Bristol business chiefs have been given an upbeat report on the state of the city’s commercial property market.
The account was delivered at Colliers International’s annual Breakfast Briefing, which was attended by over fifty leading figures from the city’s banking and legal sectors.
Organiser Abby Pugh, head of Colliers’ Valuation and Advisory Services team, told the gathering that there is continued positivity in the transactional and investment sectors where confidence has increased significantly.
“Money is being made available by the funding market and the recovery is now well established. Rental levels and capital values are returning to pre-recession levels as demand increases,” she said.
Office take up in the year up to September has already exceeded that for the whole of 2013, Director of Offices James Preece reported. The meeting also heard that rents were on the rise in the industrial and retail warehouse sectors.
In the out of town retail sector, consumer experience is now considered equally as important as convenience, said director Nick Turk.
“The key to a successful shopping centre is to combine shopping and leisure, resulting in more dwell time and discretionary spend.
“The overall experience with food and bars, fun shops and a good mix of independent retailers will bring in the crowds,” he said.
The meeting concluded with a discussion about the implications of the 2011 Energy Act and Bristol’s role as next year’s European Green Capital.
Story: Neil Bird
Photo: Bigstock
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