Property in brief: Veritas, Sunny Bank Mills, Mawson, Redbrik

SPECIALIST recruitment firm Veritas has doubled its office space on the back of major contract wins in the renewables sector.

Veritas now employs four people and has redeveloped its offices and doubled its floor space in The Loft at Carlton Mills on Pickering Street in Leeds.

GMI Energy, Oakapple Energy and EcoLogic Living in Carlisle have awarded the company contracts, as well as Duncan Renewables to help with the firm’s expansion into the Lake District.

Managing director Chris Tinson founded Veritas five years ago with Jonathan Morgan, of Leeds based Morgans City Living.

Mr Tinson says: “Both the construction and renewables industries are growing rapidly as the economy improves and companies have to recruit the best people to stay ahead of the competition in a fierce marketplace. We are returning to a candidate driven market, where businesses rarely have the luxury of being able to cherry pick candidates and this makes a good recruitment firm invaluable.

“We’ve completely redeveloped our offices and even incorporated an innovative board room table made from a solar panel. We’re now looking to grow our team over the coming months on the back of two record quarters for the business.”

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SUNNY BANK MILLS, the former location for TV shows Emmerdale and Heartbeat, have been given some Vitality by its latest tenant.

Vitality Consulting, part of the health and life insurance giant Vitality,
has opened its Yorkshire and North East office at the mill, taking 1,100 sq
ft for its 15 staff.

The historic mill, part of the Sunny Bank Mills complex, has been transformed
into a 21st-century business centre. Altogether 61 companies are now on site, creating nearly 300 new jobs.

Harvey Briggs, franchise director for Vitality Consulting Yorkshire and the North East, said: “We are very proud that we are bucking the trend in the health and life insurance world, where most of our rivals are centralising their operations. We prefer to do business face-to-face.”

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MANCHESTER training and recruitment firm, Standguide, has taken up residence in the newly refurbished 37-39 St Paul’s Street site in Leeds.

Mawsons have agreed a three-year let of premises of 1,050 sq ft on the ground floor at a rent of £16.50 per sq ft

George Baines, director of Standguide Limited, said: ‘ We are now firmly established in West Yorkshire with premises in Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and Wakefield and we are looking to develop our training and recruitment services throughout the region.

“We chose 37-39 St Pauls Street because of its smart professional environment in a central Leeds location which for us represents good value for money.

Cameron Ritchie of Mawsons added ‘We are delighted to attract Standguide to the building especially after the major refurb project. The office accommodation is very well presented and is attracting a good level of interest from a range of prospective businesses, where there are three upper floors currently available at 1,333 sq ft per floor’.

David Whitaker of Lupton Fawcett Dennison Till acted on behalf of the Landlord.

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SHEFFIELD’S Redbrik Estate Agency has seen an increase in property sales.

Redbrik Estate Agency has recorded an 81% average increase in house transactions per month between November 2014 and February 2015, despite the Land Registry reporting a “significant” decrease in sales during the same period.

In February 2015 Redbrik sales were up by 78% year on year.

Redbrik launched nearly two years ago, and has grown since, with offices in Chesterfield, Millhouses and Crystal Peak.

Mark Ross, director at Redbrik Estate Agency, said: “At Redbrik we pride ourselves on achieving results for every customer, and we recently recorded our best ever month in business which shows we are delivering.

“It is fantastic news that we are actually bucking the national trend so significantly. The property market locally is actually doing very well and our offices are being kept very busy with enquiries from vendors and purchasers alike.

“Our company ethos is to provide an honest, jargon free approach which is underpinned by great customer service and innovative marketing. We firmly believe that this is the key to our success.

“Everyone at Redbrik works extremely hard for our clients and our results are testament to that.”