The British Council for Offices (BCO) has confirmed Wilton Developments 10 South Parade has won the North of England, Wales and Northern Ireland Award for best Refurbished/Recycled Workplace.

10 South Parade was praised for transforming a tired 1970s office building into a Grade A modern office building which is taking on and successfully competing against the very best brand new buildings in Leeds City Centre.

Tony Hordon, director of Business Space, DTZ, and BCO Judging Chair for the North of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: "The focus of the BCO Awards is to judge buildings from a multi-disciplinary point of view, focusing on aspects such as architectural flair, economic and sustainable construction with fitness for purpose for users of the space. We had a very high standard of entries this year that have really delivered fantastic workspaces for the end user and I`d like to congratulate our winners."

Jason Stowe, managing director of Wilton Developments, comments: "The BCO awards are the pinnacle of industry recognition as they are voted for by an experienced and highly regarded judging panel made up of peers from within the industry.

We are honoured to receive such a prestigious award. This is a testament to the dedicated team who saw 10 South Parade`s potential and set about transforming this tired, run down 1970s building into a stunning landmark development which has set a new benchmark for excellence throughout Leeds` office market. This is not only a honour for ourselves but for the City of Leeds, proving that the region continues to be a leading participant in the UK property market."

Competition was rife this year with the BCO witnessing a 30 percent increase in submissions with over 120 projects contesting for the five categories. Having won the regional heat Wilton will now go forward to contest the national award in London which takes place in October 2011.

Stowe continues: " We had the confidence to deliver the first Grade A, city centre speculative development in 2009 and 10 South Parade has truly delivered. Not only did we secure 50 percent pre-lets we brought to market a quality office space that has not been seen before and that`s why we`re now the proud owners of this award. We look forward to welcoming tenants to our remaining space knowing that they will be occupying one of the best buildings in the UK."

10 South Parade underwent a complete transformation on behalf of its owners East Parade Ltd as it underwent an extensive redevelopment programme. It now delivers 36,000 sq ft, over five floors, of high quality, air-conditioned accommodation with Grade A specification including a new glazed fourth floor featuring balcony areas, raised floors, suspended ceilings, club quality male and female changing rooms and 25 car parking spaces in the secure basement.

May 2011

10 South Parade, the only speculative office scheme in Leeds to get underway in 2010, has secured its third letting to Lockton Companies LLP, the world`s largest, privately owned, independent insurance broker.

10 South Parade is a 36,000 sq ft office development that is undergoing an extensive refurbishment, re-build and revitalisation programme, which will result in Leeds` first Grade A+ city centre office scheme to come to market when complete next month.

Wilton Developments has already secured a pre-let of 9,400 sq ft to Xafinity Consulting and 3,200 sq ft of second floor office to Odgers Berndtson, the leading worldwide firm of executive recruitment consultants, who moved into the building during June 2010.

With the most recent letting to Lockton, the scheme is now 50% pre-let, with completion of the whole scheme due this month.

Jason Stowe, managing director of Wilton Developments, commented: \" When we announced the speculative scheme last year we said it reflected our confidence in Leeds and securing such early success is testament to this.

\"10 South Parade will bring a truly unique product into market, delivering a quality of office space not seen before and certainly justifying its Grades A+ branding and we are very pleased to welcome Lockton to the occupier line-up in the building.

Eamon Fox, associate director at DTZ which is advertising Wilton Developments on the scheme, added: \" Pre-letting has been virtually non-existent in the regional market over the last two years but, in a positive move, we are 50% through the building at this early stage and when you consider that our most recent letting reflects £28.00 per sq. ft, it`s clear this scheme is the genuine exemplar office building in Leeds at the current time.\"

He continued: “This is a significant landmark for Leeds and is a reflection that we are starting to see signs of improvement from business in the city. Wilton`s decision to undertake the speculative development of 10 South Parade is great news for the Leeds market and will offer occupiers a truly stunning working environment. We continue to be encouraged by ongoing interest and we have on further transaction in solicitor`s hands at this stage.\"

Mark Evans, Partner and Heads of Leeds office for Lockton also commented: \" We are delighted to be moving into 10 South Parade, which provides us with a very high quality office environment and the space we need to expand as we continue on our journey in delivering innovative insurance broking and risk/claims management solutions to our growing number of leading corporate clients. The team is very excited and we are all looking forward to spring 2011 when the fit out will have been completed and we take occupation.\"

DTZ, Knight Frank and WSB are advertising Wilton Developments on the scheme.

January 2011

Despite construction levels falling to the lowest number since the survey began four years ago, 10 South Parade was prominently featured in the Drivers Jonas Deloitte Leeds 2010 Crane Survey.

The survey noted that the scheme was the first new office start for around 24 months and considered the building to be the best of the best in terms of quality.

The building is located in the heart of the city centre and will provide 36,000 sq ft of Grade A+ office accommodation upon completion. The building is already 35% let with further deals in solicitors hands.

To view the survey, please visit the Downloads section.

Executive search firm Odgers Berndtson is relocating its regional office in Leeds this week to the landmark Wilton Developments' development at 10 South Parade.

Office head Simon Walton said that the move has been driven by the firm's need for more space and better functionality.

He said: \\\\\\\"We are adding a number of consultants and researchers to our regional team and we increasingly need the flexibility to accommodate colleagues from other offices engaged on projects with local clients. Our success in the region over the last five years also means we need more meeting space for clients and prospective candidates.

\\\\\\\"Surprisingly, given the number of boards and vacant premises around the city, 10 South Parade was one of only a handful of buildings that offered the footprint, functionality and quality of environment we were looking for.\\\\\\\"

Regional Managing Partner, Jeff Morris added: \\\\\\\"This move is also a key part of our continued commitment to the region. Our work over the last year or so at board and senior management level with Findus, Jet2.com, NG Bailey, Morrisons, Yorkshire Water and the region's NHS Trusts, universities and local authorities, is a great testament to our investment in the region and our model of providing local access backed by national expertise and reach.\\\\\\\"

He added: \\\\\\\"Whilst economic conditions remain challenging for just about everyone, there is no doubt that every organisation is waking up to the truism that in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, people make successful businesses and institutions. Strong leadership and everyone's ambition and investment in their own skills have never been more important.\\\\\\\"

June 2010

10 South Parade, the only speculative office scheme in Leeds to get underway this year has secured its first letting. Xafinity Consulting, the employee benefits and pensions services provider who was previously located at 9 South Parade, has signed a lease to take 8,200 sq ft of office space in the new Wilton Developments scheme for its regional headquarters.

As exclusively revealed in the Yorkshire Post earlier this year, 10 South Parade is a 36,000 sq ft office development that is undergoing an extensive refurbishment, re-build and revitalisation programme which will result in Leeds first Grade A+ city centre office scheme to come to market when completed.

David Emptage, Director of Xafinity Consulting commented: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The accommodation in our new office will benefit both our staff and clients. We looked at other Grade A office space elsewhere in Leeds city centre, but believe the finished article here will be exactly what we and our clients need.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

Jason Stowe, Managing Director of Wilton Developments added: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"When we announced the speculative scheme last year we said it reflected our confidence in Leeds and securing our first let so promptly is testament to this. 10 South Parade will bring a truly unique product into the market delivering a quality not seen before and certainly justifying its Grade A+ branding. A number of size options can be catered for to include on-site car parking. We anticipate a completion date of autumn 2010.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

Adam Cockroft, Director of Office Agency at DTZ concluded: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We are delighted to have such a high profile occupier as Xafinity committed to the scheme. They really have voted with their feet and, given the conversations we are having with other potential occupiers, we expect to have more positive movement in the near future.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

DTZ, Knight Frank and WSB are advising Wilton Developments on the scheme.

Yorkshire's commercial property market has just received a welcome injection of good news with the announcement that Wilton Developments is defying the credit crunch and embarking on Leeds' only current speculative city centre office scheme.

10 South Parade in the heart of the city centre, is the first new speculative office development to start on site during 2009 and will provide 36,000 sq ft of Grade A+ air conditioned office space.

Planning permission has been granted to include a radical transformation of the external fabric of the building, a re-positioning and improvement of the entrance area, the enlargement of the first floor and the addition of a spectacular glazed top floor with balconies. Construction has started on-site on this £10m development with the work scheduled to be completed by Autumn 2010. Stainforth Construction Ltd have been appointed as the main contractor.

Jason Stowe, Managing Director at Wilton Developments said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In the context of the current market, the development of 10 South Parade reflects our confidence and commitment to Leeds through the high quality of space that we will be creating. This is in effect a brand new building.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

Set in a prominent position on South Parade fronting the Leeds Internal Loop Road, the development will provide 5 storeys of high quality energy efficient office space that exceeds the latest standards. The impressively specified 10 South Parade is expected to achieve a BREEAM environmental assessment rating of Very Good.

Mr Stowe added: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Our aim at 10 South Parade is to create an office environment of the very highest standard whilst ensuring that it provides efficient and flexible accommodation.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

WSB Property Consultants, DTZ and Knight Frank are the agents for the development which will incorporate basement parking, a secure cycle store and sporting club quality male and female changing rooms with showers.

Robin Beagley of WSB said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This is a significant landmark development for Leeds and is a reflection that we are starting to see signs of improvement in sentiment from businesses in the city.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

He added: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"10 South Parade will plug a gap in the market for Grade A office space with the flexibility to appeal to a wide range of potential occupiers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

Guy Cooke at Knight Frank added: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Wilton's decision to undertake the speculative development of 10 South Parade is great news for the Leeds market and will offer occupiers a truly stunning space.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

January 2010