Commercial property transactions in the north of England reached £6.1 billion last year – 60 per cent up on the previous year.

Office and shopping centre markets across the North West, North East, Yorkshire and Humber were particularly strong. Savills acted on around £1.247 billion of the region’s total transactions in 2014 and more than half of them were in these key markets. Other major transactions included M&G’s £318 million acquisition of two RBS buildings at Spinningfields, Manchester and AEW Europe’s £152.7 million acquisition of The Bridges in Sunderland.

Mat Oakley, commercial research analyst at Savills, believes the upward trend is set to continue. “The Northern powerhouse will be a topic on many investors’ lips in 2015, as they look for the next sub-regional market to recover, and continue to chase the attractive yield differentials between the North and London," he says. "We are predicting that the investment volume will exceed 2014's strong total, with retail warehousing and high street retail beginning to show a recovery.”

Add this to intensified competition from overseas investors as the recovery throughout the Northern region becomes more established, and the future for England's northern powerhouse looks very rosy indeed.

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