Bruntwood is celebrating a year of success at Liverpool’s Cotton Quarter by launching a new cotton-inspired publication about the development.
The Cotton Story highlights the building’s glorious cotton trading history and charts its extensive refurbishment over the past three years, which includes the creation of several innovative workspace concepts, a new roof garden, events space and the installation of ultra-fast broadband connectivity.
As a result of the work, Cotton Quarter has seen occupancy levels rise by 25 per cent year-on-year and its offices are now 85 per cent full, marking the building’s most successful year since it was acquired by Bruntwood in 2007.
The creative and digital sectors account for a large portion of that increase, with both start-ups and SMEs attracted by contemporary office space in the heart of the commercial district.
Colin Forshaw, head of property at Bruntwood, said:
“We set out with major ambitions for Cotton Quarter but in many respects the results have actually outstripped our expectations.
“Especially pleasing has been our ability to encourage dozens of progressive, creative entrepreneurs to leave their existing offices in other parts of the city and relocate to the commercial district, while simultaneously attracting established professional firms like Morecrofts Solicitors.
“We’ve also introduced the concept of co-working, or more accurately a purpose-engineered space with a range of communal facilities that’s perfect for micro-businesses or single person enterprises at relatively low cost. That’s a very rare offer and yet that’s what we’ve created at The Loft.
“The Trading Rooms small suites scheme, The Old Hall events space, the roof garden; these initiatives and others have completely transformed the very fibre and character of the building.
“The Cotton Story is designed to tell the story of how we found the site and reflect our pride in what we’ve been able to achieve since then. It’s difficult to put into words, but we’ve tried our best to do just that.”