Technology boost
A DOWNBEAT commercial property sector received a boost today with news that one of the largest speculative developments on Teesside had been bought by a global technology services firm.
EDS, an HP company, is investing £30m in the 300,000 sq ft warehouse facility known as Wynyard 360 at Wynyard Park.
The unit was built by specialist property developer HelioSlough and then sold to BA Pension Trustees Funds.
EDS has now agreed to purchase the unit and convert it into a high-tech data centre facility.
Founded in 1962, EDS is a leading global technology services company delivering a broad portfolio of business solutions to its clients around the world.
It was established in the UK in 1984 and has more than 120 clients across most industry sectors at more than 200 locations nationwide.
In the public sector, EDS is the largest supplier of IT services to the UK Government and private sector clients include British Airways, BP, Rolls-Royce, Royal Bank of Scotland, Thorntons and Vodafone.
Sean Finnan, EDS’ UK managing director, said they had reviewed a number of locations in the North-east at which to base their latest UK operation before opting for Wynyard Park.
“We were impressed by the quality of the site and the exceptional facilities and services which Wynyard Park offered,” he added.
Chris Musgrave, chief executive of Wynyard Park Ltd, the company that owns Wynyard Park, said he was delighted that the location had attracted a company of worldwide standing.
“There have been very few buildings of this size built in the Tees Valley over the last decade and to do so speculatively and then find a purchaser like EDS is fantastic,” he said.
Today’s news is the latest success for Wynyard Park. Formerly home to electronics giant Samsung, the site has since attracted £150m of private investment and from a site with three empty manufacturing buildings, more than 700,000sq ft of high quality accommodation has been developed with more than 500 people working there. Long-term plans include a further £450m of investment to create three million square feet of office space in the next 15 to 20 years.
A 2,000 home eco-village is also being developed.
Elsewhere, retail tenants were celebrating news that one of the largest landlords in the UK has broken ranks with the property industry by agreeing to end the historic requirement to pay rent quarterly in advance for all its 2,000 tenants.
Hermes, the pension fund manager that oversees £11bn of property in the UK, is to offer to scrap existing lease terms and introduce more flexible conditions, including monthly, rather than quarterly, rents. The offer is open to tenants across its retail, office and warehouse properties. There has been a dispute for more than two years between the country’s largest retailers and their landlords about lease terms, centred on the payment of rents in advance every quarter.
Today, many retailers are facing their latest quarterly payment day. The final quarter rent is particularly testing for retailers as it comes after the slow summer period and before the Christmas rush.
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