Sky UK is opening offices in Cardiff for the first time, and has signed up to take three floors of No 4 Capital Quarter in the city centre.
The company has leased 40,000 sq ft of office space on the second, third and fourth floors of the 96,870 sq ft building fronting Tyndall Street, on a 15 year lease A month ago law firm Geldards signed to take 30,000 sq ft of office space in the building under construction by property development company JR Smart.
Sky UK provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom, and is the country’s largest Pay TV broadcaster. It will provide customer service and sales functions from its new Cardiff base, which follows a similar model to a new office opened in Leeds last year.
No 4 is the latest speculatively-built Grade A office building on the 10 acre Capital Quarter development fronting Tyndall Street, providing high quality, BREEAM Excellent office accommodation. Construction is due to be completed by April and Sky plans to move into the building this Summer.
Mark Sutton, partner in the Cardiff office of property consultancy Knight Frank which represented JR Smart, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sky to Cardiff and to Capital Quarter, which is now becoming home to some of Wales’ most prominent occupiers. No 4 Capital Quarter is the only new Grade A office building being delivered in Cardiff this year and we have received a huge amount of interest in this space from a wide range of potential occupiers.”
Alexander Smart, of JR Smart said: “We have delivered 176,000 sq ft of speculatively-developed offices to Cardiff within the past year. High quality offices in an urban campus environment provide an attractive proposition for businesses wanting to reside in the heart of the city, and a strong line up of existing Cardiff businesses and inward occupiers have now chosen Capital Quarter to base their operations in the capital.
”It has been a great 12 months at Capital Quarter, which is testament to the commitment and hard work of the whole Capital Quarter development team – including our professional advisers and sub-contractors, who I would personally like to thank.”
The Sky letting comes after Admiral signed up to take nearly 70,000 sq ft at the adjoining No 3 Capital Quarter office scheme in November. With consumer organisation Which? already in occupation, No 3 Capital Quarter is now fully let.
Knight Frank acted for landlord JR Smart and Sky was represented in the transaction by Cushman and Wakefield. Other occupiers at Capital Quarter include Public Health Wales, Opus Energy, Atkins, Lambert Smith Hampton, Finance Wales, Alert Logic, WSP-Parsons Brinckerhoff, Network Rail, and Home Office.
