In popular culture they are seen as a location for shady car repairers and nefarious goings-on, but the South West’s railway arches are fast becoming a sought-after base for chic new businesses.
Property experts say demand for railway arches, track-side land and former stations is high across the region with no sign of it being derailed.
Leading commercial property consultancy Vickery Holman said that with demand for work premises generally running so high in the South West, businesses are turning to innovative and creative re-purposed space including railway arches and station buildings.
Properties ranging from small parcels of land, to former station buildings and converted railway arches are being snapped up to provide industrial or retail space.
Vickery Holman, which is the letting agent for former Network Rail property, said arches have been repurposed from Plymouth to Gloucester, including in Bristol and Bath, and the tenants vary from breweries to builders to street food purveyors.
Its a far cry from the garage run by the grumpy Mitchells in Eastenders, or the punk music filled repair shop in 1980’s gritty reggae movie Babylon, or where £20million in diamonds is stashed in A Fish Called Wanda, or where detective Jane Tennison goes hunting for murdered women in Prime Suspect, or any of the generally run-down, untrustworthy and dodgy dealing enterprises depicted in Life on Mars, The Bill, Minder and The Sweeney.
Today they are more likely to house artisan bakers, metal staircase manufacturers, pizzerias or Kurdish restaurants.
There are currently several arches being advertised for rent in Exeter, ex-railway land in Plymouth, and even the former railway station in Torquay.
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Vickery Holman said there is no sign of demand falling for commercial space and Anna Simpson, a Plymouth-based commercial agent, said: “We are delighted to be the letting agents for the arches in the South West. Since our instruction we have completed on 10 properties with a further six lettings imminent, reflecting the interest in unconventional spaces which can be used in a variety of ways.
“We are pleased with the progress that has been made so far, and the popularity of these units is only getting stronger,” she added. “Having offices in Truro, Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol has meant we have been ideally placed to deal with the whole South West portfolio and there is no sign of demand fading for property.”
In 2018 Network Rail raised eyebrows when it sold a 150-year lease on 5,261 rental spaces to US private equity firm Blackstone Property Partners and Telereal Trillium, a multi-billion pound property management and development company, for £1.46billion.
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Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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It immediately made the new purchasers the 海角视频’s largest landlord for small businesses and they set up The Arch Company to deal with the estate.
Employee-owned Vickery Holman, which has just moved its Plymouth base from the city centre to Plym House at Marsh Mills, began acting for The Arch Company at the start of 2020.
The Arch Company says it has a Tenants’ Charter, the product of “many months of constructive dialogue with key stakeholders and most importantly, our tenants” through a comprehensive tenant survey and focus groups across the country.
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The company said it is landlord to a “diverse, passionate group” of small business owners, entrepreneurs and community organisations across England and Wales.
Tenants include car mechanics, of course, but also bakeries, restaurants, gyms, creatives, brewers, health clinics and many more companies, charities and organisations.