M7 fully lets Wakefield Office Park having doubled occupancy

London, 22 September 2016 – M7 Real Estate, the pan-European real estate investor and asset manager, announces that it has secured over 12,800 sq ft of new lettings at Wakefield 41, taking the 32,500 sq ft business park near Leeds to full occupancy following an active asset management and targeted marketing programme.

Taskmaster, the specialist recruitment organization that was included in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Company to Work for in 2015, has agreed a four year lease on 2,437 sq ft of office space and Assyt Bulmer, which specializes in CAD software and fabric and material cutting machines, has taken 2,805 sq ft of space on a three year lease. In addition, Netprotocol Ltd, an IT solutions provider, agreed a five year lease on 2,566 sq ft and a further two leases totalling 5,053 sq ft have also been completed. Following these lettings contract rent has been increased by 28% since acquisition, despite the income producing floor area being reduced by 20% following the sale of three units, totalling 6,731 sq ft, on long leaseholds.

Wakefield 41 was acquired by M7 in late 2014 to form part of the Archimedes portfolio. At acquisition, the business park had a void rate of 49%. Since then, M7 has actively managed the asset, undertaking a programme of refurbishing vacant units and improving the landscaping of the external common areas. The business park is located within one mile of J41 of the M1 and comprises six, two storey modern pavilion style office buildings, ranging in size from 1,500 to 4,400 sq ft.

David Deeley, Asset Manager at M7 comments: “The office market in the north of England continues to gain strength as more occupiers take advantage of the competitive market, as proven by the recent lettings at Wakefield 41. We acquired the business park having identified a number of opportunities to improve the asset and drive occupancy, and have now successfully completed that programme of asset management to deliver a fully let asset with excellent growth potential.”