Commercial property experts Group First have announced that they are celebrating their most successful 12 months to date.
Having enjoyed growth year on year, Group First – which is a parent company for a network of commercial property businesses – has reported a turnover of more than £100 million in property sales.
The Group First network includes Store First, Park First, Residential First, Fly First and Business First. Company assets under management for the group are reported to amount to more than £1.6 billion, with no bank debt or financing owed – and the past year has seen a surge of activity in Group First’s ongoing expansion programme.
The company’s self-storage arm, Store First, has seen 1.5 million square feet of development over the past four years. With 12 self-storage centres up and running (and eight more nearing completion), Store First has said that it aims to bring its estate up to 20 within 12 months.
Business First, which operates fully serviced business centres, boasts more than 1,000 office suites, all owned outright by investors located across the globe. Centres are reportedly enjoying their best ever occupancy rates, running at around 86% occupied.
Group First has said that one of the most popular investment products in its portfolio is Park First’s Glasgow Airport car parking spaces. Park First operates 4,500 parking spaces in optimal locations close to Glasgow Airport with an overall value of £90 million. Car parks are looked after by a management team, with state-of-the-art security systems, number plate recognition and shuttle bus services.
Phase One of Park First’s Glasgow Airport investment offering – car park one – is now sold out, with spaces now available to purchase in Phase Two of the project.
And it’s not just commercial property enjoying a boom for Group First – its residential division has developed 28 luxury apartment blocks in prestigious UK locations, including the award-winning Mann Island at Liverpool’s Albert Dock.
Toby Whittaker, managing director of Group First – which has its headquarters near Burnley, Lancashire as well as offices across the globe, said: “It’s been a phenomenal year for every part of the business and it’s set to continue until the end of 2014 and beyond. We have exciting new projects in the pipeline as well as more expansion for our existing ventures.”