Douglas Duff - Offices Sale - Bedford, Priory Business Park

Date: 16 Aug 2002

More land has been sold at Priory Business Park, Bedford, and new purpose-built facilities are planned there – confirmation, say agents Douglas Duff, of Bedford’s reputation as a regional investment hot spot.

"Bedford is definitely a place where business enterprise can thrive" commented Roy Douglas of Douglas Duff who acts for Bedford Borough Council in selling long leasehold interests in the land. "Such is the success of selling plots to owner occupiers at Priory Business Park that the Borough Council is in the process of considering an extension to the Park in order to keep up with demand."

New developments at Priory Park show the diversity of the commercial property sector:

An agreed sale of an acre of land will enable welding equipment specialists Kemppi, a Finnish-owned UK subsidiary, to move into a new purpose-built UK headquarters offering marketing, distribution and sales support services.

Work is about to start on Bedford’s first speculative development of offices for about ten years. Three high-quality buildings containing 11 two-storey office units are planned for a 1.4-acre site at Priory Business Park. The units range from 2,458 sq ft (228 sq m) to 12,290 sq ft (1,142 sq m), and one has already been pre-sold on a long leasehold basis to the National Hairdressers’ Federation. There is firm interest in a further three units, so a total space of around 12,500 sq ft is already ‘spoken for’, with companies likely to start moving in early in 2003.

Douglas Duff has sold land to Gladman Developments for the speculative development of high-quality offices totalling 46,000 sq ft (4,274 sq m); the company plans to offer flexible short- and long-term leases on a design-and-build basis.

A new 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) Innovation Centre is planned in partnership with the East of England Development Agency to promote business growth in easy-in easy-out units of around 750 sq ft (70 sq m).

Bedford offers a number of strategic advantages for commercial development: a central UK location with excellent communications and lower rents than some parts of the South East. Priory Business Park is likely to continue expanding and companies there will be creating new employment opportunities.

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