The North West commercial property market has started 2022 off with a bang with numerous high profile deals being announced over the last couple of weeks.
The BusinessLive inbox has been inundated since the turn of the year with deals from across the region.
Household names have been among those companies making major moves in the market.
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Here, BusinessLive rounds up 12 of those deals we feel you should not miss:
Maven Capital Partners
A private equity firm, which helped TalkTalk move from being a public to a private company in a £1.1bn deal, has opened a new Liverpool office.
Maven Capital Partners has moved into Avenue HQ St Paul’s Square, in the city's business and commercial district.
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The local investment team is led by Paul Leyland and has previously funded 12 businesses and invested more than £8.5m into the region.
Mr Leyland said: "Having delivered 12 growth capital investments into the Liverpool City Region over the last four years and seen an increased amount of deal activity, it is clear that establishing a presence here was a logical next step and it demonstrates our commitment to the area."
Pimblery
A software company, whose clients include JD Sports, Monsoon and Ellis Brigham, has agreed to take extra space in a Manchester city centre landmark.
Pimblery has let an additional 5,958 sq ft across the eighth and ninth floors at St James's Tower following an agreement with OBI.
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) company has made the move after it secured a £6.5m investment towards the end of 2021.
The firm is now planning a recruitment drive across marketing, sales, and software development.
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Pimberly currently employs over 50 staff and has ambitions to increase headcount by 50% over the next 12 months.
West One Retail Park
A Greater Manchester retail park occupied by the likes of Lidl, Home Bargains and The Range has been acquired for almost £28m.
West One Retail Park in Eccles has been sold by Frogmore to M7 for £27.5m.
The fully-let site features 13 'big box' units and is also occupied by McDonald’s, Subway, The Food Warehouse, Jollyes Petfood Superstores, Pure Gym and Smyths Toys.
Frogmore purchased the retail park in April 2015 when it was 50% vacant.
DSW Ventures
A venture capital business has opened a new office in Manchester city centre in a building once used for the interior of Coronation Street's Rover's Return.
DSW Ventures, which is part of the Dow Schofield Watts network, has taken space in the city’s historic Bonded Warehouse - which was also previously home to the L&NW Railway.
The team will retain its existing space in Dow Schofield Watts’ Daresbury headquarters.
The company's North West portfolio includes Avanite, Shopblocks and The Insights Family.
Far East Consortium
A prominent parcel of land in Manchester city centre, which is part of plans for 15,000 new homes, has been acquired.
Far East Consortium (FEC), the developer behind Manchester’s Victoria North regeneration project, has snapped up the two-acre site on Dantzic Street.
The company has now acquired more than 35 acres of land on the edge of the city centre since entering into joint venture partnership with Manchester City Council.
FEC now intends to bring forward a new residential development to complement its adjacent Victoria Riverside development and as part of the wider masterplan for Red Bank being designed by Maccreanor Lavington and Schulze+Grassov.
Autocab
A taxi dispatch software provider, which was acquired by Uber in 2020, is to create up to 200 jobs by 2025 after it relocates to a Manchester city centre landmark office building.
Autocab has signed a deal to move from Cheadle Royal Business Park to No.2 Circle Square.
The business has taken 20,000 sq ft of workspace and will join the likes of global technology provider Hewlett Packard Enterprise, multinational construction technology supplier Hilti and professional services firm Accenture.
The move comes after a deal to acquired the cloud-tech business was announced by Uber in August 2020 and was subsequently cleared by the CMA.
Blackpool Central
A funding agreement has been signed to deliver a major multi-story car park in Blackpool.
Part of the wider Blackpool Central scheme, developer Nikal has partnered with Universities Superannuation Scheme to create the 1,306-space car park.
The move comes after detailed planning consent was secured in October 2021.
Nikal has also selected construction and development company Ballast Nedam to build the car park.
32West
A PR and communications agency has expanded into Merseyside.
32West has acquired office space in Liverpool city centre to complement the work carried out at its two bases in Cumbria and its other location in Newcastle.
The company, which provides communications, social media, videography and digital marketing services to businesses, has grown in size to 11 employees since it was founded in 2018.
Property Alliance Group
Property Alliance Group has acquired a 32,166 sq ft industrial unit in Blackpool for £1.3m.
Located adjacent to Blackpool Retail Park and to the south of the town centre, off Squires Gate Lane, the property comprises a ground floor warehouse with offices above.
The deal will see Alliance invest a further £250,000 into refurbishing the unit, resulting in upgrades to both the interior and exterior.
A larger, open plan area will be created inside the building and a secure fence, gates and LED lighting installed outside.
Matterello
Italian food and beverage provider Matterello has agreed a 15-year deal with landlord Peel L&P on a 2,454 sq ft unit within Trafford Palazzo, part of TraffordCity.
Mark Whittaker, executive director – property investment and management at Peel L&P, said: "We are delighted to be bringing this prestigious F&B offering to our customers at Trafford Palazzo (formerly Barton Square).
"Providing quality F&B offerings within Trafford Palazzo has been a priority since our acquisition earlier last year. Trafford Palazzo is a best-in-class retail and leisure destination where people can come and experience shopping and have fun with the variety of leisure and event activities in a truly stunning and safe environment."
Matterello has been developed by Manchester restaurateur Steve Pilling from the Northern Restaurants Group portfolio.
Blaze Media
Liverpool digital marketing agency Blaze Media is moving out of Crosby and taking a top floor workspace in Digital House, part of the Baltic Creative CIC.
Managing director Paul Webley said: "We’ve been looking for the perfect space for our fast-growing team but needed something that would not only showcase what we do but who we are as a company.
"It’s not just a tick box exercise for us, we want to make a real difference and encourage others to do the same. Being part of the Baltic Creative CIC makes perfect sense to us and we can’t wait to see what the next chapter in Blaze Media’s journey brings."
MHA Moore and Smalley
Accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Moore and Smalley has more than doubled the size of its Manchester office.
The firm has taken an additional 2,225 sq ft of space at its 80 Mosley Street offices opposite St Peter’s Square.
It brings the total office footprint for the firm in Manchester to almost 4,000 sq ft, providing it with the capacity to double staff numbers from 35 to 70.
The move comes three months after the firm also expanded its Liverpool office to accommodate growth in its team there.