Burley Browne set to expand as business pipeline grows

West Midlands commercial property consultancy Burley Browne is planning to grow its team and expand the areas it operates in after a recording another successful year in the offices, industrial and retail sectors.

The ambitious Birmingham-based business secured property sales of almost £9 million, lettings with a total rental income of around £2.3 million, and completed more than 120 transactions in 2022.

Burley Browne Director David Hemming said: “Last year was enormously positive for us and we enjoyed success in the retail, industrial and office sectors, demonstrating the breadth of talent and knowledge we have in our agency team.

Looking ahead, it is very encouraging from our point of view. The range and breadth of the instructions we are getting is rising and our geographical area is increasing so it is a very exciting time for Burley Browne. Traditionally we have operated in the north Birmingham region but now we are gaining business further north into Stafford and Burton. 

We have also been instructed on properties in the south of the region to include Bromsgrove, Longbridge and Henley. Our geographical spread is growing and we are therefore recruiting, taking on graduates on both the professional and agency side, a valuer, and further expansion of the agency department, over the next six months.”

Senior Surveyor Steven Hannaford said Burley Browne had enjoyed strong performance in the office market in 2022. Whilst some of the transactions were disposals, most owners and investors are keen to retain their assets and see the long-term future of office premises despite recent structural changes to the market and working practices. The largest letting was a 10,070 sq ft unit in Burntwood on an established business park. The number of transactions we have completed shows this is still a very active sector. 

“Despite the rhetoric around the move to home/hybrid working, there is still plenty of confidence in offices and their role moving forward demonstrated by not only the strong enquiry levels but number of transactions we have completed which shows there is still a very positive outlook for the sector. The secondary market is incredibly busy and there a plenty of businesses that require office space, but not necessarily in city centre locations,” said Steve.

In 2022, Burley Browne completed 56 office transactions; 8 of which were sales with a total value of £2.3 million. The remaining 48 were lettings with an annual rent of more than £1.03 million with the highest rent being achieved being £115,805 per annum.

In the industrial sector, the company completed over £5 million in sales together with over £700,000 of lettings. 

Ben Nicholson, Senior Associate Director, said: “The industrial market remains incredibly active and we have a number of instructions in the pipeline including some exciting new build warehouse accommodation, details for which will be made available shortly. There are no signs of any immediate slowdown in the market and the number of enquiries we are receiving is consistently strong.” 

Eight sales were completed with a total value of more than £5 million. Eighteen lettings were completed with an annual rent of around £700,000. The highest rent achieved for an industrial building was £88,275 per annum and over £170,000 per annum was achieved for a two-acre site letting. Sales continued to be popular with the highest sale price of £1.2 million achieved.

2022 also closed very positively as it secured a number of multi-million pound office, industrial and retail investments instructions. 

In 2022, Burley Browne completed 35 retail lettings with an annual rent of £563,000 and a total of 30,000 sq ft. It also completed seven sales transactions with a total value of £1.5 million and 10,272 sq ft of space.