Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Savills continues to focus on the East of England as a valuable source of future business.

Head of region, William Stanton, summed up 2006 as challenging and very successful with strong performances across Savills’ regional property services, notably residential sales where average prices are predicted to rise by 12 per cent during 2007.

He said: “This region is one of the fastest growing in the UK and is competing to be one of the top European economies. Savills has good reason to want to field a winning team here and we are continuing to strengthen our hand to unlock even greater potential for our clients.

“Our range of services has expanded to include investment, urban development, transportation and the newly launched Capital Projects, which co-ordinates the myriad consultants, both internal and external, required to bring clients’ development plans to fruition.

“Our expertise now spans the fast-moving area of sustainable energy provision and is particularly sought-after in the development, planning and rural sectors.

“We have also expanded geographically with a new office in Bury St Edmunds and the acquisition of leading Peterborough chartered surveyors Dickens, Watts & Dade, creating a dominant force in the strategically important A1/A14 corridor; and we have strengthened our existing offices in Bishop’s Stortford and Chelmsford.

“All this is designed to put us in the very best position to meet the opportunities provided by the East in this period of dramatic growth.”

David Henry, Head of Savills’ Cambridge office added: “Cambridge and the sub-region continue to grow very rapidly and nowhere is this more obvious than in New Homes, where our specialists sold three times as many units in 2006 compared to 2005.

“Commercial markets are strong, take up is on the increase and exciting new schemes such as cb1 in the railway station quarter will respond to the demand for high quality new space. 2007 looks set to be an excellent year for Cambridge markets - the most high profile developments are likely to be in retail with the opening of Grand Arcade and Christ’s Lane, regenerating that area of the city centre.

“Savills in Cambridge has just taken on an extra 7,500 sq ft of office space at Unex House to accommodate our own plans for growth and new services, driven by the buoyant Cambridge and Eastern Region property markets.”