A guide to serviced offices, fitted, furnished and managed offices and office space to rent in Leatherhead, as well as general information that may be useful if you are thinking of renting office space in the town.
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History & Geography
Leatherhead is nestled in the Mole Valley in the county of Surrey in southern England. The town sits on the River Mole near Chessington, Epsom and Oxshott. Leatherhead was first settled by the Anglo-Saxons, probably due to its position on the old Roman road leading from London to Chichester. Also, its location on the ford of the River Mole made it strategically and commercially important. Gradually, Leatherhead grew in size and became a market town serving the local agricultural community. In the 11th century, the town built its parish church and, in 1248, Henry III granted it a weekly market and an annual fair. In 1392, a fire devastated much of the town; however, it was extensively rebuilt and extended. The town continued to grow and prosper over the centuries, and during the Elizabethan era, it was home to Edmund Tylney, Master of the Revels and an important figure in Elizabeth I’s court. There is a story that Elizabeth I herself spent the night in the town once when the River Mole was flooded and impassable. During the 19th century, Leatherhead underwent extensive modernisation and was served by two major railway lines. In the late 19th century, the elite St John’s School was built by a group of clergymen and continues to this day as one of Britain’s elite boarding schools. In the 20th century, Leatherhead was home to several industries, primarily among them Ronson’s Lighters and Goblin Vacuum Cleaners. During WWII, the town was the site of several important ammunition dumps. The late 1970s and 80s saw the town modernised even further, and the decision was made to pedestrianise the high street. In 1986, Leatherhead became Junction 9 on the new M25 motorway system. There are non-aligned entry and exit points on both sides of the motorway, which have made Leatherhead notorious for traffic jams and road accidents.
Economy
During much of the 20th century, Leatherhead’s economy was reliant on light manufacturing businesses such as Ronson’s Lighters and Goblin Vacuums. However, as with many other towns in the UK, during the 1980s these businesses largely failed or simply moved their facilities overseas. As a result, the local economy was in the doldrums for a time. However, Leatherhead reinvented itself as a centre of the service industry. Many research companies have made Leatherhead their headquarters over time, including Cobham Technical Services, Leatherhead Food Research and the Central Electricity Research Laboratory. The town also became something of a hub for the motorsports industry, particularly car racing. Lister Cars Le Mans Race Cars and P1 International, the company of former champion Damon Hill, were both based in the area.
Several other major companies have also chosen office space in Leatherhead, including Bytes Software Service, CGI, Esso (ExxonMobil), Frazer-Nash Consultancy, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), and Puma.
Unilever was based in Leatherhead from 2008 until it vacated its Springfield Drive office campus in late 2023, relocating to Kingston.
Several major business parks have been developed around the town, which continues to attract major businesses. The introduction of these parks has helped to revive the town centre, which has seen the introduction of new restaurants and cafes, lending it a more sociable atmosphere than prevailed in previous years. Leatherhead’s relative proximity to London and its excellent transport links also work to its advantage.
Culture & Tourism
Leatherhead is not a thriving tourist town. However, its setting in the beautiful Surrey countryside and the refurbishment of its town centre have led to more visitors to the town. One event that never fails to attract visitors is the Leatherhead Drama Festival, the largest of its type in the UK. Schools and drama groups from around Surrey and the rest of the country compete for the Sir Michael Caine Drama Awards, New Writing Awards and Richard Houghton Awards. Sir Michael Caine is the festival’s patron and is usually there, film schedule permitting, to present the awards. Leatherhead has also been the recording location for many famous British bands, including The Lotus Eaters, Godley & Creme, The Police, Rick Astley and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The town also has a number of popular pubs, the oldest being the Duke’s Head, which was established in the Elizabethan era.
Transportation
Leatherhead is served by the Leatherhead Railway Station, which serves trains to Waterloo, London Victoria, and Wimbledon, where it connects with the London Underground. Going south, the station serves Dorking, Horsham, Guildford, Littlehampton and Chichester. Mole Valley Premier Taxis is the largest taxi service in the area, and there is a taxi rank located outside the station. Reptons Coaches is the largest bus company in the area and provides service to the surrounding region and towns. Leatherhead is located equidistant from London’s two main airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, approximately a 40-minute drive from each.
Office space for rent in Leatherhead
When this report was first published in 2012, the vast majority of office space in the Leatherhead area was located outside the town, in the many industrial and office parks that had been constructed in the previous decade.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, demand had started growing again gradually, though there were few projects in the development pipeline.
Whether this would lead to a rise in rents was unclear; however, it was deemed fairly improbable, as supply remained plentiful in the area surrounding Leatherhead and in Surrey generally.
The town centre itself had little office space, though there were some sub-Grade A locations.
Just over a decade on, in April 2023, The Square provided Grade A office space to let in Leatherhead town centre, just 5 minutes from Leatherhead railway station.
The property achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’ and offered car parking, bicycle parking, air-conditioned offices and shower facilities.
The Square has space that would suit requirements of between 4,552 and 10,646 square feet, and the quoted rent was £31.50 per square foot per annum.
There was still a fairly diverse range of leased office options that would suit requirements of between 1,000 and 25,000 square feet in out-of-town Leatherhead locations.
For example, Arc Leatherhead at The Office Park on Springfield Drive in the KT22 postcode district offered Grade A office space to let with car parking and EV chargers, air-conditioned space, quoted at between £27.50 per square foot and £31.50 per square foot, depending on the suite size.
Cheaper office space outside Leatherhead town centre included that available at No. 2 Brook Way. Brook Way is a mixed commercial area of offices, industrial units, and supermarkets on the outskirts of the town, and the property offered between 1,936 and 11,488 square feet, with a quoted rent of £22.50 per square foot.
Hurst and Warne reported in 2026 that the total take-up via office lettings in Leatherhead in 2025 was 56,200 square feet, which was 6.1 per cent below the five-year average of 59,863 square feet.
2025’s take-up comprised 8 letting deals, averaging 7,025 square feet.
In Q4 2025, 3 deals totalling 22,458 square feet were under offer.
Also, at the end of the year, the overall vacancy rate was 22.3 per cent, of which Grade A space accounted for 3.4 per cent and Grade B space accounted for 18.9 per cent.
There was no office space under construction at the end of 2025.
Prime office rents were £28.50 per square foot per annum.
The largest available space was at Unilever House, Leatherhead Office Park, totalling 179,457 square feet.
There is a range of serviced office providers and flexible workpsace operators in Leatherhead, including Freedom Works, Halcyon, Parallel and Regus, offering flexible office space and workspace solutions, both in the town centre and out of town in locations including Bull Hill, Gravel Hill, Kingston Road, Lower Road, and Thorncroft Drive.
These offer alternatives to renting office space through traditional leases with short-term contracts, allowing up- and downsizing of floorspace mid-term, and all-inclusive fixed overhead pricing with items such as utilities and cleaning covered by the rent.
We provide a free office space search, and our advisory and acquisition services are always free. Our Leatherhead office space brokers and agents are globally regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), ensuring the highest standards of commercial property advice and service at all times. We look forward to helping you find the best office space for rent for your business.
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