Coach company picks up new premises as industrial market heats up

Fierce competition for industrial space in Birmingham is driving record rentals and sales values, according to commercial property agents Siddall Jones.

It took just three days for Siddall Jones to let a 5,635 sq ft unit at 48 Granby Avenue, Garretts Green, to Meadway Coaches.

Ed Siddall-Jones, managing director of Siddall Jones, said the speed of the deal underlines the under supply and competitive nature of the current industrial market across the wider West Midlands.

“We are achieving record capital values and rentals in this sector, and we are desperate for any industrial stock as we have buyers and tenants ready and waiting, ” he said.

The industrial premises with concreted yard has been let on a 15 year lease at £37,500 per annum.

Siddall Jones has been warning of a chronic shortage of industrial space since last year.

The firm recently sold a half-acre site fronting Mucklow Hill for well over the asking price of £500,000, and the purchaser is planning to use the site for industrial use.

Siddall Jones also sold a 160,000 sq ft industrial site in Greater Manchester for £7.2 million after it had been on the market for less than a week. Similarly, a small industrial estate in Sydenham Road, Birmingham, was sold by Siddall Jones for a price close to £1 million.

Mr Siddall-Jones said the massive increase in container shipping costs and price increases for Chinese produced products was driving the shortage.

“This is leading many West Midlands manufacturing companies to look at reshoring their supply chain - and this has heightened the demand for space, both for manufacture and also holding stock, ” he said.

Siddall Jones are urging industrial property landlords to look closely at their assets and consider how to maximise value in a fiercely competitive market.

Ed Siddall-Jones said: “Whether it is companies looking for additional premises or looking to consolidate two or three sites into one larger one, the demand is there.

“We are urging anyone across the region who has valuable industrial property or better still a vacant site to get in touch with us as we have purchasers waiting to buy the right sites in the right locations. ”