Angela Ogilvie of Ceteris discusses Clackmannanshire’s Commercial Property Prospects
Angela Ogilvie is the Operations Director of Ceteris in Clackmannanshire, a non-profit company providing over 260,000 sqft of business premises, in addition to business support, events and training. Having been a part of Ceteris for over 25 years, Angela is experienced in helping businesses find the best possible property and providing bespoke solutions for clients. We spoke to Angela about the commercial property market in Scotland and Clackmannanshire – and how the areas benefit new and expanding businesses.
What do you believe are the benefits of starting up or moving a business to Scotland or Clackmannanshire?
We’re based in Clackmannanshire, a region that’s benefitted from a great deal of infrastructure and improvement in recent years. In particular, we boast excellent rail and road network access, making us well connected to a number of major Scottish cities and towns. Clackmannanshire Bridge is also major part of this and, as a result, makes Clackmannanshire a convenient, centralised location with excellent access to airports in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It’s a great place to live and work.
Which Property types do you find Ceteris assists with most frequently?
Ceteris caters for all types of business requiring accommodation, so we offer a mix of serviced offices and industrial units – the latter of which are always in high demand. Currently our overall occupancy rates are 91% and our industrial is nearer 99% and office around 70%. It helps that our profits are invested back into our properties, and as we specialise in small-to-medium sized premises, start-ups and growing organisations can be moved quickly and easily into our portfolio and we can accommodate their changing requirements as their business needs change. Ceteris can also help by offering business growth support through Business Gateway and our tenant support grants.
Is there an area of industry in the local area that you think would benefit from further investment?
I’d say the food and drink industry, though I don’t think it’s as bad as it used to be. We’re not seeing streams of vacant properties, but there could be some notable improvement in some of the outlying towns, where it’s obvious that the pubs could probably do with some investment. However, we do also have a number of excellent specialist food manufacturers in the area, and some very high quality delis, coffee shops and farms shops.
Are there any regeneration or development projects in Clackmannanshire you think are especially promising?
Clackmannanshire, in partnership with Stirling Council, are currently working on a City Regions Deal proposal that will see some transformational change in the area. There are proposals to develop tourism initiatives through improvements and major investment in the harbour area of Alloa and also to make substantial infrastructure and skills development investments which will make Clackmannanshire an even more attractive location for businesses.
Are there are any recent deals or developments that you or Ceteris have been involved in, if you’d like to share them with our readers?
One of our key tenants, Omega Diagnostics, an AIMS listed global healthcare diagnostics company, who are headquartered in Alva have embarked on another expansion. Planning approval has been granted for Ceteris to construct a 9,500 sq ft extension, commencing in early 2018, the new facility will increase production capacity and accommodate a further 38 employees.
Hillfoots Business Village, home of Omega Diagnostics’ headquarters commercial property.
Howdens Joinery, one of the UK’s largest manufacturer and supplier of fitted kitchens have recently opened one of their depots in central Alloa. Howdens had been looking for a long time for the right location and Alloa sits right in the middle of their existing portfolio. There’s also going to be a brand new trampoline park in the area; nationwide, these are becoming more and more popular, and the Clackmannanshire site will not only be the first of its kind in the area, it’s destined to be one of the most specialist of its type – promising a lot of the modern, top-end features the hobbyists have been anticipating.
You can follow Ceteris on Twitter @CeterisLtd, and you can follow Angela @Angogilvie.
LinkedIn users can follow Ceteris on the site at https://www.linkedin.com/company/3527563/ and Angela at https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-ogilvie-b6975424/
Facebook Users can find Ceteris at https://www.facebook.com/CeterisUK/
Finally, you can follow the company on Google Plus, at https://plus.google.com/+CeterisScotlandLtdAlloa
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