BT agrees prelet of new Bristol office

AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets has prelet 201,000 sq ft at its Bristol commercial scheme to BT. The tech giant has taken the entirety of Building A, which is an 11-storey block due to complete next year, on a 20-year lease. It forms the first phase in a 320,000 sq ft development known as Assembly, located a short walk from Bristol city centre. Groundwork is set to commence shortly on two further office buildings of 28,000 sq ft and 92,000 sq ft. BT is undergoing a UK-wide consolidation programme that has also seen it sell its London headquarters earlier this year. Graeme Paton, managing director of property and facilities services at BT, said: “We’ve been searching for a modern workspace in central Bristol fit for our future, and in Assembly I’m pleased to say we have found it. “We were impressed with the flexibility and environmental credentials of the building, as well as its ideal location close to public transport links. We’re now beginning work on planning for our first colleagues to move in towards the end of 2021.” Harry Badham, UK director of development at AXA IM – Real Assets, added: “Assembly Bristol represents the best of our experience developing new workspaces, and BT’s decision to choose this development under its UK-wide better workplace programme is both a strong endorsement of this approach and the latest demonstration of a major corporation recognising the importance of staff wellbeing as part of its corporate narrative.” JLL acted on behalf of BT and Savills acted on behalf of AXA IM – Real Assets. Savills and JLL are joint letting agents for the project. To send feedback, e-mail louise.dransfield@egi.co.uk or tweet @DransfieldL or @estatesgazette