Leading Birmingham commercial agent Philippa Pickavance has reported a buoyant first year of trading after launching her own commercial real estate agency and consultancy business 12 months ago.
Philippa, a chartered surveyor who has worked in Birmingham for 30 years, said: “I am delighted with my first year’s trading. Highlights have included letting 22,000 sq ft of HQ offices on the Trident Court phase at Birmingham Business Park to Pinewood Technology, plus two further lettings on the Park Square phase at the Park, totalling another 9,000 sq ft.”
Philippa also sold AGA’s 12,000 sq ft Arleston Way office building in Solihull to Cala, which then instructed her to act for the company in disposing of a small surplus suite in the same building.
“I was able to agree a letting immediately and this is just going through the legal process,” she added.
In Birmingham, other deals included selling a 10,000 sq ft building on Greenfield Crescent, Edgbaston, and letting a surplus second-floor suite for building services engineers SVM Associates, which is also based in Greenfield Crescent.
Philippa has completed an acquisition to put Clive Reeves PR into its new city centre offices at 122 Colmore Row. She also hopes to announce further acquisition successes shortly and reports a further 20,000 sq ft of sales and lettings in three buildings in solicitors’ hands.
“My business has been greatly assisted by the continued support of my clients old and new, who appreciate my hands-on dedicated approach and experience and by the improvement in the office market, where we have just seen the best annual take up in vacant floor space in Birmingham since 2008,” explained Philippa.
“I still have some good stock available, for example at Birmingham Business Park I have over 65,000 sq ft in 5 buildings to let and in Birmingham a 20,000 sq ft building for sale in the heart of Edgbaston.”
The Birmingham Office Market Forum (BOMF), of which Philippa is a former chairman, reported 713,460 sq ft of lettings and sales in 2014, the second highest take up in the past 10 years.