Huge office deals are just reward for major investment in strategic business park
Paul Brustad, left, director of Citivale, welcomes Chris Fisher, director of operations at CPM Crown, to Humber Enterprise Park.
TWO substantial new office lettings on an iconic East Yorkshire business park have broken regional deal records stretching to the end of the Covid pandemic.
Ink is drying on leases covering more than 40,000 sq ft at Humber Enterprise Park – once BAE Systems’ Brough facility.
And while the defence giant still enjoys a strong presence, owner Westcore Europe has invested significantly following a sale and part leaseback that ended BAE’s exclusivity there. A huge overhaul of the space recently completed, with multiple deals announced since then.
Now it is welcoming CPM Crown’s European operations, with the global leader in process solutions and engineered equipment taking 11,500 sq ft of office space on a 15-year lease. It follows an existing occupier adding a further 18,000 sq ft of offices in a new letting stretching 10 years.
FTSE-listed Cranswick, also an existing tenant, has doubled its footprint from 2,000 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft, while Pure Renewables has trebled its presence, having moved onto the estate just two years ago. And with lease renewals secured for two further tenants, Morson Projects and Globalview Systems, the 79-acre site’s revamped office suites are at capacity.
Paul Brustad, director of Citivale, asset manager for Westcore, said: “This has been a strong period for Humber Enterprise Park.
“To complete deals on such a scale, and to welcome a new tenant of the calibre of CPM Crown is certainly pleasing, with long term renewals and suite expansions from existing tenants also speaking volumes for how they value the estate.
“We look forward to turning our attention to the remaining opportunities and really driving further employment in Brough.”
Attention will now focus on the letting of the industrial and warehouse space currently available on the estate, itself subject to a multi-million pound refurbishment, with great value opportunities across 165,000 sq ft and 65,000 sq ft units.
CPM has already expressed an interest in further expansion as it unifies operations at Brough, with the expanding team moving eight miles west from Hessle.
“Crown Europe has been based at our previous site since the Nineties, but our business has changed dramatically in recent years,” said Chris Fisher, Director of Operations, EMEA at CPM Crown. “We’ve evolved from operating as individual geographic business units to becoming a centralised, global functional organisation. With that shift has come growth - our team has nearly doubled - and we needed a space that enables the way we work today.”
Having previously been spread across three aging buildings, Humber Enterprise Park offers it a blank canvas now being thoughtfully designed to support collaboration. It blends open-plan office areas with dedicated rooms for meetings, training, customer engagement and product showcases.
“This new building also gives us the flexibility to grow in the future, including the potential to add a pilot plant where customers can see our innovations in action,” Mr Fisher added.
Developed by aviation pioneer Robert Blackburn during the First World War, Brough went on to provide flight testing from its own runway and water launch, with assembly and conversion supporting both war efforts, prior to becoming part of BAE.
The office suites take their names from aircraft developed there, with Bluebird, Firebrand and Hawk referenced. The latter – entering its 46th display season as the Red Arrows’ jet - gave Brough its iconic status.
PPH Commercial and LSH act for Citivale in relation to the industrial/warehouse space. GV&Co manages the refurbishment works for Citivale.
