Innes England named top regional agency for eighth year

INNES England is celebrating this week after being named as the Most Active Agent in a prestigious national competition for an impressive eighth consecutive year.

The commercial property agency, which has offices in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, has been awarded the title in the Estates Gazette Interactive 2014 deals competition after completing an average of more than two deals per working day during the year.

The firm topped the rankings in the office, industrial and investment sectors as well as walking away with the overall title.

The EGi deals competition is an independent survey conducted by a research team, which covers commercial property transactions. It is designed to establish the agents completing the largest volume of deals throughout the year.

Tim Garratt, managing director at Innes England, said: “To be awarded the Estates Gazette Most Active Agent in the East Midlands for the eighth year in a row is fantastic and illustrates the high calibre of the team we have here.

“The East Midlands emerged as one of the strongest regional economies in the UK during 2014 and the property market really reflected that. The number of deals completed by Innes England was up a third compared with the previous year. We hold a unique position in the region, with offices across the East Midlands, which has once again allowed us to secure this respected industry accolade.”

Throughout the region, Innes England completed nearly 600 deals across the industrial, office, retail, leisure, land and investment sectors for its clients.

Innes England was responsible for the biggest industrial pre-let in Derby of 632,000 sq ft space to Kuene + Nagel for Heineken at Derby Commercial Park, which is now in operation.

The firm was also responsible for the sale of Gateway 28 – a 264,450 sq ft warehouse in north Nottinghamshire – to Legal & General, signifying the strength of the industrial market in the region.

The award also reflects a busy year in Leicester, where they handled PKF Cooper Parry’s move to a new 25,000 sq ft ‘super office’ at Pegasus Business Park in Castle Donington.

Across the region, the property market has also received a boost during 2014 thanks to the return of speculative development and refurbishment – something that has been rewarded by fast lettings and sales such as Threadneedle’s investment at Loxley House in Nottingham.

Tim Garratt believes the key to the firm’s eight years of success has been down to its in-depth knowledge of the regional markets and its commitment to delivering excellent results for its clients.

He added: “As a business, it is important to us to keep ahead of the curve and continue to offer our clients the very best. For example, we have recently invested in new IT and telephone systems, which are absolutely essential tools to us.

“This investment is the first step of a bigger strategic move for Innes England, which will allow us to move away from the traditional ‘office based’ culture and allow our staff to work wherever they are, maximising the time that can be spent servicing our clients."

The East Midlands property consultancy has enjoyed a bumper start to 2015 and is continuing to work hard to top the table in the region again this year.

“Commercial property prices in some sectors have now achieved pre-crash levels and the market is set to power ahead this year, and I firmly believe that what is set to come will be better than what has gone before,” added Tim.

To win the award, Innes England completed hundreds of deals in all categories and size bands in the East Midlands in 2014.