Oxford’s office market is changing as the city becomes increasingly well known for its science, medical and technology sectors. Occupiers are forming clusters in the business and science parks that surround the historic city centre. Parks such as Milton Park and Harwell Campus benefit from being able to provide the large buildings that these global firms are looking for, as well as plenty of incubator space.

The city has a high number of start-up companies that stem from the universities. According to Savills research, Oxford has received more than £1.7 billion of venture capital investment since 2015 – more than Cambridge and Reading combined. An example of this is Oxford Nanopore Technologies receiving £170 million to develop scientific research in support for Oxford’s growing science and tech sector.

There is an environment of incubation on the science and business parks and they provide ample space for a firm to grow in a serviced office. Once they’ve outgrown their initial premises the numerous buildings on the parks provide larger suites for them to move into. Oxford Science Park is a particularly good example of this and has a sense of collaboration, with communal cafés, restaurants and operators such as Regus providing serviced office space.

Last year saw several large transaction dominate the office take-up statistics, pushing full year levels to above 500,000 sq ft. This is particularly good news as the majority of the deals in the Oxford office market are under 10,000 sq ft and lettings in this size range accounted for 83 per cent of transactions last year. Looking ahead, we expect things to remain buoyant, and take-up levels in 2018 to be around 400,000 sq ft.

These high levels of take-up have impacted on supply. Buildings on popular parks such as Harwell and Oxford Science Park are in high demand, pre-letting before completion. In turn, rental growth in Oxford is being driven by these parks.

One location to keep an eye on is Cowley Road. The area could be ideal for smaller tech occupiers who want to be closer to the city centre. The feel here is less corporate and the space on offer is perfect for those firms who want to be closer to the amenities and buzz of Oxford.

Oxford’s reputation as a science and tech hub is consolidating and a wide range of occupiers and developers are turning their attention to the city’s parks. Momentum is set to continue this year, and take up figures should reflect this come next January. 

Further information

Contact Savills Oxford