Business News Round Up (21/10/2022)
New figures show resilience of Manchester office sector
The Manchester city centre office sector has seen a 30% uptick, the latest data from the Manchester Office Agency Forum (MOAF) has shown. Office accommodation take up improved for the third consecutive quarter, with 53 transactions totalling 325,984 sq ft of floorspace. This marks an increase of 30% on both the previous quarter and the same period last year. Active sectors included the public sector, with the GPA (Government Property Agency) securing the largest acquisition within quarter three, taking 36,375 sq ft at 101 Barbirolli Square, and education. Manchester Metropolitan University acquired 36,116 sq ft at Manchester Technology Centre, Elizabeth School of London took 11,919 sq ft at Wellington House and London School of Commerce secured 9,059 sq ft at City Tower. The serviced office market also continued to expand with two new openings for Orega at 1 Balloon Street and Tootal Buildings. Gilbanks opened its first centre in Manchester at 11 York Street and Huckletree expanded its operation within Express Building. Other notable deals included RSM relocating from Spinningfields to a 14,000 sq ft floor at Landmark, St Peter’s Square and Barcrest Group moving into a 12,377 sq ft suite at Spinningfields from its previous office in Oldham.
Hospitality firms see trade slump in September as economic pressures mount and inflation soars
Businesses have suffered a trade slump and a sharp drop in cash reserves as economic pressures mount, according to new data. More than a quarter of companies said their turnover decreased in September, reflecting slower trade and reduced sales, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found. The hospitality industry suffered the biggest declines last month as businesses face higher costs and waning demand from cash-strapped consumers. More than half of companies in the accommodation and food services sector said that turnover dropped in September, compared to August – double the average across all sectors. A startling amount of companies also revealed that they have limited cash reserves should there be a need to access emergency funds. More than a tenth of businesses said they had no cash reserves at all in early October, while 28% said they had three months or less. The figure rises significantly for companies in the education industry, 51% of which reported having either none or limited cash reserves. UK business are being racked which higher costs which they say has continued to rise in recent months, the ONS’s data showed.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/hospitality-firms-see-trade-slump-28289217
Green Technology worth £8.6bn to Greater Manchester Economy
A new study of Greater Manchester’s green technologies and services sector has found the sector, which generated £8.6bn in sales in 2019-20, represents 14.5% of the business base and 3.2% of Greater Manchester’s employment. Green Economy, a membership organisation connecting buyers to suppliers of green products and services launched its second sector mapping study on the city-region at the GM Green Summit on 17 October 2022. The study, commissioned by Green Economy was delivered by Ove Arup in association with KMatrix, found that Greater Manchester’s green technologies and services sector is larger than the local advanced manufacturing, digital, creative and science and research and development sectors combined. The report highlighted many strengths across the local supply chain but identified that Greater Manchester had experienced a slightly slower growth rate (7.1%) than the UK (7.4%). And within the same period globally the sector grew by 14%.
Aberdeen office market bouncing back from pandemic
Property specialist Knight Frank says Aberdeen’s office market is on course from a strong year and is showing good recovery from the effects of the pandemic. The consultancy says the city is set to exceed 400,000 sq ft of office deals by the end of the year– a big rise on the 197,000 sq ft recorded in 2021. Knight Frank said 47,926 sq ft of office space was transacted in Aberdeen between July and September. With the 195,905 sq ft and 60,521 sq ft during the first two quarters respectively, take-up for 2022 so far has reached 304,352 sq ft. The biggest deal of the third quarter was Dolphin Drilling securing 9,000 sq ft. of office space at D2 Business Park in Dyce, as offshore activity grew. Knight Frank said several transactions were underway and set to conclude in the final quarter. Matthew Park, partner at Knight Frank Aberdeen, said: “Although take-up slowed, there were 19 deals concluded in the third quarter – office activity so far in 2022 demonstrates that Aberdeen is bouncing back from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are enough transactions in the pipeline to believe that we can surpass 400,000 sq. ft. for the year, which would be more than double 2021’s total.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/aberdeen-office-market-bouncing-back-28293806