Thriving WCR Property has secured a third major letting within a month at its showpiece Caerphilly Business Park, despite continued sluggishness across the commercial property market in general.
Following its success in attracting recycling giant DS Smith and leading UK IT support company Attenda to the Park, WCR has now agreed a three-year lease on an initial 5,000 sq ft at Britannia House with Welsh ICE, a ground-breaking enterprise centre.
The operation will occupy a significant proportion of the ground floor of Britannia House, with scope to expand when more enterprises move in to take space at the centre.
Attenda has just signed up to take 7,000 sq ft on the first floor of the same building as a prelude to moving into a bespoke 15,000 sq ft office, due to be developed by WCR on the Park next year. The investment is expected to create 150 highly-skilled jobs for the area.
Meanwhile top recycling firm, DS Smith, will create 100 jobs in a new UK shared services centre it is establishing in an adjacent 12,000 sq ft award-winning sustainable office building just completed by WCR.
Mike Wallace, property director of WCR said: “The agreement with Welsh ICE, following hard on the heels of the DS Smith and Attenda announcements, underlines the versatility of Caerphilly Business Park and its ability to offer quality accommodation to businesses anywhere across the size spectrum. The DS Smith and Attenda deals show we can accommodate big organisations in large suites and new buildings, whereas the ICE deal will allow individuals and new companies to be offered space to meet their exact requirements.”
WCR has developed a total of 125,000 sq ft of space at Caerphilly Business Park over the past 12 years, including an on-site hotel and day nursery to support tenants. Despite the difficult UK market conditions, the Park is currently 90% occupied, with 12,500 sq ft available in various sized suites.
The recent investments by DS Smith and Attenda at Caerphilly Business Park were hailed by Welsh Government business minister Edwina Hart as a ‘major boost to the local economy.’