The number of recruitment companies which took new office space in Birmingham in the first quarter of 2018 is extremely encouraging for the continuing growth of the city’s economy, according to Birmingham-based independent commercial property agency 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 Report.
This compares with the whole of 2017, when the recruitment sector was responsible for 9% of office transactions, taking 5% of square footage.
“The health of the recruitment agency sector is regarded as a good economic indicator. 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,” says Mr Robinson.
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 the city centre. Other deals included the expansion of global executive search company Odgers Berndtson in Brindleyplace.
“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,” concludes Mr Robinson.
