The decision to create GB Energy‘s headquarters in Aberdeen has already delivered an uptick in office interest.
The organisation’s latest development is a joint venture between the publicly owned energy company and the National Wealth Fund (NWF), the UK Government’s principal investor and policy bank, which is being empowered to mobilise additional private capital.
The NWF remains the place for clean energy projects to go if they have a financing challenge, and we can expect their increased presence in the North-east.
The Aberdeen office market has correlated with the fortunes of the North Sea energy market.
It wasn’t that long ago the office market was the hottest the city had ever experienced with rents per square foot higher than any UK city outside of London. When oil prices dropped, we witnessed a release of high-quality, surplus space across the city.
That best-in-class space has more or less all now been taken up and last year we saw occupiers taking space in the refurbished 1980s buildings due to the limited supply of suitable Grade A options.
It has been fascinating to see new operators sweep in and establish a base in the city
It has been fascinating to see new operators sweep in and establish a base in the city. Where once you saw names such as ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, you now see Harbour Energy, Ithaca, Serica Energy and Neo Energy nameplates appearing on these office buildings.
The announcement that GB Energy is going to be headquartered in the city is extremely encouraging news and reaffirms Aberdeen’s position as the energy capital of Europe.
At this stage, a timescale or size of the new headquarters is still to be confirmed, however, we do anticipate that energy-related businesses and organisations such as NWF will want a presence of some form in close proximity to GB Energy’s office.
This can only be positive for the local office market.
Photography: Port of Aberdeen
Partner Content in association with CBRE
