Workspace provider Bruntwood Works’ Merseyside estate includes the Cotton Exchange and Plaza buildings in Liverpool and Burlington House in Crosby and it says inquiries are rising. Tony McDonough reports

Workspace provider Bruntwood Works says the level of viewings and enquiries across its Liverpool city region portfolio is now almost retuned to pre-pandemic levels.

Bruntwood Works is part of the Bruntwood property group and it owns and manages more than 4.4m sq ft of office and workspace across the north of England. Its properties include the Cotton Exchange and Plaza buildings in Liverpool and Burlington House in Crosby.

Despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, its says customer enquiries, viewings and deals are all performing “robustly” as more business owners begin to make plans for a return to the workplace in spring.

The number of deals secured in the final quarter of 2020 were identical to the volume of deals in the same period in 2019, with the ratio of new and expanding customers also matching last year’s figures.

Among the new arrivals are marketing automation specialist Marcloud Consulting at Cotton Exchange and insurance brokerage Waltons at The Plaza. Existing tenants, such as educational recruitment firm SupplyWell, have expanded their footprint at Cotton Exchange in recent months.

Tony Reed, head of commercial at Bruntwood Works in Liverpool, said: “Despite the incredibly challenging times for so many people, we are meeting business owners every day who are looking for new ways to develop their operations and ensure they are in a strong position once we move out of the COVID-19 era.

“The Cotton Exchange and Burlington House have proven especially popular as, now more than ever, businesses value the community aspects of such buildings and some adopt a ‘hub and spoke’ approach, with a central headquarters and an additional presence in outlying locations.

“Our plans to invest in The Plaza and develop the communal ground floor space as part of our Pioneer programme have also led to an increase in enquiries there.

“Many entrepreneurs have taken this period to reflect on their business goals and this has led to a very steady flow of enquiries and deals from firms in a wide variety of sectors. Many appear to be earmarking March and April for a return to their workspaces and the various benefits that come from working in a vibrant, collaborative space.”

Bruntwood Works’ portfolio also includes Cotton House, Queen Insurance Buildings, which incorporates Queen Avenue, Exchange Court, adjacent to Liverpool Town Hall, and St Hugh’s in Bootle.