By Paul White, Director, Garness Jones
The city centre office sector – one many said was dead a couple of years ago – is making an incredible recovery as employers and their staff are once again recognising the huge benefits they bring to business.
It’s probably fair to say that prior to the pandemic, the quality of office environments, and what they offered to their staff, was something overlooked by many employers.
It was a place to come to work. It was where employees desks were, and so that is where they came to work.
Some businesses had got ahead of the game and started to transform their spaces, but many others hadn’t, and it is why they struggled to reintegrate staff once lockdowns were over, unable to tempt employees away from the comfortable surroundings offered by working from home.
Today, we see a different picture.
Indeed, UK office vacancy rates fell for the first time this year since the start of the pandemic – with the number of vacant offices having previously doubled between 2020 and 2024.
Offices are also changing beyond recognition, as developers, business owners and managers look to create truly pleasant, comfortable working environments which staff enjoy coming to – and offer more appeal than working alone at home.
We are seeing the wellness of staff made a priority in office design and space, with more natural light, dedicated quiet areas, collaborative spaces, breakout zones, café-quality kitchens and coffee stations and comfortable lounges now commonplace.
Clean, open, spaces with contemporary finishes, and bold company branding, are also being used to instil pride, and make staff feel part of a team making a positive difference.
Despite many businesses quickly committing themselves to flexible working arrangements in the wake of the pandemic five years ago, having an impressive city centre office is once again reaping rewards.
Not only are they great for brand image and reputation, signalling credibility, stability, and often prestige, but they are great places for employees, giving them so much more from their working day.
Benefits we’ve experienced first-hand
As specialists in selling and letting office spaces across Yorkshire, not only do we speak to businesses daily about city centre-based offices, but we live and breathe it ourselves from our own offices in Hull and York.
In 2022 we moved our Hull head office the city’s Fruit Market area, a short stroll from the city centre shops and at the heart of a busy localised office environment.
We’ve seen huge benefits from our spot on Hull’s Marina – a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. In many ways it has been transformational for our business.
A modern, light and open-plan office space has enhanced collaboration and communication between our teams and departments.
The attractive environment and office location has also not only helped improve staff morale, but helped us to recruit and retain employees, from graduates to highly-experienced team members, who are happy with where they work.
Equally, in York, we moved into our new offices in Micklegate, in York city centre, alongside other Garness Group businesses Pure Block Management, Gro Residential Management and Barry Crux & Company, earlier this year.
Offering our staff the benefit of being able to enjoy the many restaurants, cafés, shops and cultural venues right on the doorstep, the offices are also convenient for our clients and visitors too, offering our guests the chance to take in all that York offers when they come to visit our teams.
Offices deals in York city centre and Hull city centre
At Garness Jones we are delighted to be trusted to market many excellent office spaces in Hull and York – offices which really do offer an opportunity to help a business take a step up to the next level.
Evidence of the buoyancy of the market has been seen recently in Hull as we completed the letting of 2,647 sq ft of the East Wing at Two Humber Quays, which is owned by long-established Hull family business Rix Group, with the whole 29,821sq ft building now again fully let.
As has been reported in the media, Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA), led by the region’s first elected Mayor, Luke Campbell MBE, has taken a lease on the second-floor.
In recent weeks, VUBA also agreed to taking 11,000sq ft in Building 3 C4DI @ The Dock, one of the largest lettings in Hull this year, offering fantastic, high-quality modern space in the heart of a thriving business community, situated by the Fruit Market and Hull’s waterfront.
Elsewhere in the city, Yorkshire Cancer Trust is taking 6,000sq ft of space in Cherry Tree Court in Ferensway, a complex which has benefitted from significant investment in recent years, with works close to completion on a further 48,000sq ft of space for call centre ResQ, taking their total city centre office space to circa 115,000sq ft.
We’re also now marketing the Grade II Listed Castle Buildings, where a £2m investment by developers Wykeland has transformed one of Hull's most iconic properties, with its striking curved architecture and prominent location, into a unique office setting, with the development also incorporating the rebuilt former Earl de Grey pub.
In York, offices are always in demand, and we continue to offer a range of office sizes in the heart of the city centre, close to the city’s many attractions – offering so much more to employees than an out-of-town business park, or the loneliness of working from home.
Whilst working from home certainly serves a purpose, and will always offer its advantages for employees who are incredibly well motivated, self-disciplined and not easily distracted – the office remains the best place for businesses to bring their staff together, to inspire one another, and to get the best out of the working day.
View the offices currently on offer across East and North Yorkshire here
