High street retailer John Lewis and British Airways have demonstrated their commitment to a Manchester business park.
The airline, which first took space at Didsbury’s Towers Business Park in 2000, has extended its lease on 55,000 sq ft for a further seven years. Its 400-staff operation on the site includes British Airways Executive Club Centre of Excellence, its ContactBA division and BA Cityflyer Head office.
“Towers has been a great business home for us since our move out of Manchester city centre,” explained BA’s property manager Steve Barnes. “The current improvement works have been well received and will further add to our office setting and facilities. We look forward to our continued business growth and success at Towers.”
Meanwhile, John Lewis has confirmed it is more than doubling its space at the business park south of the city centre. The retail chain currently occupies 19,375 sq ft of space and has agreed to take an additional 23,900 sq ft.
The Towers consists of nine office buildings within 19 acres of landscaped parkland. It was acquired in 2011 in a £47m a joint venture deal between London-based investor Moorfield Group and the Manchester-based Property Alliance Group (PAG). The partners bought the site from Dutch investor Wereldhave.
At the time PAG director, Dominic Pozzoni, said: “The Towers has it all: the location, ample amenities, strong existing occupiers and the ability to expand in its use and appeal for further occupiers.”
The local investor — which has a £240m portfolio spanning the industrial, commercial and retail and leisure sectors, has managed the Towers and worked hard to attract national and international tenants to its 350,000 sq ft of Grade A office space.
Among the other businesses at the Towers are: Oracle, the American multinational computer technology corporation; fellow US conglomerate, Honeywell; the information technology company, CGI; networking specialists, Cisco; niche engineering firm, Roper Industries, and global industrial equipment supplier SPX.
“The strong run of new occupier deals and tenant re-gears has been a result of our carefully executed business plan and investment,” said Moorfield Group spokesman, Hugh Canham. “It is also because we have worked hard to give our tenants added value through the implementation of the Towers Life programme, which attempts to ensure that our current and future occupiers receive the very best in Manchester office accommodation and environment.”
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