The publisher behind Auto Trader has launched a major grade-A office search in Manchester.
Berkshire-based Trader Media Group has instructed Dunlop Heywood to find it 60,000 sq ft in the city centre.
The requirement is one of the biggest in the city since Barclays took 80,000 sq ft at Carlyle’s Piccadilly Place in the summer, Bupa Health Assurance shelved its 160,000 sq ft design-and-build requirement and Jacobs Engineering cut its long-running search for more than 100,000 sq ft to take 45,000 sq ft at Orbit’s Park Square and 23,500 sq ft at Ask’s First Street.
According to Savills, take-up in the city in H1 stood at 439,944 sq ft, up by 43% on 2012, constraining large floorplate supply significantly.
The supply pool of large offices has shrunk by around 30% in past 18 months, with the TMT sector making up a large chunk of demand, accounting for a 22% share of the market. Savills estimates the city is now facing a 140,000 sq ft shortfall in office space over the next decade. EGi Research shows 1.3m sq ft of available new or refurbished space.
“It is always good news when a hefty new occupier starts sniffing around, but it is good timing and good for morale to have a big brand name looking so soon after others have settled down,” said one local agent.
TMG already has a small digital operation in Newton-le-Willows, Cheshire, but the move would mark a major expansion in the region. It employs some 1,400 people in the UK, Ireland and South Africa and is gradually taking its print publications online. Last summer it expanded its data business with the acquisition of Chester-based data firm Deltapoint.
Chris.Berkin@estatesgazette.com
