Prospect Business Centres, which operates premium serviced office centres in London and Leeds, has announced further expansion with its sixth serviced office centre, its fourth in the capital.
The new 22,000 sq ft offices, at No 5 Old Bailey, in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral, is the company’s largest centre and has the ability to accommodate up to 350 desks over the first and second floors of the building. The new London centre joins a portfolio of three other centres in the capital, which are all experiencing record occupational levels of over 90%.
No 5 Old Bailey opens at the end of June and Prospect has invested £2.4m in the development. The high end office scheme will feature large breakout areas for clients including a dedicated balcony area, as well as two kitchens on each floor, and basement cycle racks with changing facilities.
Part of the fast-growing Leeds-based Prospect Property Group, Prospect Business Centres’ portfolio now comprises 112,000 sq ft of serviced office space and 1,700 desks across its four London centres and two Yorkshire centres at Prospect House and Fountain House in Leeds. Further office centres are planned for later this year.
Prospect will add six new staff at the site, to look after the clients, provide catering facilities and manage the building and services. “London is currently one of the world’s most active office markets and flexible workspace providers are accounting for a high proportion of the office take up,” said Charlie Cudworth, managing director of Prospect Business Centres. “We made a decision in 2011 to focus our expansion in the capital and this decision has been justified by our continued success. Our centres, which are in key locations, offering high quality accommodation and client-focused teams, provide excellent value compared to some of our more established competitors, who don’t have the ability to invest in these sought-after addresses,” he added.
“We plan to open at least three new locations next year if we can secure the right sites, and properties that meet our specific requirements. Our momentum is building through organic growth as we now have a larger and larger footprint in the capital,” said Mr Cudworth.
He added: “Our formula works in Yorkshire and performs particularly well in London. With a value and quality proposition and newly refurbished premises we are able to keep the centres virtually full after a few months of operation. The overflow of demand from other centres is giving us a flying start to occupancy at 5 Old Bailey too.”
