Morris & Spottiswood are to transform ten floors of 151/155 St Vincent Street for an investment group which has yet to be named.
The project will not be completed until next June, according to the construction outfit
Mark Wanless, Business Unit Director for Morris & Spottiswood, said: “This is the type of project we specialise in and includes the full strip-out of the existing building and interior fit-out. The result will be ten floors of spectacular space that will enhance the ‘Grade A’ office provision in Glasgow”.
Morris & Spottiswood is the sixth-largest commercial fit-out specialist in the UK. The company experienced a decline in turnover last year however still reported improved profitability.
Recently the company was quoted in the Scotsman: “Robust financial health gives the directors confidence that the company has flexibility in current markets that continue to be uncertain and seem to offer the prospects of only slow recovery.”
The statement added that despite the recent economic uncertainty the company had achieved “another solid financial performance”.
According to the Scotsman the increased profitability of the company last year enabled a payout of GBP 2.5 million to the owners, four times as much as in 2009.
In 2009, the company had to implement sweeping cost-cutting measures, which included lay-offs. However such steps will not be necessary this year, the company has said.
Meanwhile, recently Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond has stepped up his efforts to make Scotland economically independent from the UK.
Salmond wishes to give Scotland control over corporation tax rates.
Editor’s notes: In January 2015, it was reported that Aberdeen Asset Management had bought 151 – 155 St Vincent Street from Hermes Real Estate for £27 million.
Hermes had spent around £9 million on the 2011 refurbishment project of the 73,000-square-foot development and leased 10,860 square feet to Skyscanner in 2013 and then another 11,690 square feet to the travel website in March 2014.
The remaining 51,000 square foot was let later in the same year to Network Rail. 151 – 155 St Vincent Street is located just a few moments from Glasgow’s Central Station.
As of July 2023, Skyscanner was still in occupation at 151 – 155 St Vincent Street, as was Network Rail.