Tool supplier hammers out deal for Shoreditch HQ

Multinational tool supplier OX Tools has signed for a new London office, moving from the outskirts of the capital to Shoreditch. The company has taken a five-year lease at the Estate Office’s Clifton Studios at 102-108 Clifton Street, EC2, relocating from its offices in Orpington on the south-eastern edge of Greater London. It will pay £35 per sq ft for the 7,710 sq ft space, and plans to complete the Cat B fit-out itself to reduce long-term costs. Tomal Syed-Aguirre, founder of agency Soul Spaces, which represented OX Tools, admitted he did not expect the space to be attractive to the tenant “on paper”. But Syed-Aguirre said the tenant found the larger Clifton Studios attractive, since it provided more space for a similar price to the 5,000 sq ft spaces it had previously viewed. Since part of the building is below ground level, it came at a discounted price. OX Tools plans to use the additional space for client presentations and product showrooms. Syed-Aguirre said the move would help OX Tools “bring on new talent and be exciting” and to “take that next step” to create a London HQ to bring clients to. The property had been on the market for a year with another agency. At leasing agency Belcor, Marcus Godfrey said his team had advised the landlord to rethink the building’s presentation, adding murals designed by local artists alongside other “additional design touches” to make the site stand out. Photo © OJ Shoots