A trio of lettings deals have been agreed for space at a major new office development in Bristol.
International law firm Clyde & Co has expanded on its presence in the city centre by relocating to The Distillery, a 92,000 sq ft scheme comprising two adjacent buildings on Avon Street in Glassfields, near Temple Meads train station,
The legal practice, whose 30 staff in Bristol were previously based at the Orega serviced office building on 10 Victoria Street , has secured 4,700 sq ft of workspace within No2 The Distillery.
Joining the group will be IOP Publishing, which specialises in scientific academic journals. The global publisher, which has its global headquarters in Bristol as well as sites in China, Japan and the US, has acquired 16,000 sq ft at The Distillery.
Knight Frank, acting for The Distillery’s owner Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) - wholly owned, autonomous subsidiary of the UK’s largest mutual insurer Royal London - added a third lease had been agreed with a “substantial tech company”.
A spokesperson for the letting agency said they were unable to disclose the name of the company but said it supports the purchase of cloud computing products, and they had taken 24,000 sq ft at The Distillery.
Will Hawking of RLAM said: “We are delighted to welcome these high calibre occupiers to The Distillery. We have been determined to deliver an outstanding scheme with sustainability and wellness as integral elements of the design. The attraction of such major names is testament that The Distillery meets these key criteria.”
Peter O’Brien, a partner at Clyde & Co in Bristol, said: “Over the past four years since establishing a base in Bristol, we have grown significantly as a team and this move will be a springboard for further growth in the coming years.
“We wanted to move our offices to a building which our people will find engaging and an exciting place to come back to work in. With its stunning covered street, green wall and exposed services finish in the suite we’re delighted with our move to The Distillery.”
Oliver Callaghan, finance and operations director at IOP Publishing added: “The green credentials of The Distillery proved key in our decision-making process, with its huge living wall and energy efficiency.
“Its location is perfect for us, being just a short walk to the train station and with an ever growing number of cafes, shops and bars in the immediate area. We’re looking forward to our colleagues coming together to collaborate and connect in this best-in-class building.”
The Distillery marks the second phase of four at RLAM’s Glassfields site, the first phase being the four-star, 199-bed Leonardo Hotel, which opened last year.
Phases three and four will comprise two further office developments of around 120,000 sq ft and 65,000 sq ft respectively. RLAM said it was currently working up detailed plans for these developments for launch to the market later this year.
Mr Hawking said: “With evident strong demand for the highest quality office space in Bristol it is entirely appropriate that RLAM looks to build on the success of these first few phases to create an outstanding environment with further office developments designed – and then constructed – with the very highest ESG credentials as prerequisites. We look forward to revealing our proposed plans at the earliest opportunity.”
Colliers CRE advised Clyde & Co whilst JLL represented IOP Publishing. Knight Frank and JLL have been retained as letting agents on The Distillery and future phases of the Glassfields development.
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