Industrial Agents Society (IAS) - General - Bristol,

Date: 11 Mar 2010

Industrial take up drops in Bristol.

Take up of industrial premises in Bristol fell during 2009 to their lowest level in five years, according to figures released today by the Bristol branch of the Industrial Agents Society (IAS).

The IAS reported that 2009 witnessed a fall in the take up of industrial premises by occupiers to 2.1 million sq ft. This was a decrease of 691,000 sq ft on 2008's figure and was below the five year average of 2.677 million sq ft.

Several large industrial deals did however complete during the year including the letting of 330,000 sq ft to GKN at Western Approach, Avonmouth and 300,000 sq ft for New Earth Solutions at Access 18, Avonmouth.

Developer St Modwen also made a significant investment in Clevedon and purchased 22 acres at the Clevedon Business Park in August 2009. St Modwen plan to develop a business park on the land, which already has outline planning permission.

Jonathan Allen, chairman of the IAS said: "2009 was a challenging year due to the continued downturn in the economy and this was certainly reflected in the take up statistics. However, we already seeing confidence slowly return to the market with increased levels of enquiries, which should during the course of the year translate into deals as the economy stabilises. Bristol remains a key industrial location in the South West of England and there are still a number of distribution occupiers, waste management and energy companies searching for large format premises and sites in the area."

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