A Bath office left vacant when its occupier relocated to Bristol last year has been snapped up by an expanding firm in a move that underlines the severe lack of grade A workspace in the city.
Mortgage and insurance broker L&C Mortgages has taken the 6,854 sq ft second floor suite in Royal Mead, pictured, on Railway Place to meet its growth plans.
The firm, which has its UK headquarters in Beazer House on Lower Bristol Road, needs extra space as a result of growing client demand for its fee-free mortgage advice service.
The office was previously occupied by not-for-profit technology adviser Eduserv, which announced last October that it was moving to Bristol after securing a seven-figure funding deal from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The firm, which employs 130 staff and has a turnover of £15m, used the secured loan facilities to buy the former Open University office in Bristol. It had rented its previous offices in Bath since launching in 1999.
Property consultants Alder King acted on behalf of Eduserv to let the space in Royal Mead.
Alder King snior surveyor Tom Dugay said: “The supply of good quality office space in Bath is at its lowest level for many years and competition for good quality newly-available space like this is extremely strong. The suite was a perfect match for L&C’s requirements.”
L&C Mortgages’ arrival will leave just the first floor available. Other occupiers in the four-storey building, which was bought last year by CBRE Global Investors for £8.61m, include Altus and Investec.
Research by Alder King published in its influential annual Market Monitor showed that Bath’s commercial property sector outperformed many other towns and cities across the South West and Wales last year.
But it also highlighted the continued challenges for the city, particularly its lack of new Grade A offices.
Apart from Royal Mead, the only other available Grade A space is in the nearby refurbished 20 Manvers Street scheme, which is also close being fully let.
