Pictured above: (l-r) James Daffern & Charles Warrack from King Sturge & Malcolm Jones from KWB outside Osprey House in Redditch

King Sturge's decision to target the fast-changing Further Education sector has paid off, after its Birmingham-based commercial team clinched the biggest office letting in the M42 corridor, since before the recession.

Its client, North-East Worcestershire College, has acquired Redditch's Osprey House, which contains 31,200 sq ft of space, for just a shade under £3 million.

The transaction is more than twice the size of any deal concluded in the M42 corridor this year, and more than 10,000 sq ft larger than the biggest during 2009. 

Partner James Daffern, a valuation specialist, says the deal followed the college's decision to call in King Sturge to carry out a strategic review of its property assets.

"We are winning a lot of work in the FE sector, by bringing together people from our valuations, office agency and investment teams, and making it easier for colleges and other institutions to assess their property needs," he said.

"The College needed a suitable space in Redditch where they could create a new Centre for Professional and Higher Education Studies, so we put together a team to identify a suitable property. Osprey House was ideal, not least due to its proximity to their existing estates, and it's good quality 1990s construction reflecting the value the College places on its Professional and Higher Ed work."

"There was a tenant, but we discovered that they were eager, and able, to surrender their lease, so everyone was happy, and we now have an ongoing relationship with the college."

King Sturge's Charles Warrack, a senior associate in its office agency team, was understandably delighted to be involved in such a major transaction.

"A deal near to 30,000 sq ft would have been a decent size when the M42 market was at its peak, but in the current market, the average is more like 5,000 sq ft, and there were only two deals during the whole of 2009 which even touched 20,000 sq ft," he said.

"The property was owned by Wichford plc, who were represented by Malcolm Jones, from KWB, and everything went as smoothly as we hoped. The whole process, from talking to the college, identifying four or five options, and then completing negotiations for the preferred space took just six months."