• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Monday December 16 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Reading’s office market out-performing competitors

Reading’s office market is out-performing that of neighbouring towns according to a survey by inward investment agency REDA.

New benchmark research conducted by REDA compared the town to the competition locations of Oxford, Cambridge, Hammersmith, Chiswick, Slough, Maidenhead and Bracknell.

The research found availability of office space and the critical mass of Reading’s IT and professional services activities were helping to drive the town’s success.

The research found that Reading has:

• More office availability than Oxford and Cambridge combined, Hammersmith and Chiswick combined and the combined available space in Bracknell, Maidenhead and Slough. In total, Reading has 2.6m sq ft of available office space with another 280,000 under construction
• More HQs in total than all of the benchmarked competitors across a number of key sectors – information and communications, professional services, life sciences and financial services.
• Fantastic transport connectivity including quicker travel times to central London than any of the competitor locations except London fringe – 42 mins to Oxford Circus
• A higher percentage of people employed in professional occupations than the competitors except Oxford and Cambridge
• Lower housing costs than all the competitors
• Access to a wide and high-quality labour pool

REDA CEO Nigel Horton-Baker said: “The flight to quality office spaces is still the overarching trend in the property market for global and knowledge-based high-tech businesses where image and high quality of amenity inside and outside the office are key factors to business growth and attracting and retaining staff.

“This research demonstrates many reasons to be optimistic that Reading will continue to perform well in attracting and retaining businesses.

“High-quality office spaces in addition to competitive advantage in house prices, great schools, high-quality environment, accessibility by rail to the City and Heathrow and a regionally significant retail, culture and hospitality offer, keeps us ahead of other regional competitor locations.”