Bristol’s Georgian legacy of offices

The sheer number of fine Georgian buildings in Bristol is helping to kick-start the economy by providing the ideal cost-effective base for new and growing businesses.

That is the view of chartered surveyor Christopher Tabor of property website PropertyDNA, which is matching many of the best Georgian buildings with potential office occupiers.

The many fine houses of areas such as Clifton converted to office suites are less fashionable with larger businesses now, providing an opportunity for new and growing businesses to grab a fashionable address.

Said Christopher Tabor: “While large businesses look for the convenience of computer trunking, open-plan layouts and ease of maintenance, there is still something special about the Georgian office suites.

“Their individual rooms with fine plasterwork and imposing entrances suite a number of companies and modern technology with wireless communication, allows for easier fit out than in the past.

“Typically they have been favoured by professional services like lawyers and accountants. But with so many mergers in professional services these firms are now more likely to be found in large modern office complexes on the edge of the city or in Temple Quay.

“That migration means that Bristol’s Georgian buildings are becoming more available for start-up businesses and for the small and medium-sized office occupier, who wants to impress clients with a good reception area and traditional boardroom meeting space.

“There is space at 83 Alma Road of just 241 square feet in such a building on our website propertyDNA.com and amazingly it comes with two parking spaces. There is larger space of 1,830 square feet at 83 Whiteladies Road and 2,000 sq feet at 7 Berkeley Square, giving smaller businesses some of the best addresses in Bristol.”

PropertyDNA.com, a national website for commercial property, is focussing on Bristol property with many agents putting their available space on the site so that businesses can go to one place on the web and find the offices, shop premises or industrial unit that they need.