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Annual Property Report

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2013

01 Warrington Annual Property Report 2013

Contents

Sponsor

Foreword

Executive Summary

The Warrington Economy

Investment

Offices

Leisure and Culture

Industrial and Distribution

Retail

Residential

Regeneration FrameworkAnnual Update

Looking Forward

Acknowledgements

03

05

07

09

11

13

18

19

27

29

31

34

38

02Warrington Annual Property Report 2013


Omega, Warrington

Omega is a major £1bn, employmentled, mixed-use development opportunityon a brownfield site at junction 8 of theM62, comprising part of the formerUSAF/RAF Burtonwood Airbase.

The 575 acres development site is beingdelivered by Omega Warrington Ltd(OWL), a joint venture between MillerDevelopments and KUC Properties Ltd(part of The Royal Bank of Scotland’sWest Register Property), in partnershipwith the Homes and CommunitiesAgency (HCA) and supported byWarrington Borough Council (WBC)

Planning consent has already beenachieved for 1.6m sq ft of logistics spaceon Omega North and 1.5m sq ft of officeaccommodation on Omega South. On

Omega South, planning consent has justbeen granted for a 600,000sq ft logisticscentre for a major household name andstart on site is imminent.

On Omega North, work is wellunderway on a 200,000sq ft unit for thesite’s first occupier Brakes, the groceryand fresh food suppliers, and on £7m ofinfrastructure works. Two furtheroccupier announcements are imminentfor Omega North and these logisticsoccupiers are likely to generate in excessof 2,200 further long term jobs in thenext couple of years plus around 1,000construction jobs.

The recent planning approval on OmegaSouth marks the first phase of a widermixed-use masterplan for the remainderof the site which is currently beingfinalised.

Omega is being delivered byOmega Warrington Ltd,a joint venture betweenMiller Developments & KUCProperties Ltd (part of TheRoyal Bank of Scotland’sWest Register Property)

Left to right – Stacey Meadwell, EstatesGazette; Jonathan Wallis, MillerDevelopments, Partner of OmegaWarrington Limited; and Damian Wild,Editor, Estates Gazette

Middle three key representatives: (left to right) Cllr Terry O’Neill, Leader of Warrington BoroughCouncil; Andrew Sutherland, Joint MD of Miller Developments (Partner, Omega Warrington Ltd);and Deborah McLaughlin, North West Executive Director at the Homes and Communities AgencyPLUS guests at the Omega North commencement of works celebration event.’

Awards:

In March 2013, OmegaWarrington Ltd, which is a jointventure between MillerDevelopments and KUCProperties Ltd (part of The RoyalBank of Scotland’s WestRegister Property) was awardedthe title of ‘North West PropertyCompany of the Year’ by leadingnational commercial propertypublication Estates Gazette.This was based on occupierlettings progress made onOmega North. The companyfaced tough competition andbeat high profile companies theCo-operative Group,Manchester Airports Group, andthe Peel Group to the top prize.

Miller Developments is part of The MillerGroup, a major UK property businessspecialising in housebuilding, commercialproperty, construction and integratedasset management services.

Miller Developments is a major property development andtrading business operating across the UK, focussing onbrownfield sites and working in joint venture with public andprivate sector partners. Miller Developments reviews existingproperty assets and estates, works through the planning anddevelopment process as well as being well equipped tomanage and finance projects. They were named PropertyCompany of the Year in Scotland and the East Midlands in the2012 Estates Gazette regional awards.

Recent deals and key contracts:• Miller Developments recently exercised an option to

acquire 93 acres of prime development land at Dyce Drive,Aberdeen. A new business hub with a projected end valueof £400m and the capacity to create up to 8,000 jobs overthe next decade is set to be created on the site next toAberdeen International Airport. Norwegian-listed oilservices company, Aker, recently purchased 40 acres at thesite to create a new base in Aberdeen.

• Miller Cromdale, a joint venture partnership between MillerDevelopments and Aberdeen based developer CromdaleLtd, recently agreed a forward funding deal with Tritax todevelop a new 40,000 sq. ft. bespoke Grade A officebuilding at North Esplanade West, Aberdeen. The £16.1million deal will see fast growing North Sea operatingcompany, GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd, occupy the developmenton a 15 year lease, with employees and contractorsexpected to move into the new building in Q3 2014.

Key Projects:Edinburgh QuayMulti-Award winning Edinburgh Quay set the benchmarkfor canal side regeneration and development in the UK.

Edinburgh Quay Ltd, a Miller Developments partnershipwith British Waterways (BW), transformed the Edinburghterminus of the Union Canal into a thriving cosmopolitanenvironment.

Pacific QuayOn the former Glasgow Garden Festival site on the banksof the River Clyde, Miller Developments was selectedwith joint venture partners Grosvenor and CTP Ltd to leadthe regeneration of this site to fulfill the ambitions ofScottish Enterprise.

Pacific Quay is home to some of the most prestigious HQbuildings in Glasgow including BBC Scotland and ScottishMedia Group. In addition, the location also plays host toGlasgow Science Museum and IMAX Cinema.

E.ONA nine-storey, £30m, high quality office development inNottingham city centre by Miller Developments’ Midlandsjoint venture, Miller Birch, constructed on land acquiredfrom the local authority.

The 105,000 sq ft (9,754 sqm) development was pre-leton a 15 year lease to energy giant E.ON and was forwardfunded by local investor Leicestershire-based CharlesStreet Buildings Group.

The building is the first BREEAM "Excellent"development in the city.


The Omega Opportunity, at Junction 8 of the M62

05

Foreword

Warrington Annual Property Report 2013

This fifteenth Annual Property Review provides considerable reassurancethat Warrington continues to buck the national economic trend

This fifteenth Annual Property Review providesconsiderable reassurance that Warrington continuesto buck the national economic trend.

Unlike many locations who are merely fighting tosurvive we continue to confidently and robustly grow.As a town we continue to outrank and outpace ourlocal neighbours including Liverpool and Manchester.Four recent, significant, independent reports all placeWarrington in the top ten locations in the UK in termsof economic and company growth, knowledge,workforce skills and quality of life based on datagathered in 2012.

All property sectors continue to recover; indeed somehave enjoyed their best years in a long time. There isa clear confidence in the market which has perhapsbeen buoyed by longer term plans for developmentprojects in the town beginning to come to fruition.

Notably the Omega Opportunity is finally beingrealised. The three developments announced so farwill create 1,200 new jobs and bring a totalinvestment value of £135 million. The £190 millionStadium Quarter project has been given the greenlight and coupled with considerable progress towardscommencement of the Bridge Street regeneration willfurther boost investor confidence, particularly in thetown centre.

Current planned investment at Omega and The StadiumQuarter alone totals £325 million. There can be fewcities and towns in the UK that can boast such levels ofinvestment.

This new focus on delivery has been galvanised by theadoption by Warrington Borough Council of theWarrington Means Business strategy and frameworkwhich clearly sets out the development plans for thenext decade and beyond to be delivered by a re-energised and revitalised Warrington & Co.

Whilst one is wary of optimism in these austere times,Warrington is undoubtedly doing rather well for itselfand the future looks even brighter. For the cannyinvestor it is certainly the place to be.

Terry O’NeillLeader WarringtonBorough Council

Peter CromptonChairman Warrington & Co.Director BE Group

Unlike many locations who are merely fighting tosurvive we continue to confidently and robustly grow.


07

The resilience of the town's economy, notwithstanding thewider national picture, was evidenced by a number ofcompanies headquartered in Warrington being acclaimedin business performance rankings. Indeed two nationalbusiness awards, sponsored by Ernst & Young and Orange,chose a Warrington business owner as their UKEntrepreneur of the Year. And each chose a differentcompany, in Betfred and Better Bathrooms. The strength indepth of successful businesses is illustrated by North WestInsider's Top 500 companies, which sees morerepresentatives from Warrington than any other locationapart from outside Manchester. Almost nine percent areheadquartered here.

And this resilience was reflected in all sectors ofWarrington's property market during 2012. Investmentactivity involved over 85,500 sqm of office, industrial andretail floorspace, and generated sales totalling £80million. The offices sector continued its recovery withthe fourth highest number of deals recorded in thehistory of the Annual Property Report. The industrialsector recorded the sixth best annual take-up figure, atjust under 81,000 sqm, with the North West's largeststrategic employment site, Omega, at last making acontribution. A number of sizeable out of town retailprojects began or were completed. The largest twoshopping centres, Golden Square and Birchwood Mall,saw development activity that will introduce additionalanchor stores. Yet again the leisure sector saw a newhotel opening, bringing a new operator to Warrington.Research identified a 3.3 percent year on year growth inoccupancy rates for the Borough's hotels, despite theimpact of both the Jubilee celebrations and the LondonOlympics. Whilst concerns continue nationally about thelevel of house building with much development stalled,Warrington's residential sector saw activity on 32separate sites. The Local Plan annual target of 456 newcompletions was comfortably exceeded with 626 newunits built.

Once more Birchwood dominated the office sector, withover half the transactions. But the year’s largest officedeal involved a commitment by Swiss-owned hearing aidcompany, Phonak, to lease a bespoke building at Centre

Park from Marshall CDP. The rapidly dwindling supply ofGrade A office space has prompted a number of propertyowners to invest in refurbishments, particularly inBirchwood, that will deliver this quality. It has also, forthe time being, limited activity in the office investmentmarket. Only two investment transactions during 2012involved office properties.

The commitment by Brakes to lease over 18,000 sqm atOmega North has silenced doubts that the site wouldever be developed. And like waiting for a bus, as soon asone turns up others follow behind, Omega North andSouth have three further potential occupiers for whomplanning has been, or is being, secured. Together thesefour projects should see some 134,000 sqm underconstruction during 2013.

Evidencing the continuing growth of online retailing,market leader, The Hut Group leased some further 13,500sqm close to its existing warehouse at Stretton. WoolstonGrange, Warrington’s largest industrial estate, accountedfor around 40 percent of all the industrial transactionsduring 2012, although most of the town’s establishedestates saw some deals activity.

The Brakes pre-let attracted the year’s highest industrialrent - £55.44 per sqm. It also features in the investmenttransactions having been forward sold at a yield of 6percent.

Warrington’s retail sector secured both occupier andinvestor commitments during the course of 2012. Out oftown retailing saw sizeable developments started or

Executive Summary


Warrington’s town centr bucked national trends i

“England's second-ranking location for business investment” was the highlight of a clutch ofnational studies that reported on the strength of Warrington's local economy in 2012. A study ofall 325 local authority areas in England by Local Futures and The Municipal Journal sawWarrington rated as second only to Milton Keynes as a location for business.

completed by IKEA, Sainsbury’s and Next. Thecommitment by IKEA coincided with their 25thanniversary at Gemini, at the time their first venture intothe UK. Next constructed a Home and Garden facility, byextending their Gemini site – the first in the North West toinclude this new concept. Sainsbury’s new store atChapelford was sold as an investment, achieving an initialyield of 4.9 percent. This was one of several retail-relatedinvestment sales that took place. Brockton Capital’spurchase from PRUPIM of Riverside Retail Park was thebiggest, with a purchase price of £29 million. Localdeveloper Foden Estates acquired the former Total Fitnessproperty on Winwick Road ahead of refurbishment for apre let to The Range.

Warrington’s town centre shopping centre, the Lendlease-owned Golden Square, bucked national trends in terms ofnew occupiers secured, footfall and sales. Leading theway in occupiers is Primark, whose 5,200 sqmrequirement has meant New Look’s relocation to a newstore within Golden Square – and its role as a new conceptstore, the only one currently outside London. BarclaysBank also announced plans to pioneer a new concept bankwithin Golden Square. This will be associated with a newregional office facility.

Redefine, owners of Birchwood Mall, progressed extensionand refurbishment works that will deliver an extra 7,000

sqm of retail space, with over 40 percent of this pre let toHome Bargains and QVC. In spite of ongoing constructionthroughout the year Birchwood Mall’s footfall droppedonly 2.5 percent, less than half the North West’s averagerate.

The year’s highlight for the leisure sector was the openingin May, by Her Majesty The Queen, of Orford JubileeNeighbourhood Hub. Costing £32 million, this is the onlyOlympic Legacy development outside London. It combinessports, health, and education and community facilitiesunder one roof. Gulliver’s World Resorts opened a new 56bedroom hotel in November and German hotel chainPentahotels acquired the Birchwood Ramada Encore asone of its first five UK hotels.

Building blocks were put in place that will lead to furtherdevelopments and investments taking place. The BoroughCouncil agreed terms for joint venture partnerships withLangtree (for the Southern Gateway) and lliad (TheStadium Quarter). The HCA has agreed a masterplan forits Bruche site ahead of seeking a developer. Twoplanning applications were approved, and a thirdsubmitted, for logistics and distribution facilities that willsee Omega North almost fully committed and the firstdevelopment on Omega South. Discussions are takingplace to enhance infrastructure and services withinBirchwood to help secure further economic growth.

re shopping centre, the Lendlease-owned Golden Square, n terms of new occupiers secured, footfall and sales.


09

Whilst in 2012 the UK continued to experience recession and double dip recessionconcerns, no less than four national reports highlighted the strength and success ofWarrington’s local economy.

The Warrington Economy

The Insider Top 500 listing of North West companies featur businesses, more than any other location, outside Manches

Once again the latest Centre for Cities ‘Cities Outlook2013’ painted a positive picture of Warrington, notingthat there has been an improvement in relative fortunesover the course of the economic downturn. Therecovery of house prices has been a contributory factor,with a fall of nine percent between 2008 and 2009offset by a subsequent twelve percent rise. The lowdependence on the public sector is helping to shelterthe local economy from the worst of public sectorausterity. Warrington was ranked seventh best for thehighest private sector jobs growth in 2010-2011,increasing by 4.7 percent to 93,800. The ratio ofprivate to public sector employment, at 3.8:1, reaffirmsthis. Only three locations, all in the south of England,bettered this.

The Centre for Cities separately identified Warringtonas the country’s most improved ‘city’ in Britain, basedon economic performance since the start of thetwentieth century. It looked at a range of measuresincluding residents’ skills levels, employment rates,number of new businesses, and drew comparison withthe 1901 census figures. The investment in

infrastructure in the town, and in skills, underpins thisimprovement.

All 325 English local authority areas were assessed byresearch consultancy Local Futures and the MunicipalJournal, in order to build ‘An Inward Investment Guideto England’. Warrington was identified as second onlyto Milton Keynes as the best place to do business. Theoverall ranking was compiled from assessments thatsee Warrington featuring in the top ten locations forenvironment and infrastructure; quality of life; humanresources; labour market; knowledge driven businesses;skills and qualifications; business and enterprise.

And the Santander Corporate and CommercialBanking’s UK Town and City Index put Warrington 16thas a place for business out of the 74 UK locations itresearched in 2012. The Index was compiled fromresearch relating to enterprise, talent, connectivity,costs and economic well being.

Evidence of the strength of the local economy and itsbusiness and enterprise culture was delivered by a


number of other comparison research findings andnational awards. The Insider Top 500 listing of NorthWest companies featured 44 Warrington-headquartered businesses, more than any otherlocation outside Manchester. Three companies,European Metals Recycling, United Utilities and GBOils featured in the top ten. Three other companies,Secured Mail, Better Bathrooms and Fideliti wereincluded in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 –the fastest growing companies by sales in the UK.Indeed all three were ranked in the top 40.

Amongst the Warrington-based businesses andentrepreneurs being recognised with national awardswere ICC Solutions (Queen’s Award for BusinessInnovation and Queen’s Award for Exports) forsoftware based test tools that certify Chip and PINtransactions and Evolution Recruitment Solutionswho were ranked second in the Sunday Times Top100 Best Small Companies to work for. Belfry Groupwon the Innovator Award (for its EcoPod device) atTheBusinessDesk.Com’s North West Business MastersAwards. These latter awards saw Betfred’s foundernamed North West Ambassador for the outstandingcontribution by a senior business leader. He was alsonamed UK Master Entrepreneur of the Year at Ernstand Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.Further evidence of the Borough’s entrepreneurialtalent surfaced at Orange’s sponsored NationalBusiness Awards, where their Entrepreneur of theYear went to another Warrington-based businessowner, that of Better Bathrooms.

Yet Warrington recognises it cannot afford to becomplacent about its economic resilience andsuccess. Amongst initiatives taken during the year tocontinue progression were:

• Warrington Skills Commission established toensure businesses can access the skills they need,and local people have the skills to access theavailable employment opportunities. This has ledto a borough-wide strategy for skills developmentto support the local economy, aligned to futurelocal labour market needs, the supply of skillsprovision and demand from employers andindividuals

• Warrington & Co. and Marketing Cheshire launchedthe investinwarrington.com website to promotethe town’s strengths and assets to potentialinvestors. It provides an important addition toendeavours to ensure the town maintains thestatus as a regional economic location, offeringpotential investors with a one stop shop resource

• Warrington Collegiate, and Warrington-basedcompanies Tachodisc Ltd and Pepsico Internationalestablished a new Logistics and DistributionTraining Academy, providing the opportunity forindustry and academia to work together andprovide local people with the right skills andexperience so they have a real chance of fundingpaid employment in what is one of the town’s keyindustry sectors.

res 44 Warrington-headquartered ster.

11

Investment


The property investment market continues to be far from plain sailing. Although nationallyinvestment activity is reduced, deals were concluded demonstrating that investors still hadan appetite for good quality stock with good covenants at the right yield.

Again the Warrington market saw a good number ofopportunities coming to the market, and althoughsimilar to the previous year, properties werewithdrawn when vendors’ expectations weren’t met,there was still around £80 million worth of stocktraded, consistent with levels seen up to the latterpart of the last decade.

The national picture was heavily influenced byquoted property companies who were at theforefront of transactions, though more so in terms ofsales than acquisitions. The indications were thatthey sold some £450 million worth of assets morethan they purchased. This was not necessarily drivenby a need to off-load assets, more an acceptancethat a more realistic stance on values needed to beadopted, although banks continued to influenceactivity either through a tight control on gearing orthrough the sale of property placed in the hands ofLPA Receivers.

The Warrington picture reflected the national trend,but there were also some very attractive prime dealsconcluded during the year, and for the first time inseveral years, many of the sales were completed atsingle figure yields.

There is still a demand for quality stock. The firstletting at Omega North was forward sold toNorthern Ireland Local Government Offices’Superannuation Fund, managed by LaSalleInvestments Management, at a yield of 6 percent.With a shortage of new high quality space theinvestment return showed how the market reactswhen the appropriate product is created.

The retail sector also featured with two primeopportunities being snapped up during the year. Thenew Sainsbury’s store at Chapelford Urban Village,built by Wilson Bowden as part of the new districtcentre, was sold to Greater Manchester Pension Fundat a yield of 4.9 percent. In Golden Square, thecombination of two large shop units created a 5,200

sqm unit to house Primark, bringing together theLittlewoods space leased by the retailer’s parent withthe neighbouring New Look unit. This was sold to aninvestor New River Retail. This was the first sale ofproperty within the town’s premier retail complex.

Marshall CDP achieved a further sale at the newlydeveloped Apollo Park, Gemini, where PRUPIMbought the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant at a yieldof 6 percent, improving almost a full investmentpoint over the previous year’s sale of the HarvesterRestaurant.

In total 15 deals were recorded with over half, ofthose declaring the financial details, achieving singlefigure yields, which is quite a turnaround from theprevious recession hit years. Not all deals wereprime. Banks drove at least three of the sales,including the 2,150 sqm Dunelm Mill store at ParkerStreet, where an investor picked up the property aspart of a small portfolio purchase at a yield in excessof 10 percent.

The industrial sector was well represented with eightof the deals. Most were for single tenant purchases,but they did include two multi-tenanted schemes.The latter proved popular with some investors as riskis spread between tenants and opportunities areongoing to work the investment to improve returns.Orbit added to their growing Warrington portfoliowith the purchase of Ravenhurst Court at Risley,whilst Cobra Asset Management bought the mostrecently developed warehouse scheme at EuropaBoulevard from Henry Boot Developments.

The signs are encouraging for the coming year as theinvestment market waits with anticipation to seewhether a number of the development dealscurrently in the pipeline will come to the market.These include the new 4,150 sqm office for Phonakat Centre Park, and some of the 116,000 sqm of newwarehouse space reportedly close to signing atOmega.


RiversideRetail Park

PRUPIMBrocktonCapital LLP

14,725 29.00 VariousRetail 8.0

Cushman andWakefield,Jones LangLaSalle

Location/Property Purchaser

Size(sqm) Price (£m) TenantsType Net Initial

yield (%) Agents

Omega North,Omega

OmegaWarringtonLimited

LIM Group 18,395 18.83 BrakesIndustrial 6.0

Jones LangLaSalle, GVA,Lambert SmithHampton

Santa RosaBoulevard,Chapelford

WilsonBowden

Greater ManchesterPension Fund

3,707 13.57 SainsburysRetail 4.9Savills / TushinghamMoore

RavenhurstCourt, Risley

Ignis Orbit 8,827 3.51 VariousIndustrial 9.2DTZ / BNPParibas

Golden SquareWarringtonRetail

Primark/NewRiver Retail

5,203 Undisclosed PrimarkRetail Undisclosed TushinghamMoore

Europa Court,Gemini

GullwingFund

Cobra AssetManagement

5,790 3.29 VariousIndustrial 10.0 Scott Frazer

Gemini 8, GeminiRetail Park

MarshallCDP

PRUPIM 337 3.10Frankie &Benny’s

Retail 6.0 Jones LangLaSalle

4 KingslandGrange, Woolston

BLME Rockspring 6,125 2.63 DHL / ExcelIndustrial 8.3 CollingwoodRigby

Vendor

Europa Boulevard,Gemini

CBREInvestors

ChestergateProperties

3,045 2.32 ASICSIndustrial 9.0 CBRE

Quay BusinessCentre, WinwickQuay

SpeycressEstates

JolivetInvestments(UK) Ltd

4,088 1.90 VariousOffices Undisclosed Deloitte RealEstate

5 Kingsland Grange,Woolston

PrivateVendor

Russells 2,329 0.80JamesMacNaughtonPaper

Industrial 12.9 CBRE

Total FitnessWinwick Road

Mc CaffertyAssetManagement

Foden Estates 6,968 0.75 VacantLeisure Undisclosed Jones LangLaSalle

Clayton Road,Risley

LPAReceivers

PrivateInvestor

993 0.75 VolvoIndustrial 7.6 Eddisons

Osnath Works, 1ALythgoes Lane

LPAReceivers

PrivateInvestor

2,558 0.43The FireplaceShowroom

Industrial 8.6 SandersonWeatherall

Unit 7, OlympicCourt, Birchwood

LPAReceivers

Tailormade 575 Undisclosed QuestOffices UndisclosedJones LangLaSalle, Matthews& Goodman

Parker StreetLPAReceivers

PrivateInvestor

2,150 Portfolio Sale Dunelm MillRetail >10.0 CBRE

13

Offices

Two years on from the annus horribilis for Warrington’s office market and the slow,but steady, recovery has continued. Overall take-up improved slightly over theprevious year’s total to just under 20,000 sqm, but the level was still short of thefifteen year average of 22,000 sqm.

Transaction numbers were up significantly, with 35deals recorded for the year. This matches the fourthbest year recorded in this report since it was firstpublished. Whilst activity was up, conversely theaverage deal size was down, to 566 sqm. But with threetransactions above 1,000 sqm, including a design andbuild, the larger end of the market continues tostrengthen after a period of inactivity.

Swiss owned Phonak, currently occupying threeseparate office buildings at Centre Park, signed anAgreement for Lease with Marshall CDP for theconstruction of a 4,171 sqm office and assembly facilityon one of the last remaining sites at Centre Park. Thecompany, which manufactures hearing aids, is due tooccupy the building in 2013. And at Birchwood, MEPCBirchwood Park signed an Agreement with YourHousing to build a new 3,000 sqm headquarters. This isnot recorded in this report’s figures as it was subject toobtaining final planning consent early in 2013.

Other significant deals saw First Recruitment acquire610 Birchwood Boulevard, a 1,458 sqm building whichwas stripped down to a building shell by the previousowners and which will be completely refurbished tohouse the company late in 2013. Nuvia, already largetenants of MEPC Birchwood Park, expanded inChadwick House.

For a number of years Birchwood has set the bar for thehighest rent in the town, but this year the best rentrecorded was £161.50/sqm for the new Phonak buildingat Centre Park. The drop from previous record levelshas highlighted both the lack of new build space comingto the market and the competitive nature of the marketas landlords and tenants alike continued to offer rentaldiscounts to attract occupiers.

One of the strengths of the Warrington office market isits ability to retain businesses as they review theirproperty needs. The majority of the transactions in2012 saw existing businesses relocate or expand.

There were some notable newcomers including Canonand Your Housing, the latter an amalgamation ofArena and Harvest Housing Associations which willbring offices in Manchester and Merseyside to theirnew Warrington headquarters. Ahead of thecompletion of that building the company established apresence taking short term leases at Birchwood Park.Platform People had a similar arrangement with CanttPak when they occupied space in Rutherford Houseahead of a move across to Allday House, which iscurrently being refurbished.

There were still bargains to be had for buyers,reflected in eleven freehold purchases, almost halffrom LPA Receivers. Whilst this can depress values,many of the purchasers are prepared to invest in therefurbishment of the buildings and the builders havemoved in quickly to a number of these newly boughtproperties.

Activity at the smaller end of the market, below 200sqm, is not reported in the list of transactions, butwas strong during the year. The town’s businesscentres reported good levels of occupancy. At StJames’ Court, bought the previous year by Langtree,there were a number of new deals in their BusinessCentre. Warrington & Co. let space at theInternational Business Centre, including attracting1eague3, the Rugby League Players Association.Claremont Group Interiors bought Carnoustie Houseat The Links, Birchwood to expand its serviced officeportfolio into Breeze 2, following the success of TheBreeze at Kelvin Close, Birchwood.

Transaction numbers were matches the fourth best ye


up significantly, with 35 deals recorded for the year. This ar recorded in this report since it was first published.

As take-up of space in the office sector continues to pickup, and little new stock of buildings is coming forward,Warrington’s supply of vacant space should begin to fall.But a consequence of businesses trading up to betterpremises within the town has seen a release of poorerquality accommodation back into the market. The fivelargest deals last year totalled just under 8,800 sqm, butthose businesses released approximately 6,000 sqm ofoffice space. The hope is that the landlords and theirtenants will invest in the older stock rather than leavethe properties to join an already significant stock of poorquality space.

The alternative may be that building owners look toalternative uses for stock that is not letting. The currentgovernment has opened the door to conversion ofoffices to residential with the proposal for the relaxationof the current planning regulations, and whilst this maynot seem likely in the middle of business parks,properties around the edges and offices in the towncentre may become targets for house builders.

15

Office Deals


Year

98 99 00 01 02 03

Number of Deals

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

10

0

20

30

40

50

60

Office Deals > 200 sqm – Number of Deals Office Deals - Average Office Deal Size (Sqm)

98 99 00 01 02 03

Year

Average Size, sqm

04 05 06 07 08 09 1210 11

300

600

0

900

1200

1500

0-93 93-186 186-465

Size Band, sqm

Percentage

465-930 930-1860

1860-4645

4645+

5

0

10

15

20

25

30

35 2006200720082009201020112012

Office Enquiries

98 99 00 01 02 03

Year

Rent, £/sqm

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

50

100

0

Office Prime Rents

150

200

250

200-300 300-465 465-930

Percentage

Number of Deals

930-1860 1860-4645 4645+

2

4

0

Office Deals by Size Band

6

8

10

15

98 99 00 01 02 03

Year

Floorspace, 000 sqm

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

5

0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Office Take Up

Tenure Number PercentageLeasehold 24 68Freehold 11 32Total 35 100


Property Size(sqm)

Lease Term(Years)

Agents

610/611/612/613Birchwood BoulevardBusiness Park

LPAReceivers

FirstRecruitment

1,458 Undisclosed FreeholdBE Group / RiddellTPS

Chadwick House,Birchwood Park

MEPCBirchwoodPark

Nuvia 1,443 145.3 7 BE Group / JonesLang LaSalle

85/87 SpencerHouse, Birchwood

RedefineBalfourBeatty MottMcDonald

974 102.3 9 BE Group / DTZ

Rutherford House,Birchwood

Cantt Pak IESA 738 145.3 5 DTZ / Eileen BiltonPartnership

Carnoustie House,The Links,Birchwood

ValadClaremontGroupInteriors

714 860.0 Freehold BE Group / GVA

Thomson House,Birchwood Park

MEPCBirchwoodPark

Your Housing 650 145.3 2 BE Group / Jones LangLaSalle

Unit G, WithingtonAvenue, Culcheth

WBCPrivatePurchaser

615 495.0 Freehold Morgan Williams

3 Olympic Court,Birchwood

LPAReceivers

Foster CareAssociates

491 Undisclosed FreeholdJones Lang LaSalle /Matthews &Goodman

120-121/141-142,The Genesis Centre,Birchwood

Highcross Private Tenant 467 Undisclosed 3 CBRE/Eileen BiltonPartnership

Lingley House,Birchwood Point

Fircroft Canon 448 134.6 3 BE Group / KYT

51 Empire Court,Winmarleigh Street

PrivateLandlord

GladstoneBrookes

428 107.6 5BE Group / EileenBilton Partnership / VailWilliams

The Brew House,WilderspoolBusiness Park

BruntwoodMMIEngineering

412 Undisclosed 5 BE Group / Jones LangLaSalle

Central House,Winwick Street

PrivateLandlord

PrivatePurchaser

304 915.0 Freehold Morgan Williams

Rutherford House,Birchwood

Cantt PakPlatformPeople

297 145.3 1 DTZ / Eileen BiltonPartnership

Aquila House, DeltaCrescent, Westbrook

Action forChildren

Courtaulds 383 104.4 5 BE Group

Lakeside,Centre Park

MarshallCDP

Phonak 4,171 161.5 15Eileen BiltonPartnership

Newton House, The Quadrant,Birchwood Park

MEPCBirchwoodPark

Your Housing 300 107.6 1 BE Group / Jones LangLaSalle

6D Mandarin Court,Warrington CentrePark

LPAReceivers

KLS LAW 278 Undisclosed FreeholdEileen BiltonPartnership / JonesLang LaSalle

Tenant /Purchaser

Rent/Price(£/sqm)

Landlord/ Vendor


Property Size(sqm)

Lease Term(Years)

Agents

Bankside, CrosfieldStreet

PrivateLandlord

PrivateTenant

271 107.0 5 Morgan Williams

17 PalmyraSquare

PrivateLandlord

Forshaws 267 Undisclosed Freehold BE Group

65 Bewsey StreetLPAReceivers

PrivatePurchaser

266 Undisclosed Freehold Eddisons

1A Birchwood OneBusiness Park

LPAReceivers

Fideliti ChildcareVouchers

252 Undisclosed Freehold Eddisons

The Maltings,100 WilderspoolCauseway

LeaforthPrivatePurchaser

251 Undisclosed Freehold BE Group

30 Museum Street Airborne Avanta 248 118.4 5 Jones Lang LaSalle


MEPCBirchwoodPark

CSE Controls 244 105.7 5 BE Group / Jones LangLaSalle

8 Webster Ct,Gemini

NG BaileyLegal 4Landlords

231 112.6 3 Savills/Eileen BiltonPartnership


MEPCBirchwoodPark

Ricardo AEAT 216 139.9 5 BE Group / JonesLang LaSalle

3 Asher Ct,Appleton

Keate Teammates 205 53.8 3 Morgan Williams

501 Birchwood OneBusiness Park

SeddonsPrivatePurchaser

203 Undisclosed Freehold BE Group / Jones LangLaSalle

Tannery Court,Tanners Lane

RAMProperties

Private Tenant 202 107.6 5 RAM

Culcheth EnterpriseCentre, WithingtonAvenue

PrivateLandlord

Woman Zone 200 132.4 Undisclosed Morgan Williams

Ingot House, KelvinClose, Birchwood

BE GroupAutismInitiative

200 140.0 10 BE Group / Mason Owen

Building A, TheBeacons, Birchwood

PrivateLandlord

Air Angel 200 Undisclosed 3 No Agent

Walnut Tree FarmNorthwich Rd

PrivateLandlord

AvianEcology

274 96.9 5 Morgan Williams

The Brew House,WilderspoolBusiness Park

BruntwoodNational SkillsAcademy forNuclear

200 Undisclosed 5BE Group / Jones LangLaSalle

Tenant /Purchaser

Rent/Price(£/sqm)

Landlord/ Vendor

Another year and another hotel developmentcompleted. This has been a feature of almostevery Annual Property Report since we firstpublished fifteen years ago. In NovemberGulliver’s Theme Parks opened the doors of a£3.75 million, 56 room hotel, alongside theirGulliver’s World Resort attraction.

There were ownership changes for two of the town’sexisting hotels. As 2012 drew to a close German hotelgroup Pentahotels acquired the Ramada Encore atBirchwood, as part of its expansion into the UK market. Thecompany describes Pentahotels as a design-led,neighbourhood lifestyle brand providing independenttravellers with comfort and style in a contemporaryenvironment. And the long established Paddington HouseHotel was purchased from administrators by Zaman Hotels.

In addition to increasing the available bedspace stock, 2012saw growth in Warrington’s hotel market with occupancylevels rising 3.3 percent year on year according to STRGlobal research. This was despite the negative impactarising from both the Jubilee celebrations, and the LondonOlympics, when occupancy levels dropped.

The strength of the nuclear industry sector, and furthercompany arrivals, especially in Birchwood, have been themain drivers for the midweek trade. A growing familymarket, as people use the hotels as a central base to explorethe cities of Manchester, Liverpool and Chester has been amajor factor in leisure based growth to give the hotels aseven day trade.

The recently formed Warrington Hoteliers Association helda familiarisation visit for national agencies. This wasundertaken in partnership with Q Hotels, Village UrbanResorts, Holiday Inn and Macdonald Hotels, as well as withWarrington Wolves, Speedkarting Warrington and HaydockPark racecourse.

Marshall CDP’s Apollo Park development on the site of theformer Burtonwood M62 motorway services attracted twofurther leisure occupiers. Bombay 8 restaurant occupiedpart of the ground floor of Travelodge’s hotel, and Frankieand Benny’s opened a stand-alone restaurant, joiningHarvester Restaurants and Starbucks on the site.

On 17th May Her Majesty the Queen officially opened the£32 million Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub. This is theonly Olympic Legacy facility built outside London for the2012 Olympics. It provides community, sport, and healthand education facilities within a single complex on a grandscale. One consequence of this was the closure of thenearby Fordton leisure centre, and its sale by WarringtonBorough Council to the Consolidated Property Group.CPG secured consent for a mixed use scheme that will seea Holts Brewery pub and Costa Coffee outlet providedalongside an Aldi foodstore.

2012 was a huge year for sport and leisure in the UK for anumber of reasons, and Warrington participated in this.Four Team GB Olympians were from Warrington, with onefurther resident representing Nigeria! The Olympic Torchrelay passed through the town, drawing crowds of over35,000 people out onto the streets. And in September,following the success of the Olympics’ cyclists, the Tour ofBritain also passed through the Borough – and includedone of the Yodel-sponsored intermediate sprints.

Warrington Wolves once again appeared and won atWembley in the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final, and inconjunction with this, Warrington & Co. and MarketingCheshire ran a poster campaign in London as one ofseveral initiatives to promote the town as a businesslocation to investment decision markers.

Plans also progressed for the 2013 Rugby League WorldCup and Warrington’s host town status that will see groupand quarter final games played at the Halliwell JonesStadium, and one of the tournament’s most colourfulteams, Samoa, will be based here for their pre-tournamenttraining camp. Samoa’s presence will be the catalyst for awide-ranging community and culture programme runningalongside the rugby. In addition, although not the hosttown for the United States team, the latter will also bestaying in Warrington for the duration of the tournament.

The Borough Council and its selected partner MuseDevelopments continued the preparatory groundwork interms of legal agreements, property acquisitions andplanning for the Bridge Street Quarter of Warrington towncentre. The leisure offer associated with this schemeincludes re-introducing cinema facilities to the towncentre.

Leisure and Culture


19

Industrial and Distribution

There was plenty of activity seen in theindustrial market in 2012 with 53 deals.Take-up was just under 81,000 sqm, in linewith the historic average. This wassomewhat better than the picture across theNorth West, which had one of the highestlevels of activity of all the UK regions, but atotal regional take-up of 1.16 million sqmthat was the lowest level for five years.

Despite a healthy year, activity, especially in thelogistics and distribution sectors, was influenced bythe lack of readily available supply. With no newspeculative development since 2006, occupiers werecompeting for a reducing supply of good qualitymodern warehousing, particularly in the size rangeabove 2,000 sqm. This was evidenced by two of theseven deals in that range where Morley Developmentsat Warrington South sub-divided and successfully let alarge old warehouse complex. Occupiers SIG andSheridan Bedding, part of the Pacific Brands Group,were prepared to wait some considerable time for therefurbishment of the building to satisfy theirrequirements.

Without doubt the lack of quality stock is acting as adeterrent on the market, especially for companiesrequiring medium sized premises, but for large scalelogistics operations the long period of inactivity atOmega finally came to an end as Omega WarringtonLimited announced the completion of its first letting toBrakes. Work has started on this state of the art multi-temperature food service distribution centre on theNorthern site, and is due to complete in August 2013.Further lettings are in the pipeline with around116,000 sqm due to complete in three deals in 2013which will see Omega North substantially committedand a move to open up the Southern site forwarehouse operators.

With vacant large space at a premium some existingbusinesses have instead chosen to expand at theircurrent locations. VIP Computers built a £1.6 million3,000 sqm high bay extension to their warehouse atHardwick Grange to take the warehouse to 10,000 sqm.

One of Europe’s largest logistics companies, NorbertDentressangle partnered La Palette Rouge in enhancing a5,000 sqm pallet facility at Stretton which services clientssuch as Kelloggs, Weetabix and Kimberley Clark. AtGemini, Hiden Analytical, manufacturer of high qualityscientific instruments, has expanded its operation byconstructing a new building of around 1,500 sqm on asite to the rear of its existing building.

Indeed in 2012 this lack of supply resulted in therebeing not a single deal for buildings between 4,000 and12,000 sqm, whereas in the previous ten years thisrange has always had a reasonable representation. Theaverage size of deal was 1,553 sqm, down from theprevious year’s level of 1,700 sqm, a further sign thatthere is a lack of larger space available.

Woolston Grange came back strongly last yearaccounting for around 40 per cent of all thetransactions in the town. However, much of the activityin Woolston was below 1,000 sqm, with just four of thefeatured units in excess of this figure. Anotherindication of the lack of quality large stock atWarrington’s largest industrial estate. Although SouthWarrington only accounted for a small proportion ofthe overall deals, the area again punched above itsweight in terms of floorspace with 25 per cent of allspace let based in the Stretton area.

Much of the activity for the year fell into the small endof the size spectrum, which saw 33 deals below 1,000sqm. Over half of these deals were at WoolstonGrange, and Peter Stevens Estates was particularlyactive letting six units at Rufford and Rivington Court.Lettings were also common at the other terracedschemes such as Melford Court and Tatton Court.

Rents held up well in thi £50.00/sqm. Of all 53 d


Smaller units below 200 sqm fared well again, with theowners of the various nursery schemes around thetown including Northern Trust’s Birch Court, StModwen’s Trident and Langree’s Penketh Business Parkall seeing new lettings.

Rents held up well in this sector with the majority ofthe deals settling above £50.00/sqm. Of all 53 dealsjust five were agreed at rental levels below £40/sqm,and whilst incentives from stepped rents and rent freeperiods are still common place, those active in theindustrial market say that the levels of incentives arenow starting to fall. The highest rent achieved,unsurprisingly, was for the pre-letting to Brakes atOmega North where Omega Warrington Limitedachieved a rent of £55.44/sqm.

The freehold market has always represented a smallpercentage of the overall take up in terms of thenumber of deals and the market continues to bedominated by investors and property companiesholding the vast majority of the stock for rent. The yearsaw nine freehold sales, or 17 percent of the stock.Average sales prices were slightly below £400/sqm. Ifthe average rent was to be applied to this, crudelyspeaking, the yield would be around 11.75 percent.

The highest sale price achieved was at Tatton Courtwhere Passcom Limited paid £572/sqm, somewhathigher than the best price at Gemini, generally seen asthe more valuable of the locations around the town.The secondary market saw its share of space traded.Having bought the former Philip Myers printing officeand workshop in 2011 with the intention of refurbishingthe space, Sterling Properties sold the building on toMoran’s Wood Components who plan to establish a newmanufacturing facility, and an unusual building at BankQuay Trading Estate was bought at auction by a privateinvestor. The building was previously divided up into awarren of sound recording studios, and the new ownerplans to refurbish the space to create a managedworkspace facility, something lacking in the town.

s sector with the majority of the deals settling above eals just five were agreed at rental levels below £40/sqm


Property Size(sqm)

Agents

Link 6/56, StrettonStobartGroup

The HutGroup

13,482 Undisclosed 2 CBRE / GVA

Unit 21,Kingsland Grange,Woolston

SouthernPrint Ltd

J&M PropertyManagement

3,938 253.99 Freehold Jones Lang LaSalle /Lamont

Unit 29,Kingsland Grange,Woolston

DM & FInvestmentsLtd

GrangePackaging

3,601 47.04 5 Jones Lang LaSalle /Lamont

Unit 2,Warrington South,Stretton

MorleyEstates

SIG Trading 3,146 Undisclosed 10Cushman & Wakefield/Jones Lang LaSalle/CBRE

Unit 9,Clayton Road,Risley

SterlingProperties

Moran's WoodComponents

2,941 173.41 Freehold BE Group

Unit 3D, WarringtonSouth, Stretton

MorleyEstates

SheridanBedding

2,381 35.20 10 BE Group

Unit 2 Axis, Leacroft Road,Risley

AberdeenPropertyInvestors

Synertec 1,877 51.13 10 Savills

Unit E, TaylorBusiness Park,Risley

TaylorEstates

GlyngaryJoinery

1,765 26.91 10 Taylor Estates

Units 6/7, BankQuay TradingEstate

PrivateVendor

PrivatePurchaser

1,632 Undisclosed Freehold Pugh & Co / ColliersInternational

38/39 HardwickGrange,Woolston

PrivateVendor

BespokeBodies

1,604 Undisclosed Freehold Eileen Bilton Partnership

Europa Boulevard,Gemini

HidenAnalytical

HidenAnalytical

1,488 Undisclosed Freehold No agent

Unit 1, Easter Court,Gemini Pickton Aerocare 1,449 Undisclosed 5 CBRE/Eileen Bilton

Partnership

Omega North,Omega

OmegaWarringtonLimited

Brakes 18,395 55.44 25Jones Lang LaSalle /GVA

Unit 19, Taurus 2,Europa Boulevard,Gemini

FarrellyDaweWhite

Smith'sEquipmentHire

1,384 545.42 Freehold Colliers International


Lease Term(Years)

Tenant /Purchaser

Rent/Price(£/sqm)

Landlord/ Vendor

Property Size(sqm) Agents

Unit 7, Westway 21,Chesford Grange,Woolston

Antler ITAS Global 1,328 36.06 UndisclosedKnight Frank /Legat Owen

Unit 7,Chesford Grange,Woolston

HowlingsHodgson Sidhills 1,208 43.06 10 CBRE/Savills

Unit 14, Cameron Court,Calver Road,Winwick Quay

MenziesDistribution

Belfry 1,137 43.70 Undisclosed Colliers International

Unit 12, Eagle Park,Hawleys Lane

PrivateVendor

Invista 1,021 426.05 Freehold GVA

Unit 4D, BarleyCastle TradingEstate, Stretton

ThreadneedleEvander &Locks

925 43.06 5 CBRE / Jones LangLaSalle

Unit 9 Eagle Park,Hawleys Lane

InvistaActiveIndustrial

UnipartAutomotive

1,251 53.82 5 Jones Lang LaSalle

Unit 19, EuropaBoulevard, Gemini

ABBS KRSS 836 54.42 3 CBRE/Eileen BiltonPartnership

Wharf IndustrialEstate, WharfStreet

WarringtonBoroughCouncil

Office KingManagement

757 45.10 3WarringtonBorough Council



Solus AccidentRepair

753 Undisclosed 3 WarringtonBorough Council

H2/H4, TaylorBusiness Park,Risley

Taylor Estates Room 31 752 Undisclosed 5 Taylor Estates

Unit 16 CameronCourt, Calver Road,Winwick Quay

WinwickQuay LLP

DocumentOutsourcing

741 47.36 10.5 Colliers/Riddell TPS

Unit 18, AdlingtonCourt, Risley

AXA Equity& Law Windtechnics 701 37.67 5 CBRE

Unit 211, EuropaBoulevard, Gemini

DTZManagementInvestors

WindsorCraft

1,379 51.50 5DTZ/Eileen BiltonPartnership

Unit 7, Easter Court,Gemini ING Hillrom 697 59.20 10 CBRE/ Eileen Bilton

Partnership


Lease Term(Years)

Tenant /Purchaser

Rent/Price(£/sqm)

Landlord/ Vendor


Unit 17,Cameron Court,Winwick Quay

WinwickQuay LLP

JKSP Services 645 53.82 5 Riddell TPS / ColliersInternational

Unit 15, CameronCourt, WinwickQuay

WinwickQuay LLP

DocumentOutsourcing

644 47.36 10.5Riddell TPS / ColliersInternational

Unit 12, GeminiPark, Gemini

Bilsdale Vanrooyen 576 Undisclosed UndisclosedJones Lang LaSalle/Eileen BiltonPartnership

Unit 17, TattonCourt,Woolston

SmithNicholas

GoodlifeFoods

485 41.23 5 Eileen Bilton Partnership

Unit 24/25,Tatton Court,Woolston

SmithNicholas

Passcom 454 572.37 Freehold Eileen Bilton Partnership

Unit 15,Grosvenor Grange,Woolston

LarksworthGroup

UPS 451 43.06 5 Colliers International

Unit D2, TridentBusiness Park,Risley

St ModwenAllied FilterSystems

444 43.05 5 Knight Frank /EileenBilton Partnership

Unit 11, GeminiPark, Gemini Bilsdale Mirmac 419 53.28 10

Jones Lang LaSalle /Eileen Bilton Partnership

Unit 18,Cameron Court,Winwick Quay

WinwickQuay LLP

DantomProductionServices

349 52.31 5Riddell TPS / ColliersInternational

Unit 9, RuffordCourt, Woolston

PeterStevensEstates

Metal-KraftDesign

345 51.13 3 Colliers International /Eileen Bilton Partnership


PeterStevensEstates

Adam Khan 345 40.36 5 Colliers International /Eileen Bilton Partnership


PeterStevensEstates

Indulge Retail 345 53.82 3Colliers International /Eileen Bilton Partnership

Unit 18/19,Rufford Court,Woolston

PeterStevensEstates

BrownBrothersDistribution

689 43.49 10ColliersInternational



DJP Motors 316 39.40 3Warrington BoroughCouncil


Lease Term(Years)

Tenant /Purchaser

Rent/Price(£/sqm)

Landlord/ Vendor


Unit 14,Rivington Court,Woolston

PeterStevensEstates

David Morris 288 53.82 5 Colliers International

4/5/6 WhitefieldCourt, TaylorBusiness Park,Risley

TaylorEstates

RoofingConsultants

302 Undisclosed 5 Taylor Estates


Lease Term(Years)

Tenant /Purchaser

Rent/Price(£/sqm)

Landlord/ Vendor

Unit 14, MelfordCourt, Woolston

Knight FrankInvestors

NicholasEdwards

275 48.44 3Knight Frank /EileenBilton Partnership


Knight FrankInvestors

Ginsters 275 54.55 1 Knight Frank /EileenBilton Partnership


Knight FrankInvestors Autocaddy 275 43.05 3

Knight Frank /EileenBilton Partnership /DTZ

Unit 17, BirchCourt, Woolston

NorthernTrust

ElemechSystems

260 53.82 3BE Group / EileenBilton Partnership

Unit 28, TattonCourt, Woolston

SmithNicholas

AbetiMedical

232 53.82 3 Eileen Bilton Partnership

GatewarthIndustrial Estate,Barnard Street


PNC Financial 221 50.59 3 Warrington BoroughCouncil

Unit 19, Birch Court,Woolston

NorthernTrust Cheshire Seals 260 53.82 3 BE Group / Eileen Bilton

Partnership

Unit 9A, BankhallPark, WharfStreet

CrescentTrustees Britt Tip 268 410.45 Freehold BE Group

Unit 20, RivingtonCourt, Woolston

Peter StevensEstates

CapperJackson

288 53.82 5Colliers International/ Eileen BiltonPartnership

Unit 4, RavenhurstCourt, Risley

Ignis AssetManagement

CanopySolutions

279 48.44 5CBRE/ Eileen BiltonPartnership


0-93 93-186 186-465

Size Band, sqm

Percentage

465-930 930-1860

1860-4645

4645+

5

0

10

15

20

25

30

35

200620072008

Industrial Enquiries - Size 2009201020112012

98 99 00 01 02 03

Year

Rent, £/sqm

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

20

40

012

Industrial Prime Rents

60

80

100

120

Year

01 02 03 04 05 06

Floorspace, 000 sqm

07 08 09 10 11 120

30

60

90

120

150

Industrial Take Up

01 02 03 04 05 06

Year

£/sqm

07 08 09 10 11 12

300

600

0

Highest Industrial Freehold Values

900

1200

1500

Industrial Enquiries Tenure

Industrial Deals by Size Band

200-500 (22)

500-1000 (12)

1001-2000(12)

2001-5000 (5)

5001-10000 (0) 10001+ (2)

Total 53

Industrial Deals by Location Within Warrington

Woolston(20)

Risley (8)

NorthWarrington(14)

South Warrington (4)TownCentre (7)

Total 53

Tenure Number PercentageLeasehold 24 68Freehold 11 32Total 35 100

27

Most points of the compass have seen some degree of new retail activity announced orundertaken during the last twelve months. At the heart of all this is Warrington town centre.

Retail

Whilst concerns continue about Warrington’s widertown centre area, Golden Square Shopping Centredemonstrated its resilience. The evidence suggestsGolden Square is bucking the trend in terms of footfall,deals done and sales figures. Despite a drop in footfall,this was only one half of one percent and was onlyone tenth of the 5.1 percent average experience of theNorth West. The Shopping Centre continues to attractaround 240,000 people each week.

During the year Golden Square secured nine newoccupiers, with another two tenants moving to newoutlets within the development. This level of activityout performed all the other North West town centreshopping centre schemes with the exception ofManchester and Liverpool.

The largest commitment involved Primark who willcommence trading from a 5,200 sqm store in late2013. AIM listed property investor New River Retailacquired New Look’s store from Standard Life for£3.47 million, as well as the adjoining formerLittlewoods store. These are being combined to createthe Primark store, which has been leased for 25 yearsat an initial rent of £475,000 pa.

Linked to this is New Look’s move within GoldenSquare to the former Zara unit. New Look are leasing1,020 sqm and are creating a new format store – oneof only two being piloted in the UK. The other is incentral London.

Also at Golden Square, Barclays Bank have signed upto take three vacant units, to create a new conceptbank alongside a regional office facility of some 1,394

sqm. This will also see renovation of the Market Gateentrance linking to the wider town centre.

Securing Primark should help to reduce leakage spendfrom the town. Surveys of shoppers catching trains toLiverpool or Manchester from Warrington haverevealed that for a staggering 78 percent the primepurpose was to visit a Primark store!

Sales figures at Golden Square have grown by 1.2percent over 2011 figures, with contributing factorsbeing TK Maxx’s opening in late 2011, and theintroduction by Debenhams of a ‘click and collect’facility.

Despite this, in concert with most town centres,several outlets were vacated as national multipleswent into administration or receivership. La Senza,Pumpkin Patch and Jessop closed in 2012 and HMVannounced they will be closing down in 2013.

In east Warrington, Redefine continued to invest inBirchwood Shopping Mall which is anchored by one ofAsda’s best trading stores in the North West. The yearsaw Phase 3 of the rebuild and refurbishmentprogramme progress. This adds a further 6,970 sqm,bringing the total retail floorspace to 35,300 sqm.Home Bargains have taken 1,858 sqm in Phase 3;Peacocks re-occupied their store and QVC expandedinto a new 930 sqm unit – one of only two retailoutlets this TV shopping channel has in the UK.

Birchwood Shopping Mall also reported a better thanregional average performance, with footfall (despitethe extensive construction works) declining by less


28

Sales figures at Golden Square have grownby 1.2 percent over 2011 figures


than half the North West rate. In a tough tradingmarket the Mall has maintained very highoccupancy levels, with food and fashion retailingparticular strengths.

To the west and north of Warrington a number ofretail investments were announced, began orcompleted construction. To the fore was IKEA,who having celebrated 25 years since theyopened their first UK store, at Gemini,announced plans for its expansion. Planning hasnow been granted for a further 8,000 sqmtogether with decked parking for 1,000 morecars.

Sainsbury’s commenced trading at a 3,716 sqmstore in Chapelford Village and Next constructeda 4,180 sqm Next Home and Garden Facility asan extension to its Gemini Retail Park store. Thisis to be their first North West store location toprovide this new concept. Unfortunately firedestroyed their original store and that ofneighbours Boots before the new concept wasfully introduced. However reconstruction is wellunderway and partially complete. Also at Geminisupercar retailer Vanrooyen leased a 567 sqmunit for a new showroom.

Along the A49 north of the town centre planningwas consented for two retail-led projects.Derwent Holdings’ Alban Retail Park securedconsent for five new retail units, a newrestaurant and change of use of a motoristscentre to retailing, as well as new accessarrangements. Opposite, consent has beengranted to Consolidated Property Group for theredevelopment of the former Fordton leisurecentre for a new Aldi foodstore; Joseph Holtfamily pub; Costa Coffee Drive Thru and aGreggs. Two further retail units, each of 92 sqmremain available. Also on the A49 change of usewas granted for the former Total Fitness gym,with works commencing to create The Range’sfirst outlet in Warrington.

29

The residential market appeared to be back on track in 2012 as targets for new housingcompletions were comfortably exceeded. Although activity across the private sector,particularly in the second hand market, showed there was still a degree of volatility.

Residential


By the end of the year an estimated 626 new homeswere completed. This compares favourably withWarrington’s housing target up to 2026 to build 456dwellings per year. The first quarter saw over 200units completed and by September the annual targetwas met.

The increase in activity was helped along by theGovernment’s measures to boost housing numbers. In2012 the Housing Minister set out a number ofinitiatives including a £570 million fund to Get BritainBuilding; £30 million for the self-build industry and aMortgage Indemnity Scheme to assist up to 100,000first time buyers by underpinning mortgages. It wasestimated that the measures might boost housingnumbers nationally by up to 300,000 units.

Warrington benefitted for the third year running withan award of £2.6 million under the New Homes Bonus.The money, which will be match funded by theBorough Council, comes as a result of bringing longterm empty properties back into use, funding newbuild together with work to bring forward affordablehomes. Consequently Warrington now has the lowestpercentage of empty homes across the North West at0.87 percent of the stock.

The type of housing coming forward is predominantlyfamily accommodation with 87 percent of new homes

being traditional housing rather than apartments,which are no longer favoured by developers andmore importantly by the banks. Almost 80 percentof homes were built with three or more bedrooms.

New development around the Borough is clearlyvisible with few sites mothballed, and developersare keen to get on with the business of building.This is a real contrast to the national picture whereit is reported that there are currently around 69,000stalled units on building sites across the country.Warrington had 32 different active sites with justfour considered as stalled.

Chapelford Urban Village continues to be the mostactive of the sites in the town. In 2012 it accountedfor around 54 percent of all completions, and at theend of the year had 68 dwellings underconstruction. A number of affordable sites werecoming to a close including the former Eagle Ottawasite being built out by Helena Housing Association;Statham Avenue by Arena Housing Association;Manor Lock and land at Farrell Street/Howley Lane.

The following two tables outline those active sitescurrently under construction with capacity to deliver30 plus units, and sites either under construction orwith planning permission to deliver over 150 units inthe future.


The ongoing volatility in the market can be seen through theoverall volume of house sales, and the average house price.The former are down substantially from the highs of 2007.

Average house prices in 2012 were around £174,750having recovered from falls in the early part of the creditcrunch. As such they are now back at a similar level to thoseof 2007. Volume sales across the Borough are alsosignificantly down with year on year sales, since therecession hit, averaging at just around 200 units per quarter.Whilst new house completions include both homes forprivate sale and rented and affordable homes, thesenumbers will need to pick up if supply is to be matched bydemand for homes both new and old.

Major Housing Schemes 2012 (30 units plus). Currently under construction.

Scheme Developer Units Completed in 2012

Britannia Works, Bewsey Road Persimmon Homes 335

Source: Warrington Borough Council

Farrell Street South Persimmon Homes 123

Edgewater Park, Thelwall Morris Homes 217

Land at Greenalls Avenue Jones Homes 6

Walton Locks David Wilson Homes 106

G&J Greenalls, Loushers Lane Bellway 50

Chapelford (Latest Phases) David Wilson Homes 403

Eagle Ottawa, Thelwall Lane Helena Housing Association 55

Future Supply of Housing Sites with planning for more than 150 units in the future, as at December 2012

Scheme Developer Units to be Completed

Wireworks, Winwick Street Iliad 613

Source: Warrington Borough Council

Land off Farrell Street South Persimmon Homes 221

Land at John Street/Winwick Street RAM Properties 284

George Howard Scrapyard, Folly Lane Mulbury Homes 152

Edgewater Park, Thelwall Morris Homes 188

Former Police Training Centre, Bruche HCA 220

Regeneration Framework Annual Update


The Stadium QuarterThe Stadium Quarter is a regeneration strategycovering an area of 36.43 ha on the northern fringe ofthe town centre encompassing Warrington CentralStation, the Halliwell Jones Stadium as well theCentral Trading Estate, owned by Langtree andlandholdings owned by RAM Properties.

Warrington & Co. and Iliad are working together toredevelop a 2.4 ha brownfield site opposite CentralStation and are in discussions with potential occupiers forinitial phases of the scheme. Part of the initial phase ofthe scheme includes a University Technical College whichis headed by the University of Chester and supported byUnited Utilities and Sellafield. Other parts of the schemeinclude an Incubator/Innovation Centre; Grade A officespace; hotel; car park and supporting leisure space.

Warrington & Co. made progress on a number of fronts in terms of the Borough’sPhysical Regeneration Framework which included the launch of “Warrington MeansBusiness”, which sets out Warrington Borough Council’s and Warrington & Co.’sprogramme to drive economic growth in the Borough and release the true potentialof the place and its people over the next 15 years.

Warrington & Co. itself strengthened its development team to ensure the existing and emerging projects wereeffectively serviced. Steve Park has taken on the role of Managing Director. Warrington & Co.’s Board wasalso strengthened with both John Downes of Langtree and Matt Crompton of Muse Developments joiningduring 2012.

Reference is made elsewhere in the report to the Bridge Street Quarter and Omega projects. This updatesummarises the progress on other projects.

Town Centre StrategyWarrington town centre has been the focus ofattention for Warrington & Co. and the BoroughCouncil. Like many town centres, there is afundamental cultural change taking place in the wayin which people live, work and shop, which hasresulted in an increase in shop vacancies and ageneral decline of the multiple retail sector. Withrising living costs, increased fuel prices affectingboth energy prices and the cost of car ownership,town centres have the opportunity to becomeattractive places to live and work. As well as theBridge Street Scheme and the Stadium Quarter,which are aimed at diversifying and re-populatingthe town centre economy, new schemes are beingprogressed looking at Garvin Place, the area next tothe Town Hall, and the former Cabinet Works areabehind Bridge Street and Sankey Street. These willbe mixed use schemes with a residential bias.

Birchwood ParkBirchwood Park is the home of a number ofWarrington’s high growth occupiers including thenuclear sector. Outputs from job growth, privatesector investment are a key component in theBorough’s economy. It’s regarded as a Strategic Sitewithin the Borough’s portfolio of key sites.Discussions are taking place to help improveinfrastructure and services within Birchwood to helpsecure future economic growth.

Southern GatewayThis Regeneration Strategy centres on the formerWarrington Wolves Wilderspool Stadium, NetworkWarrington’s Bus Depot, Langtree’s St James’Business Centre and waterside sites. The BoroughCouncil and Langtree have agreed heads of terms fora joint venture covering their respective landholdings and are developing a comprehensivedevelopment strategy for the whole area.

Pipeline ActivityAs Warrington’s redevelopment and growthcontinues, the potential of future project areas willemerge. These are currently being mapped out toenable the longer term objectives of WarringtonMeans Business to be achieved.

As Warrington’s redevelopment and growth continues,the potential of future project areas will emerge.

Image courtesy of Your Housing


Business Engagement and SupportIn order to understand the Borough’s economy,Warrington & Co. has led a co-ordinated BusinessEngagement programme aimed at the topperforming companies located in the Borough andas well as understanding the growth areas, it hasworked in partnership with the Council to help co-ordinate support. Both Phonak and HidenAnalytical are companies who have recentlyexpanded in the Borough with assistance from theBusiness Engagement team.

Warrington & Co. played a key role in helping theBorough Council establish a Skills Commission andproviding up to date intelligence for them to usein understanding future needs of employers interms of skills and education.

In its position as ‘Area Place Team’, Warrington &Co has helped support funding applications. It is incontact with UKTI, BIS, DCLG and is aware offunding opportunities and eligibility criteria. AtOmega, it has played a key role in supporting aGrowing Places fund application to helpcontribute towards infrastructure costs.

Warrington & Co. and the Borough Council arealso in the process of developing a programme ofBusiness Support to help SME and fledgling

companies develop and grow by helping tounderstand the economy, signposting to fundingand assistance opportunities and raisingawareness of potential assistance that could beavailable.

Marketing and MediaWorking with Warrington Borough Council andMarketing Cheshire, Warrington & Co. has begun toaddress the strategic focus of marketing andpromotion, both of the Borough as a place to investin as well as raising awareness of businessactivities. This includes connecting with theCheshire and Warrington LEP Place MarketingStrategy and defining Warrington’s brandproposition. To help with the interpretation of theWarrington & Co. brand a strapline has been addedto the logo – ‘The Partnership for Driving Growth’.

Support was provided to the London PropertyInvestment Event in partnership with GVA, whichwas held in November 2012 with follow upsplanned for later this year. It has been agreedthat ‘Celebrate Cheshire 2013’ will take place inWarrington in October to coincide with theRugby League World Cup where Warrington isthe official host town for Samoa and is alsohosting the USA team.


Regeneration Framework Annual Update


2013 will be an important year for Warrington, its businesses, its residents and itsproperty market. Much of this is due to progress made in moving forward strategicsites, investments and approvals that were announced in 2012.

Looking Forward

During the coming year significant progress will bemade on town centre schemes including Bridge Streetand the Stadium Quarter. The HCA’s marketingprogrammes for Kingswood 8 and Bruche are likely toresult in the appointment of developers. As a result ofthis, there is likely to be a healthy amount of developeractivity in the Borough over the next twelve months.

The development funding constraints, which becamethe norm after the downturn, have continued, haltingspeculative development for another year. With limitedspeculative development taking place for a fifth year,this has resulted in less Grade A quality space available,particularly for smaller property sizes – in both theoffice and industrial sectors. In contrast, there is a largesurplus stock of older style space both in the office andindustrial sectors, much of which dates back to the ‘80sand ‘90s where self-contained sites were sold by theformer New Town Development Corporation.

This deficit of new stock has become particularlynoticeable for larger industrial and warehousingspace. Last year saw the North West regionregistering the highest level of logistics demand in theUK. This was up over 40 percent on the previoustwelve months. As a consequence of this strongdemand the North West’s availability of qualitydistribution units has diminished considerably over thelast couple of years. In the absence of supply, large-scale distribution and logistics operators are thereforeturning to bespoke developments.

This trend is also true for Warrington. There have beena number of property requirements for this type ofspace which have not been satisfied due to the limitedsupply. What remains available has been older stylespace which has lower eaves height, less flexible floorplates and restricted yard space. But 2013 will visiblydemonstrate the renaissance of Warrington’slocational attributes for the logistics and distributionsector through the delivery of new product. Withoutdoubt the development landscape in Warrington willchange dramatically in the next twelve months.

And Omega’s emerging development programmeprovides no better evidence of this. In addition tothe 2012 attraction of Brakes, 2013 is expected tosee at least three further construction starts thatwill deliver a further 116,000 sqm (1.25 millionsqft) of bespoke warehouse and logistics space.These will not only result in almost all of OmegaNorth built out, but will also herald the firstdevelopment on Omega South. In addition toboosting the floorspace take up figures some 1,500new jobs will be brought to Warrington. 2013 willbe the year that Omega finally delivers.

For the office sector the absence of new Grade Aspace being built has led to a number of investorscommitting to the refurbishment of older stock. Asa result we can expect to see some 13,935 sq m(150,000 sq ft) of Grade A space coming to the


market, primarily in Birchwood, during 2013. Thereis a similar amount of second hand space alsoavailable in Centre Park. With Phonak taking oneof the few remaining office sites, office occupierswanting a location close to the town centre willhave no option but to look at some of the olderstock.

The stand out growth area for Warrington’seconomy continues to be the strength of thenuclear industry sector. It represents a massiveengine for growth, associated with requirementsarising from the de-commissioning and new buildprogrammes announced by the UK Government.As such, as has been the case in recent years, someexisting businesses in the sector already locatedhere are likely to announce expansions, withothers drawn to join the established cluster.

For Warrington’s two largest shopping centredevelopments, Golden Square and Birchwood Mall,2013 will see new ‘anchor’ stores opening that arelikely to impact on footfall. The attraction ofPrimark, in particular, to Golden Square will help toreduce expenditure leakage from the town. Surveyfindings at Warrington Central Station have shownthat a visit to Primark provided the primary reasonfor 78 percent for shoppers making train journeysto Liverpool or Manchester.

The stand out growth be the strength of the


The town centre economy is facing one of the biggestcultural changes since the evolution of the motor car.Over the past 30 years, it has become increasinglydependent upon multiple retailing. The last 12 monthssaw several high profile retailers disappear into thehistory books and there is evidence that further retailcompanies will struggle in 2013. This is partly due tothe growth of online technologies and also changes inthe way people shop and use town centres.Increasingly, people are seeking a leisure experienceand are attracted to centres which have a diverse offerwith access to leisure facilities, restaurants and cafes.

Warrington’s prime shopping area has consolidated intoGolden Square resulting in little movement in theamount of vacant retail space on Bridge Street andSankey Street. The only notable letting has been part ofthe ground floor of the former TJ Hughes Store onSankey Street where the 99p store has taken 1,720sqm. Warrington’s regeneration strategy focus is toaddress this situation by creating the sense of ‘place’and develop a diverse economy by encouraging a mixof uses which in time will increase footfall. With carownership and energy prices continuing to rise, towncentres have potential to be attractive places to liveand work, once again.

In the leisure sector, the opinion moving into 2013 is oneof optimism by Warrington’s hoteliers, with continuedgrowth in the corporate sector. The progress of strategicdevelopment schemes like Omega has resulted in agrowth of inward investment. The profile of the town hasalso been raised through the impact of being a hostvenue for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. As a resultof successfully bidding for host town status, Warringtonis the official host town to the Samoa national team. Inaddition, Warrington will also be hosting a second team,the United States of America. Both countries are keen touse these opportunities to secure long term businessengagement relationships with Warrington.

Continued local economic prosperity depends onWarrington’s businesses accessing the skills they needand the Borough’s residents having the skills to access theavailable employment opportunities. Yet despite thegood quality skills provision and above average levels ofeducational attainment it is recognised some firms haveproblems in recruiting people with the right skills locally.There are also issues around local training provision fortechnicians. These, plus the ageing demographic, havebeen identified as potential threats to Warrington’s futureeconomic competitiveness, and the ability of local peopleto participate in the town’s future economic growth.

area for Warrington’s economy continues to nuclear industry sector.


The Warrington Skills Commission was established during2012, and has already produced a series ofrecommendations aimed at addressing these threats.Significant progress on implementing therecommendations is targeted by summer 2013.Warrington & Co. has had a significant input into thisprocess by assisting the discussions between theeducational sector and the business community.

Warrington & Co. will continue to oversee the drivingforward of the Borough’s key regeneration initiatives.Besides Omega and the Bridge Street Quarter, this shouldsee planning progress on the Southern Gateway, a jointventure between the Borough Council and Langtree thatbrings their landholdings together. Similar progress isexpected for the Stadium Quarter joint venture betweenthe Borough Council and Iliad, which includes proposalsfor a business innovation centre, University TrainingCollege, hotel and leisure facilities close to Central Stationand the northern fringe of the town centre.

In 2013, Warrington & Co. will be developing plans aroundthe former Cabinet Works and the area behind SankeyStreet and Bridge Street connecting with Palmyra Square.Warrington & Co. will also be working with partners inBirchwood to ensure the area’s continued growth.

Warrington & Co. will continue to oversee the drivingforward of the Borough’s key regeneration initiatives.

BE Group is a property agency, regenerationand planning consultancy and has over 30years experience of working in theWarrington commercial property market.

This report has been carefully prepared. However it is for general guidance only andMarketing Cheshire, Warrington BoroughCouncil, Warrington & Co and BE Groupcannot guarantee that there are no errors oromissions. The information, forecast andopinions set out herein should not be reliedupon to replace professional advice onspecific matters. No part of this reportshould be published, reproduced or referredto without the prior permission of BE Group.


Acknowledgements

BE Group, First Floor, 501 Birchwood One Business ParkDewhurst Road, Birchwood, Warrington WA3 7GB

Telephone: 01925 822112Webpage: www.begroup.uk.comEmail: [email protected]

Bruntwood

CBRE

Christopher Dee

Colliers International

Collingwood Rigby

Cushman and Wakefield

DTZ

Eddisons

Eileen Bilton Partnership

GVA

Jones Lang LaSalle

Knight Frank

KYT

Lambert Smith Hampton

Langtree

Lendlease

Legat Owen

Mason Owen

Matthews and Goodman

MEPC Birchwood Park

Morgan Williams

Muse Developments

Omega Warrington Limited

Pugh & Company

RAM Properties

Redefine

Riddell TPS

Sanderson Weatherall

Savills

Taylor Estates

Warrington Borough Council

Whittaker Horton

WHR Property Consultants

For investment and property enquiries: Please contact Angela Hankey on telephone: + 44 (0) 1925 442371email: [email protected]

Other useful contacts:

Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise PartnershipAidan Manley

email: [email protected]

Marketing CheshireBarrie Kelly

email: [email protected]

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