200 jobs on the way as Council plans Grade A office pilot scheme

Derby City Council is set to launch a new model for supplying larger city centre office space with a pilot scheme at the £6.4m 6 Bold Lane development in the city.

The new model for supplying larger office spaces in the city centre is a key regeneration aim of the Council in 2018 and follows from the Connect Derby model which provides managed office spaces for start-up businesses.

The Council says that soft market testing has shown that there is a demand for larger office spaces between 5,000 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft in the city centre which the private sector has been unable to provide so far.

The findings also show that there is a lack of Grade A office space in the city centre, that new 15 year leases sought by developers and their funders were unaffordable to growing businesses and that companies could not wait for 18-24 months for new offices to be built for them which meant they would take their business elsewhere.

The four-storey Bold Lane office block will lease entire floors to larger businesses for their own management and configuration and is expected to generate as many as 200 new city centre jobs when completed. It will generate income and over-time will be self-sustaining.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and the Economy, councillor Martin Rawson, said: “The Connect Derby brand has been successful in helping to grow smaller businesses but there is a need for larger office spaces. This new model of office development is the next step for helping smaller business to grow, develop and generate more jobs and to improve developer confidence.

“We have heard the cry from the market and the Labour-led Council is intervening to meet the demand. In the same way that we provided the stimulus to boost city centre living, I am hopeful that we will do the same in the office market. The Council is already in discussion with a number of interested businesses and they are excited at the prospects.”

If approved, construction is expected to start in autumn 2018 and completed in 2019/2020.

At their February meeting, Cabinet will be asked to approve expenditure and include the project in the regeneration capital programme.