According to property experts Bidwells' latest offices and labs research, the analysis reveals knowledge intensive businesses were responsible for over 81% of the office space taken, roughly evenly split between the life science and tech sectors.
Cambridge in focus
- Combined office and laboratory take-up at 805,100 sq ft – the highest level for five years
- Another major US tech giant has secured 79,500 sq ft pre-let for occupation in 2021
- Rents have risen 12% to a historic high of £46.50 per sq ft - levels now only slightly behind London’s Canary Wharf
While the Cambridge development market remains active, the 0.8 million sq ft of take-up is inevitably going impact on rents. Last year, prime rents in the Cambridge office sector rose 12% to a historic high of £46.50 psf, with a 10% uplift in the labs sector.
A number of new buildings were completed during the latter half of 2019, with the largest letting at 30 Station Road CB1, although this, as is the pattern in Cambridge in recent years, was leased ahead of construction.
Adding to the business challenge, there is an increasing focus on green credentials as well as space. The workplace has always been viewed as a tool for recruitment of staff. However, there is an increasing value being placed on environmental standards, as well as the lifestyle offer embodied in their potential workplace.
As the fabric of the workplace continues to change, and businesses fight to recruit and retain highly skilled workers, what employees value cannot be ignored.
Commenting on this, Sue Foxley, Research Director at Bidwells, states: “The viability of such growth is underwritten by the shift in the occupier base of the Cambridge market. Three-quarters of the commercially occupied floor space in the city’s science and tech cluster is occupied by knowledge intensive industries. Such businesses will welcome the 0.45 million sq ft of floor space we estimate will come forward over the next two years, although given the scale and depth of demand from the life science and tech sectors further rental growth will follow.”
View Bidwells’ most recent business space research for Cambridge>>>