Bath urgently needs more office space if it is to fulfil its potential as a centre for the creative and hi-tech industries and take advantage of a dramatic upturn in the inquiries, a new report on the city’s commercial property market warns.
The number of businesses seeking offices in Bath has dramatically increased in the past 12 months, according to the agent Carter Jonas’ latest Commercial Edge Bath report.
It shows a 39% increase in take up last year to 114,200 sq ft compared with 2011.
Carter Jonas commercial partner and head of the Bath office, Philip Marshall, said: “Encouragingly, letting activity has increased for three years in a row and with market sentiment continuing to improve during 2013, take-up is expected to marginally exceed its 2012 level by the end of the year.
“Bath tends to be resilient to recession and this still seems to be the case today.” 
He said areas identified for future growth were the creative and ICT (information and communications technology) sectors. These are currently the fourth largest in Bath contributing around £220m to the GVA (gross value added) and employing 6,700 people. The sector is forecast to grow by 20% by 2026.
“The provision of suitable office accommodation should be considered as a matter of urgency”, said Mr Marshall.
“It’s essential to ensure sufficient capacity is provided for the expansion of Bath and North East Somerset to create a viable and successful office market capable of driving forward an integral part of the local economy. At present the quality of the office stock in Bath is very poor.”
