Member Article

Business park celebrates fifth anniversary with 90% let

One of Wakefield’s most popular business parks is celebrating its fifth anniversary with 90% of the space currently occupied at Orion Office Express in Horbury.

The development off Bennett Avenue was built by Orion Properties and launched in 2012 with a flexible lettings model offering quick set-up and low overheads to help start-up companies to fast-track their growth. Orion Office Express enjoyed a fast start of its own with over half of its 36 units let within the first two years. A high percentage of current tenants arrived within those two years and many of them have moved to a larger suite to accommodate their expansion.

Jo Lumb of Orion Office Express said: “Having reached our fifth year in business, we’ve been reflecting on the success of Orion Office Express and I think a large part of that success is the strength of the relationships that we’ve established with our tenants. As well as building the offices, Orion Properties also manage the lettings with dedicated staff based at headquarters within the same development. It means that we’re less remote in every sense. We’re more responsive to the changing needs of our tenants and flexible enough to re-examine their lease to reflect those changes. When their success demands larger space, tenants have overwhelmingly chosen to stay with us rather than relocate elsewhere. That’s a record we’re proud to maintain into our fifth year.

Orion Office Express has become a genuine business community of like-minded companies which have grown together. Many of them started out around the same time and have experienced similar journeys - escaping the isolation of being a home-based enterprise to move here and benefit from the networking opportunities that a business park can bring. Our lettings model has remained largely the same since 2012 - tenancies are available from as little as six months and we combine competitive rates with a zero-cost set-up package which aims to provide fully operational office space within 24 hours if needed. That package includes furniture, telephone and broadband installation and intruder alarm system. The only overheads which tenants have to pay are business rates, telephone line rental, calls and broadband.

Our BT lease line provides dedicated broadband which is exclusive to the development, offering superior speed and reliability compared to non-dedicated broadband at other business parks. This has helped us to attract a high number of digital companies, but in today’s working environment it’s a valuable resource for all kinds of organisations. We have become an attractive option for long-established businesses as well as start-ups.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Jones .