Flexible officing champion, Citibase, is ramping up its northern expansion with two new management contracts launching flexible office hubs in Manchester’s Salford Quays and Newcastle upon Tyne’s Market Street. These have potential to provide over 31,000 sq ft of fully serviced space for entrepreneurs, SMEs and start-ups.
Citibase Manchester Salford Quays is housed in an entirely refurbished and stylishly redesigned brick building in Merchants Quay with potential to provide almost 17,000 sq ft of high quality, flexible space for nearly 300 businesses. It is Citibase’s third centre in the Manchester area, and builds on the success of their two existing office hubs to demonstrate the city’s rapidly burgeoning demand for flexible office space.
The regeneration of Salford Quays has been one of the North West’s most exciting transformation stories, now forming a world-class business, cultural and residential area, with the ongoing expansion of MediaCityUK acting as a driving force behind this. The new centre, housed in CERT Property’s The Junction building, is just two minutes’ walk to Salford Quays Metrolink stop, which provides fast access to Deansgate in Manchester city centre in less than 10 minutes, while also being handy for the M60 and M602 motorways.
In Newcastle upon Tyne, the new Citibase Newcastle Market Street hub has potential to provide up to 14,183 sq ft of space with over 225 workstations. Housed in an impressive red brick building in the heart of the city, it’s just a short walk from the Monument Metro and Central train stations with all the city’s shops, restaurants and amenities on the doorstep. It is Citibase’s third centre in Newcastle upon Tyne and reflects strong demand for flexible, affordable workspace with short-term contracts, with the company’s Newcastle enquiry levels up over 10% over the past eight months. Citibase is managing the centre on behalf of a client with whom it has already partnered on five other buildings in central London, and Newcastle Market Street is the partnership’s first foray outside of the capital.
Steve Jude, CEO of Citibase, comments: “London often grabs the headlines for the world of flexible officing but our continued expansion across the North shows that the appetite for affordable, flexible office space with short term contracts is truly nationwide.
“An astonishing 90% of SMEs we surveyed in the North East in our recent Citibase Business Confidence Index told us they wanted an office contract of under three years, and nearly three quarters of those in the North West said the same. We are proud to be supporting the economy of the Northern Powerhouse by providing workspace that allows SMEs – the lifeblood of the new economy – to flourish, without the commitments of a traditional long-term contact.
“2017 was a record year for our business and the flexible officing sector as a whole, with huge growth figures and spiraling demand from not only SMEs but also larger corporate players – and we anticipate that this will gather further momentum in 2018.”
