City-centre workplace welcomes two more tenants

Portland House has announced two more lettings as it continues to see strong demand for its sustainable workspace following a major refurbishment.

The deals will see barristers Parklane Plowden Chambers and recruitment specialist Central Employment take occupation of a combined floorspace of around 10,000 sq.ft in the coming weeks.

Following earlier lettings to Begbies Traynor Group and Mills & Co, over 30% of Portland House’s refurbished space has been let within only 6 months of its relaunch, and further deals are in the pipeline.

Parklane Plowden is relocating from Lombard Street in Newcastle to occupy 1,772 sq.ft within the first floor of Portland House after signing a 10-year lease.

Meanwhile, Central Employment is relocating its operations from St Mary’s Place to 8,131, sq.ft also by way of a 10-year lease. Rents equating to £25/sq.ft have been achieved as part of the latest lettings.

The first round of tenants moved into Portland House in April following the multi-million-pound transformation of the former Newcastle Business Society HQ by developers Oliver Holland and James Keegan. The investment has created an ultra-modern workspace for ambitious and growing businesses requiring high quality, energy efficient and sustainable office accommodation.

Oliver Holland said: “We are thrilled to welcome our latest tenants as we continue to see strong demand for the very best city centre workspace with many occupiers seeking to improve the quality of their work environments. There are more deals in the pipeline which we look forward to announcing very soon.”

Last month, Portland House was named Refurbishment of the Year at the North East Property Awards. Commenting on the award, Oliver Holland added: “Refurbishing Portland House has been incredibly rewarding and winning ‘Refurbishment of the Year’ is a wonderful recognition of our team’s vision and application.”

Michael Stubbs, director at Parklane Plowden, said: “With the Newcastle Civil, Family and Tribunal Centre opening its doors in 2021 within the Civic Centre, we have been looking for a suitable new home nearer to the new Court centre and Portland House was the ideal location. We are looking forward to joining the growing number of excellent fellow tenants in such a prestigious building in the heart of Newcastle.”

Will Palmer, finance director at Central Employment, said: “Moving to Portland House is an inspirational move for all our team and will allow our staff to work together more efficiently in a modern open plan environment at the same time deliver the benefits of collaborative working.

“We are also looking to grow our headcount to meet our growing client base and the new office space and facilities will provide us with the ideal platform as we look to grow our business further.”