St Modwen has reported property take up gathering pace across Staffordshire with ten new deals signed across four of its schemes in the county.

Defying current economic trends, the company has completed two lettings and a sale at its Centre 500 industrial and distribution scheme in Newcastle-under-Lyme, plus the letting and sale of two units at Trentham Trade Park with the sale of a unit at Trentham Business Quarter, both in Stoke-on-Trent.

The company’s former regional office at Festival Park in Stoke-on-Trent has also been successfully let and sold.

At Centre 500, Ford Mainwaring Mechanical and Electrical Engineers have taken a 12-year lease on a 3,500 sq ft unit while Q Railing, professional railing system specialists, have signed a five-year lease on a 4,000 sq ft unit. St Modwen has also secured the sale of the investment on the Q Railing unit to a private investor for £240,000.

Autoglass has signed 15-year leases on two units at St. Modwen’s Trentham Trade Park in Stoke-on-Trent, comprising a total of 8,655 sq ft. Both units have also been sold to a private investor for £550,000. At neighbouring Trentham Business Quarter, business growth has driven the sale of a second unit to Acacia Training for £280,000, following the company’s first purchase just 12 months ago.

Nearby, at St. Modwen’s 225 acre Festival Park scheme, leading Swiss bank Svenska Handlesbanken has signed a ten-year lease on a 1,600 sq ft unit, which was formerly St Modwen’s regional office.

Then St Modwen secured the cash sale of the property to local investor, Novodex.

Andrew Cox, development surveyor for St. Modwen, said: “We are delighted to report these latest lettings and property sales which demonstrate plenty of movement in the Staffordshire marketplace.

“Centre 500 offers a range of small industrial and distribution units that have proven extremely popular. Indeed, these latest lettings mean over 55,000 sq ft of space is now occupied at Centre 500 with 16 of a total 22 units constructed with forward interest in the final six units.”

The company hasd also achieved about 130,000 sq ft of lettings across three of its other Midlands schemes and as of April 1, has leasehold deals in the pipeline approaching £1 million in this region alone. The highlights include Nottingham-based Shredall Data Storage (SDS) has selected St Modwen’s 14-acre Bestwood Business Park in north Nottingham as the location for its new national headquarters.

St Modwen has also secured a 41,000 sq ft letting at its 4.2-acre Stretton Business Park scheme in Burton-upon- Trent. US Nutrition, manufacturer of sports nutrition brands and diet products, has selected the 67,000 sq ft Stretton Business Park as its new HQ.