Shenton hires Middleton to head up sales and leasing

With long-term tenant JMW soon to depart for 125 Deansgate, the Canal & River Trust is positioning the 32,000 sq ft Manchester office block as a refurbishment opportunity.

Understood to include office schemes at One Pall Mall Gardens and Martins Bank, six projects worth more than £200m will receive support from the fund.

Cementing its presence in the North, Oktra has released images of the fit-out and design of the online car marketplace’s 130,000 sq ft home at No3 Circle Square.

Bruntwood chief executive Chris Oglesby has bought the grade two-listed Manchester building.

The supermarket group has committed to more than 16,000 sq ft at Bridge Properties’ Birchwood office development, and is joined by engineering group VolkerFitzpatrick, which has taken 2,300 sq ft.

Rightmove’s Commercial Insights Tracker for Q1 2026 showed that nationally, demand to lease offices fell by 3% year on year, while demand to invest in office property declined by 9% over the same period. In the North West, meanwhile, leasing demand for offices fell by 3%, so mirroring the national average, but investment demand fell by just short of 20%, writes Andy Miles of Rightmove.

The Manchester law firm has signed renewed terms with Bruntwood SciTech, committing to 22,000 sq ft for the next 10 years.

The Formby-headquartered insurance group acquired the 80,000 sq ft building in Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock in January 2025 – now, plans to make it a flagship workspace are in motion.

The digital marketing agency has left its Sheffield roots to take 5,100 sq ft at 40 Princess Street.

As many of the UK’s property professionals prepare to head to UKREiiF, there promises to be plenty of scope for robust conversations about what really matters when it comes to strategically reimagining office space to underpin business objectives, writes Dan Pilling of TSK.

Hillcrest PERE is due to welcome the software developer to the building this summer.

Rutherford House is to be knocked down and replaced with a 93,000 sq ft campus for the construction equipment provider, under plans lodged by Jersey-based landlord Cantt Pak.

Having finalised its demerger from parent company TalkTalk in February, the commercially-focused comms firm will relocate from the nearby Soapworks to around 10,500 sq ft in May.

The developer leading the creation of Manchester’s Victoria North is moving into 5,000 sq ft at Bruntwood SciTech’s Pall Mall, joining Sheppard Robson and Gunnercooke on the recently refurbished building’s roster.

Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services is selling 151 Dale Street, which offers the potential for vacant possession in the short term.

Work has started on the conversion of 25,000 sq ft at Manchester’s The Hive, after the flex operator signed with landlord Grosvenor.

Some 286,000 sq ft of office space was transacted in the city across 51 deals in the first three months of 2026, according to the Manchester Office Agents Forum.

Teed up by a council land sale in January, consent for the last plot at Chamberhall Business Park will allow the firm to build a 49,000 sq ft HQ and 25,000 sq ft across five industrial units.

Offers of £5.25m are being sought for Clayton House, whose lower floors are let to Subway and popular Indian restaurant Bundobust.