senior Surveyor at CBRE, said: “At the time of purchase the average rent across the estate was £3.50 a sq ft. Now it is £4.10 a sq ft and rising. We have also achieved a headline rent of £4.65 a sq ft on the estate, which is back to where rents were in 2007 before the recession. In the current market it is most pleasing to see evidence of rental growth on multi-let industrial estates, and this will come as welcome news for landlords.”

Paul Reid, Head of Asset Management at Centurion, said: “The Lakeside estate has always been popular with occupiers due to its strong transport links. But one of the main factors which makes Lakeside attractive is our extremely intensive hands-on asset management on behalf of SWIPPT. That, combined with our knowledge of the multi-let industrial market and our agents’ letting capability, has contributed to the recent success, which is exceptional in the current market climate.”

Centurion Properties is an asset and development manager of UK commercial property. Formed in 2000, the company has expertise in all sectors of the commercial market. Throughout this period, it has established an enviable track record for tackling a broad range of hugely challenging assets successfully, and for delivering exceptional returns to investors.