Bruntwood secures £140m sustainability-linked loan

Bruntwood has extended its loan facility that will see its £240m workspace portfolio funded by a sustainability-linked loan.    The agreement has seen the firm’s existing £50m Club Bank facility – a consortium of HSBC UK, NatWest, Santander and Barclays – increased to £140m and extended by a further 12 months to early 2028. HSBC UK acted as the sustainability co-ordinator, while NatWest acts as the agent. The majority of the extension has allowed Bruntwood to repay its retail bonds that were due in February. The terms of the loan align with Bruntwood’s ongoing ESG commitments to a reduction in carbon intensity, an increase in renewable electricity procurement and an increase in smart energy metering.  Bruntwood was the UK’s first commercial property company to sign up to the UK Green Building Council’s Advancing Net Zero Programme, alongside a £9.7m investment into a wind farm in Scotland and developing decarbonisation strategies for all buildings across its portfolio.  The facility covers Bruntwood’s £240m workspace portfolio located across Manchester city centre, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Leeds and Liverpool. This includes the £1m transformation of South Central in Manchester to provide new flexible suites for growing businesses, the recently refurbished Station House in Altrincham, and ongoing investment at Exchange Court in Liverpool city centre, due to complete in the next few weeks. Bruntwood said it also has plans to invest further into its workspaces portfolio using the loan to provide more workspaces for ambitious businesses across the region.  Rachel Brunt, chief financial officer at Bruntwood, said: “Given our long-standing commitment to helping the UK to reach a net zero future, it’s fantastic to now see our financing facility align with these ambitions. “Through the changes to our loan, we now have even more momentum to help us deliver forward-thinking, future-proofed assets fit for the workforce of tomorrow. We also know that ESG is only becoming more important to our customers, so this agreement is a clear sign to them that we are with them on their own sustainability journeys, and we will be here to support them along the way.” Image © Shutterstock