Office deals show strength of the Birmingham recruitment sector

The number of recruitment companies that took new office space in Birmingham city centre in the first quarter of 2018 is extremely encouraging for the continuing growth of the city’s economy, according to Birmingham commercial property agents, KWB.

Recruitment companies took 21,015 sq ft of office space in Birmingham in the first three months of 2018, 14% of the total take-up of office space of 148,483 sq ft. Their five transactions represented 23% of Q1’s total deals, says Mark Robinson, Director in KWB’s Office Agency Team, writing in KWB’s Q1 2018 Birmingham office market research.

This compares with the whole of 2017, when the recruitment sector was responsible for 9% of office transactions, taking 5% of square footage.

Mark Robinson said: “The health of the Birmingham recruitment agency sector is regarded as a good economic indicator for the city. A strong rate of office space transactions for the recruitment sector indicates that these businesses are looking positively to the future, so while these transaction numbers are up, so tends to be the demand for new staff among businesses and the levels of actual recruitment within Birmingham and the wider area.”

Key deals saw Angela Mortimer plc, a London-based company, which also operates under the Katie Bard and AM Legal brands, acquire 8,540 sq ft at the Counting House in the Jewellery Quarter and People Plus take 6,311 sq ft at Edmund House in Birmingham city centre. Other deals included the expansion of global executive search company, Odgers Berndtson, in Brindleyplace.

Mark continued: “Perhaps, because they are so dependent on the economy, recruitment companies tend to be some of the more volatile businesses. However, they continue to be one of the most active business sectors within the Birmingham office market and we see no signs of this changing.”

Each quarter, KWB publishes research into the Birmingham city centre office market, listing all the office transactions and providing its view of the current and future market. KWB’s complete Q1 research for Birmingham can be found here, and for the full list of transactions click here.

For more information on the Birmingham office market, contact Mark Robinson on 0121 233 2330 or email mrobinson@kwboffice.com.