Lothbury Investment Management Limited, on behalf of Lothbury Property Trust, has agreed a three year lease extension on Unit 12 at Premier Park, Manchester with KCI Medical, the world’s largest advanced wound care company.

KCI Medical, which has been located on Premier Park since 2009, has taken a three-year lease with a one and a half months rent free period on the 6,092 sq ft unit at £7.75 per sq ft, generating an annual rental income of £47,275pa.

Perry Linch, Head of Asset Management at Lothbury Investment Management, said: “Premier Park Manchester is a high quality, multi-let industrial estate. The park remains at 100% occupancy and is one of the top 25 performers in the Lothbury Property Trust portfolio. KCI Medical have a very strong covenant and we are very happy that they have chosen to renew their lease and remain on the park. The excellent rental figure achieved underlines the strong and continuing demand for good quality accommodation at this high profile industrial estate.”

After 10 years being located on Oxford Street, Seven Architecture’s Manchester team, led by co-directors Ian Chapman and Lisa Mcfarlane, has relocated to larger premises at Waulk Mill in Ancoats.

The Company has grown to a team of 30 across all studios; with nine new recruits in the last six months. Two new studio leaders in the Manchester office have also been announced recently. Associates Zoe Hobson and Stephen Last, who have been with the Business eight years collectively, will be leading their respective teams specifically in the living and education sectors.

Relocating to the Urban Splash office accommodation is ideally suited to one of Seven’s key vision statements of ‘enriching heritage’ and director and RIBA conservation architect, Lisa Mcfarlane, who leads this sector, was immediately drawn to the impressive renovated building.

Lisa Mcfarlane, said: “With Waulk Mill being one of the first historic mills in the area to be redeveloped by Urban Splash, and subsequently winning a RIBA Award back in 2003, we definitely feel at home already. The interior design and fit-out was carried out by ourselves and we were mindful of creating a quality and inviting environment for our team to work within which values the principles of health & wellbeing. In addition to the natural daylight which floods into the space, we’ve also incorporated breakout spaces for quiet time, planting throughout, strategic zone lighting and a pop of colour in our furniture selection.”

Ian Chapman, added: “The Business has taken a step-change over the last year and our sustained growth has allowed us to expand into this new Manchester office as we had, quite literally, grown out of our previous space. With a continued focus on our vision of ‘Improving Lives, Inspiring Learning and Enriching Heritage’ we have confidence that our new office, and projects being carried out, represent this.”

It has been reported that It’s Gone Viral, the Manchester headquartered social media marketing company, has secured its highest ever Tubular Rankings since it was founded in 2016 by Matthew Thomas, Andrew Trotman and Ryan Williams. Tubular is the measurement standard for online video, and is widely cited by the global industry and press for the very latest in video insights, trends and strategy.

The latest list of official stats covering confirmed that It’s Gone Viral was the fifth most viewed Entertainment page on Facebook in the UK with over 545 million views last month. Its previous highest ranking was 10th in April 2019. It was also named ninth in the world on the Entertainment page list. On a more general note, it was the seventh most viewed of all pages in the UK on Facebook and 18^th globally.

The firm has seen its reach and viewing figures grow from 738 million to 2.2 billion views in the past year. It now has 3.5 million followers across its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

Andrew Trotman said: “Tubular Rankings is the benchmark in terms of global credibility in our sector so securing these positions is testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team. The last two years has seen the business grow as we have focussed on creating our own exciting and original content as well as viral campaigns for international brands such as BBC Films, O2, Universal, Bud Light and Disney.

Andrew added: For us, these results are just the start as our aim is to become one of the most influential media companies in the UK within the next five years.”

A third of surveys undertaken as part of the transaction process on commercial property in Manchester and the North West are now being instructed by the vendors, compared to just over one in ten five years ago.

Traditionally, technical due diligence building surveys have been commissioned by the purchaser once the first phase of negotiations was undertaken and initial terms agreed. However, Manchester based commercial property consultancy Malcolm Hollis has found that there is a growing trend for vendors to take control of the process to speed up deals and reduce the risk of valuation challenges.

Malcolm Hollis, which carries out a high volume of transaction led surveys every year and is the largest independent surveying firm in the UK, studied the pre-acquisition surveys undertaken on £1.7bn of commercial property transactions coordinated from Manchester between June 2017 and January 2019. It found that 34 per cent were vendor led instructions, compared to just 14 per cent in 2012-13.

David McBride, partner at Malcolm Hollis, said: “Vendor led surveys are growing in popularity as the market in Manchester becomes increasingly competitive. Sellers are seeking an edge to speed up transactions by retaining control of the process, which facilitates the early identification of any issues with the building and the associated documentation, so they can be mitigated or placed in the appropriate context before going to market.”

According to McBride: “Investors now expect quality technical due diligence information before committing their own resources and capital to a sale”. He also warns that whilst it is a growing trend, the quality of many reports being produced by sellers fall below a standard that many investors require, saying: “Broad-brush vendor due diligence is likely to be more detrimental to the process than leaving the purchaser to commission their own. Purchasers want to see evidence that an asset has received a thorough health check that can just be rubber stamped by their professional team and funders, usually via a reliance letter.  Too often though vendors don’t take the steps to make further detailed investigations and mitigate any red flags prior to going to market.  We are regularly asked by investors acquiring assets to validate vendor reports and the range and consistency of quality is shocking.  The accuracy of the vendor report is fundamental to developing trust between the parties and streamlining the transaction process.”