Offices to Let or Buy in York

Business character

York's economy is unusually balanced for a city of its size. Insurance and financial services are the largest private office occupiers, with Aviva, Hiscox and NFU Mutual all running substantial operations, and the sector employs 8.2 per cent of the working population. Rail is the second cluster: LNER's head office is on Skeldergate, and Network Rail, Grand Central, Siemens, Omnicom Balfour Beatty, Arup and Amey together make York one of the country's main rail engineering and operations centres. Food manufacturing survives at scale through Nestle, whose Haxby Road site combines the KitKat factory, a northern distribution warehouse and the group's global product technology centre for confectionery. Bioscience and agri-tech cluster at York Biotech Campus, where Fera Science is the anchor tenant alongside government agencies including APHA and the MHRA, and at York Science Park, whose Innovation Centre, Biocentre and Catalyst buildings house over 80 tenant companies. Digital and creative businesses have grown on the back of the city's UNESCO City of Media Arts designation. Tourism and hospitality are the largest employers by headcount and set the tone for the retail market, which trades on visitors as much as residents. The public sector is significant too, through the University of York, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and City of York Council. Other significant employers include Labcorp (formerly Covance).

Transport & connectivity

• Motorway: A1(M) (Junction A1(M) J44, 13 miles)
• Nearest rail: York (111 min to London)
• Airport: Leeds Bradford (30 miles)
• Key A-roads: A64, A1237 (Outer Ring Road), A19, A59, A1079, A166

Market context

York is a small office market with limited new supply. The one modern Grade A building in the centre, Hudson Quarter beside the station, has 39,200 sq ft of offices and let space to Great Rail Journeys at a headline £26 per sq ft in 2021; Grade A space in the centre is now quoted at £25 to £28 per sq ft, modern out-of-town offices at Clifton Moor and York Business Park at £16 to £20, and period conversions and secondary stock at £9 to £15. Most of the stock is converted period property inside the walls, refurbished suites around Clifton Moor and York Business Park, and laboratory and office units at the Science Park and Biotech Campus. Industrial space is scarce because the city is ringed by green belt and the estates at Clifton Moor, Monks Cross and Poppleton are largely built out, which is why the Local Plan's new allocations at Northminster, Elvington and Whitehall Grange matter. Retail rents are tourism-led: the strongest demand is for units on the Shambles, Stonegate, Petergate and Fossgate and for larger stores on Coney Street and Parliament Street.