It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Russell Rigby, Managing Director of commercial property specialists Rigby & Co.
Two major constraints that had a serious impact on property and development confidence in 2023 should be lifted in the next 12 months.
The post-Truss wobble impacted directly on finance and borrowing costs for construction and development, and it must be sensible now for rates to move down, as we go through the New Year.
In tandem, we should get some political stability post-Election which will hopefully inject further confidence into both the private sector and public sector finances during the second half of the year.
The property asset class to watch in the next 12 months remains the shift from grey and conventional offices into exciting flex and hybrid space.
Demand for flex offices is forecast to grow between 25% and 30% per annum with particular emphasis on strong regional centres such as Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.
Encouraging greater numbers of economically active people to move back into the workplaces they want to use in those towns and city centres will then help inject vibrancy and confidence back into many of our key high streets, as those streets jostle for re-invention.
