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Guildford Office Space Guide

[Last updated April 2023] A guide to serviced offices and office space to rent in Guildford as well as general information that may be useful if you are thinking of renting office space in the town.

For further offices information or to search office space for rent in Guildford just click. Or contact us for any other query.

History & Geography

Guildford, perhaps one of the most idyllic towns in southern England, is located in the county of Surrey, approximately 27 miles southwest of the capital. The town is set among the North Downs at the point where the River Wey is forded by the ancient trackway of Harrow Way. It is no doubt due to this convenient and strategically important position that the town was founded in the 5th century CE by Saxon settlers in Britain. The name of the town simply means ‘Gold Ford’ and is thought to be a reference to yellow flowers that grew on the banks of the river. Shortly after the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, Guildford Castle was built by the Normans in order to keep order in the local area and to dominate the important east-west trading route on which Guildford lay. In the subsequent centuries, Guildford continued to prosper especially from the local wool trade. The town was an important commercial hub and also a rest stop for travellers. In 1653, the Wey Navigations, which made it possible to access the Thames River at Weybridge by boat was completed. This boosted the town’s fortunes considerably as it increased trade with London. When the navigation was extended in the late 18th century and then in the 19th century, the Basingstoke Canal was built, putting Guildford at the centre of a far-ranging canal system. During WWII, Guildford was spared the heavy bombing which devastated other British towns and cities, though the town did build a series of deep air-raid shelters in the nearby Foxenden chalk quarry. Guildford’s population and infrastructure continued to expand in the latter part of the 20th century and today the town is a thriving centre of retail as well as several service industries.

Economy

While historically Guildford was a town sustained by the wool trade, that has long since ceased to be a significant part of the town’s economy. Guildford is still a market town however, with a bustling market being held on Fridays and Saturdays. The town is known as one of the most expensive places to live in the UK outside London but is also statistically the safest place to live in the country. Retail is a large part of the economy of the town and the High Street is lined with a wide selection of shops and department stores. According to a recent retail survey, Guildford is, in fact, the best shopping destination in the country. Guildford is also an important commercial town, however, with four major companies having a significant presence in the town. Vodafone, Mitsubishi and Colgate-Palmolive all have large offices in Guildford. Moreover, the town has become something of a hub for the video game industry, with major companies such as Electronic Arts, Media Molecule, Lionhead Studios and Criterion Games all present in Guildford. Military vehicle constructors Automotive Technik are based in Guildford, as are fire engine manufacturer Dennis Specialist Vehicles. Surrey Research Park on the outskirts of the town contains many companies on the leading edge of tech research.

Culture

Guildford is a popular destination for visitors from around the region due to its retail industry as well as its pleasant surroundings. With its cobbled High Street, Guildford still very much resembles a traditional English market town. Guildford Castle is a popular attraction and has just been completely refurbished, including a new visitors’ centre with panels telling visitors about the history of the castle. The castle sits in an area of gardens which are renowned in the area for their beautiful flower beds. Guildford Museum is located in the gatehouse of the castle and has displays of local history and archaeology as well as a specialist needlework collection. Guildford itself is home to the Guildford House Gallery, which houses the most visited art gallery in Surrey, with over 120,000 visitors per year. During the summer Stoke Park, a large park near the town centre hosts the Guilfest music festival as well as the Surrey County Show. The town’s theatrical scene is based around the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre which routinely shows plays directly from the West End. 

Transportation

Guildford is served by two rail stations, Guildford Station and London Road Station. Guildford Station is on the left side of the river and serves the mainline between London Waterloo and Portsmouth. The London Road Station serves the mainline between Waterloo and London Bridge. Guildford itself is served by an extensive bus network operated by Arriva and uses the bus station attached to the Friary shopping centre as a hub. There is also a park-and-ride service which has three sites, Artington, Merrow and Spectrum.

Office space to rent in Guildford

When this report was first published in 2013, demand for office space had started rising in the area following the blow of the Great Recession.

The supply of space in the area remained fairly constricted and even more so in the town centre.

Moreover, much of the space that was available in the town centre was not Grade A office space.

Headline rents in the town centre remained at £27 per square foot per year whereas out-of-town rates were at about £25 per square foot.

Speculative construction of office space in Guildford had fallen off completely from where it was in 2005, and for this reason, it was forecast that headline rents would be at approximately £30 per square foot by 2014.

A decade on, in April 2023, we can report that Guilford showed resilience during the pandemic and office space take-up was 100,000 square feet in 2020 – the highest it had been in several years.

Much of the take-up was made up of deals of less than 10,000 square feet with both in-town and out-of-town markets performing well.

Office rental rates hit a new high of £36.50 per sqft for the best floor at 255 High Street which offers premium office space in central Guildford with amenities including a communal rooftop terrace.

Several other deals reached £36 per sqft in the same year.

Take-up was up again in 2021 at 130,557 square feet. 

Deals in both years came from the finance, legal, medical and tech industries, however, the gaming sector continues to stay dominant. 

Those in the sector are attracted to Guildford due to EA Sports’ presence in the town. The video game developer responsible for producing F1, FIFA, PGA TOUR NFL, NHL, and UFC games is based at Onslow House on Onslow Street, Guildford GU1 4TN.

Headline rents reached £37.00 per square foot in 2021 and it is anticipated that prime office rents will reach £40 per square foot in the coming years.

There are also a number of serviced office providers in Guildford that offer alternatives to renting office spaces on traditional leases.

The flexible office space and workspace solutions provided include private serviced office suites, managed offices and corporate coworking membership plans.

These offer the flexibility of short-term agreements with the accounting efficiencies created by all-inclusive pricing.

 

We carry out a free office space search and our advisory and acquisition services are also free, always. Our Guildford 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.

RICS Logo - The Office Providers are regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

The Office Providers are Regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)



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