Entrepreneur invests £1.5m to create new workspace in Harrogate

A Harrogate entrepreneur has invested £1.5m to transform a commercial property in the centre of the town into a workspace for 20 businesses.

The development, 55 Grove Road, is the brainchild of Robert Fearnley, who is looking to fill a gap in the market for contemporary office space and give local businesses a reason to stay in Harrogate instead of moving to the nearby cities of Leeds and York.

“There has traditionally been a lack of high quality town centre office space in Harrogate and this has led to businesses moving out of the area, which has a knock on effect on jobs and the local economy,” said Fearnley.

“With the development of 55 Grove Road I have set out to transform the business landscape in Harrogate by offering a new kind of working environment that doesn’t exist here at the moment.”

The offices are being marketed by the commercial division of Harrogate property firm FSS and will officially open this month with around 25% of the space already let.

Fearnley aid the project is bucking the current trend to convert commercial buildings to residential dwellings by creating new designer office space for expanding and emerging businesses, as well as larger corporate companies looking for a satellite office.

“The premium facilities include flexible interiors to accommodate growth and change with state of the art interior architecture, superfast internet connections, inspiring air-conditioned meeting rooms, an outdoor terrace, and a café area with an urban coffee shop feel,” he said.

“The development is good news for the Harrogate economy and will support growth in the surrounding area,” he added.

Dan Brumfitt of FSS said: “It’s rare to see purpose built commercial office space of this size and standard come onto the local market which is why we are seeing such high demand and prospective tenants are also attracted by the level of attention to detail in the design.

“Real thought has been put into the way modern businesses work, not only with the layout of the building but with the services that will be offered including planned networking events on site for tenants. Add to that the wow factor of three metre high ceilings and polished concrete floors and it’s easy to see why interest is so high and we expect 55 Grove Road to be fully let within months of launch.”