Orega, the fast growing serviced office provider, announces that it has agreed a deal with global private equity firm, The Carlyle Group, to take more than 37,000 ft² (approx. 3,500 m²) of space for new serviced offices in Manchester and Birmingham, giving it a presence in both the Midlands and North West for the first time.
Orega has taken 17,000 ft² at Three Piccadilly Place, a striking Grade 'A' office building in Piccadilly, Manchester. The Carlyle Group's Three Piccadilly Place was developed by Argent and sits within the 675,000 ft² Piccadilly Place complex, a brand new mixed-use development comprising offices, retail, a hotel, serviced apartments and residential.
The Piccadilly Place agreement follows Orega's recent 20,000 ft² letting at Colmore Plaza, The Carlyle Group's landmark office building in central Birmingham where Orega also announces that it has secured its first serviced office tenant. The fast growing electricity supplier MA Energy will operate out of the building once the fit-out has been completed at the end of July.
The new business centers will be branded Piccadilly Executive and Colmore Plaza Executive.
At Three Piccadilly Place, Orega will offer 12,600 ft² of serviced offices from the 11th floor. On the ground floor, it will also operate a meeting and conference room suite off the building's main reception area, which will be served by independent access. The offices are situated directly opposite the entrance to Manchester Piccadilly railway station, allowing Orega to provide space to clients that is well connected nationally and locally, as well as internationally via Manchester airport which is only a 15-minute train ride away.
At Colmore Plaza, Orega will operate a new business centre on the mezzanine level and part of the ground floor of the 310,000 ft², 14-story office building that was completed by The Carlyle Group last year. The offices will offer up to 244 workstations, a reception area with shared seating areas and flexible meeting rooms.
The combination of Orega's serviced offices and meeting rooms, with the smaller floor split options on the second and third floors of Colmore Plaza, allows start-up and smaller fast growing businesses such as MA Energy the opportunity to be situated in a landmark address, with the flexibility to move up the building and take more conventional space as the business grows. Colmore Plaza is situated within Birmingham's Colmore Business District and close to Birmingham's New Street and Snow Hill railway stations, as well as the Aston Expressway, providing easy access to the M6, M5 and M42. The building also features 115 parking spaces.
Paul Finch, joint managing director of Orega, said: "Both choices meet our desire to select highly distinctive and well-located office buildings for our new business centres and this deal gives us a pivotal position in two of the UK's most important office locations. "Three Piccadilly Place and Colmore Plaza are among the largest and best new commercial schemes in their respective cities. A combination of high build standards and excellent transport links should prove irresistible to occupiers seeking flexible space or virtual offices and meeting rooms."
Mark Harris, Director of The Carlyle Group, commented: "Three Piccadilly Place and Colmore Plaza have been built to the highest standard specification and both have a BREEAM Excellent rating. With their unrivalled transport connections and, now with Orega providing serviced offices, both schemes can offer occupiers the ultimate in accessibility and flexibility."
Gurdeet Bansal, Director at MA Energy, said: "The choice of Colmore Plaza Executive for our head office was a relatively easy one. We had been looking for an iconic address that would not only give us the gravitas we needed as a growing business but also the flexibility to grow, something we will certainly be doing over the coming year. Good access by road and rail with good parking facilities were also considerations we took into account when opting to make Colmore Plaza our home
