Bedford is struggling to shed its sleepy market town image and capitalise on its prime location – just half an hour from London. Cheryl Freedman reports
Here is a little teaser for you: where exactly is Bedford? Scrabbling in your tatty old road atlas is not allowed. Nor is fielding the question around the office. Still in the dark? Well, you’re not alone, according to David Richardson of Bedford agent McNeill Richardson. “Nobody knows,” he complains. “People say the East Midlands, the North West, East Anglia . . .”
Bedford – situated just off junction 13 of the M1 – doesn’t so much suffer from a bad image as no image at all. It never quite recovered from rejecting the chance to obtain New Town status in the 1960s. A sleepy market town, it has been overlooked in favour of its more salubrious neighbours Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Northampton.
But Bedford’s outlook is not entirely overcast. As Richardson points out, Bedford is only 50 miles north of London. It takes 34 minutes to get into King’s Cross on a fast train, and it is only 8 miles from the A1 and M1. The new £39m bypass, which opened last autumn and links the A421 to the A428 and then the A1, should help to put Bedford on the map.
It is still too early to assess the new road’s impact on local demand. And though local agents agree that the bypass is good news, some suggest that until the second phase providing fast links to the West is completed, it may not be enough to alter Bedford’s fate. But, says Richardson: “Even if it is completed, it won’t dramatically change Bedford. Most cities round here have already got good infrastructure. Bedford has been dreadful for many years.”
The bypass has none the less come as a godsend for the Bedford Development Agency, set up in 1995 and chaired by Healey & Baker partner Paul Orchard-Lisle. BDA has been pulling out all the stops to promote Bedford as an inward investment region.
New arrivals
Louise Kirke, commercial director of BDA, says that a proactive marketing campaign, concentrating mainly on areas south of Bedford and north of London, has been successful in drawing outside occupiers. Arrivals, says Kirke, include Hirshmann, a vehicle components manufacturer which has taken space at Cross Park, having relocated from Norfolk; and Protomod, which has arrived from Cranfield and taken space at Bedford Business Centre on Three Mile Road.
Ironically, one of Bedford’s selling points is that it never became over-developed. Says Richardson: “There wasn’t a huge overhang of space, so in property terms it has been fairly resilient. It’s never been a glamorous location, but at least you didn’t get left with business parks with rents of £161 to £215 per m2 (£15 to £20 per sq ft).”
One site that almost took off before the market crashed, and is now finding its feet, is the 28.3ha (70 acre) Bedford borough council-owned Priory Park, at Manton Lane. It houses Bedford’s highest-profile occupier – Unilever subsidiary Unipath, which is based in a 13,935m2 (150,000 sq ft) office and warehouse building that cost £5m to fit out. Most recently, a client of Langbourn Property Investment Services paid Wilson Bowden £11.8m for a 250-year lease on the property. Another 12.1ha to 16.2ha (30 to 40 acres) exists for development at Priory, says park agent David Tillison of Douglas & Co. The next arrival will be windscreen repairer Autoglass, which is building a 3,716m2 (40,000 sq ft) facility at the park on 1.6ha (4 acres).
The other main local source of interest is the 15,421m2 (166,000 sq ft) former Texas Instruments headquarters building, known as Bedford Heights. Last autumn, Texas was offering a £1m cash incentive for any company occupying the 5ha (12.3 acres). Baring Houston & Saunders is the asset manager; Weatherall, Green & Smith is marketing globally; while Douglas & Co and Lambert Smith Hampton are targeting the UK. A competitive £52 per m2 (£4.80 per sq ft) is being asked. Tillison reports that five parties are showing interest in all or part of the building.
Industrial growth
In and around Bedford, the industrial market remains the dominant force. At least 32,515 m2 (350,000 sq ft) of space, mostly secondhand, has been quietly shifted during the past 18 months. “It’s like the tortoise and the hare,” says Richardson. “Bedford has slogged along, but growth has been pretty solid.”
The main industrial estates are Elms Farm Estate, east of the town; Manton Lane Estate, north of the town centre; the Cambridge Road estates, south-east of the town; Woburn Road Estate to the south-west; and the Viking Estate to the east at Norse Road.
Tillison reports that industrial rents have increased by about £5 per m2 (50p per sq ft) in the past year up to some £38 per m2 (£3.50 per sq ft), and he predicts that rents will see a similar increase in the next 12 months. With marked shortages of industrial space of all sizes, says Tillison, there is no longer any need to offer incentives on industrial space.
Bedford’s other success story has been out-of-town and edge-of-town retail. Bedford-based developer City & County Development’s Interchange retail park at Ampthill houses tenants such as Office World and Toys R Us, with phase two recently completed. The other main out-of-town retail centre is CAEC Howard’s St John’s Centre at Rope Walk. Tenants include Allied Carpets and Norweb.
Bedford’s in-town shopping facilities still serve mainly local customers. The main covered mall is the Harpur Centre, owned by Allied Dunbar. It remains well over 90% let, according to Tony Lister of Conrad Ritblat, joint agent with Dalgleish & Co on the centre, with zone As of up to £861 per m2 (£80 per sq ft). In town, Tillison reports a reasonable take-up. Deals include space taken by the Suit Company and Dillons in Silver Street, and the arrival of New Look in Midland Road, where zone A rents command £915 per m2 (£85 per sq ft) and above.
Transactions
Bedford Business Centre, Three Mile Road, Bedford: Industrial. A 613m2 (5,598 sq ft) unit has been taken by computer hardware firm Mektron Systems on a new 10-year lease. Lambert Smith Hampton acted for Commercial Estates Management.
Bedford Business Centre: Industrial: City Electrical Factors has taken a 316m2 (3,400 sq ft) unit on a new 15-year lease at £12,850 pa, subject to five-yearly reviews, with six months rent-free. Checkley & Co acted for City. Lambert Smith Hampton acted for Commercial Estates.
Unit 4, St Martins Business Centre: Industrial. Fuji has taken 957m2 (10,300 sq ft) at £45 per m2 (£4.20 per sq ft) on a lease ending in 2016. Douglas & Co and Chesterton acted for St Martins International Property Investment. Feiner de Smith acted for Fuji.
