With the uncertainty of the General Election behind us, and a window of Brexit stability, 2020 has started well for the commercial office market. However, despite these underlying political and economic factors affecting business confidence in 2019, Crawley and Manor Royal out-performed many of the competing regional M25/M23 commercial centres.
This confidence in the town and Man- or Royal underpins its ever increasing appeal which retains and attracts new businesses from multinational occupiers to SMEs. The fundamentals of the location with unrivalled road, air and rail connectivity provide a foundation on which businesses can thrive, and this also provides the talent pool
for employers to secure and retain key staff. The increasing investment in Manor Royal and the new town centre regeneration projects, together with having the world’s busiest single runway airport on the doorstep, will only strengthen the position of Crawley and Manor Royal as the heart of the Gatwick Diamond Region.
Advised by Altus Group, this has resulted in many institutional and property company landlords investing in the refurbishment and repositioning of key office buildings in the town centre, Manor Royal and Gatwick to provide class-leading Grade A office accommodation to meet the market demands of quality and sustainability. Examples of such successes include the 22,661 sq ft Origin One building in Crawley town centre, refurbished by Aberdeen Standard and now fully let with Spirent Communications Plc taking the 7,602 sq ft last available floor.
Other examples include McKay Securities Plc refurbishment of Pegasus 2 on Manor Royal totalling 12,421 sq ft with the ground floor already let to Aeromobile Communications Limited who relocated from within Pegasus Place and were keen to stay put on Manor Royal. At Pegasus 2, McKay have also taken the opportunity to install a brand new state of the art facility to promote green travel and cycle commuting including showers, lockers and a changing room together with bike storage facilities.
At Gatwick, Shearwater Geoservices choosing to relocate to 2 City Place, opposite Nestlé and in the company of Air Partner Plc and Lloyds, also further reinforces this trend with a total of 10 new office lettings across the Crawley market in 2019. Examples of such continuing investor confidence in the area also includes the current refurbishment and rebranding of the 29,500 sq ft The Man- or office building on Manor Royal which includes the benefit of a central external courtyard amenity area on the first floor. The comprehensive specification of works to new Grade A offices is scheduled for completion this spring with Altus Group offering the building to the market for letting as a whole or in suites.
With the fundamentals of the location only set to strengthen the outlook remains strong for this sector of the Crawley and Gatwick market.
