How Bidwells is building for the future with big plans to double in size by 2030
Editor Paul Brackley speaks to Liz Craig at Bidwells, which is sponsoring the reception at the inaugural Cambridge Independent Business Awards.
Liz Craig has been at Bidwells for 30 of its 185 years but the next few could bring some of the most significant changes she has witnessed at the business.
The Cambridge-headquartered property consultancy intends to double in size by 2030, adding between 200 and 250 people in a period of major investment.
“We are looking to expand both our service lines and geographically, but Cambridge will always be key,” says Liz, who is head of the Cambridge office and leads the lease consultancy team.
“I do think that Cambridge is such a strong market and the dynamics are strong, so we want to build on that.
“Business has to have a suitable workspace and you have to have the infrastructure to support the workforce.
“We’ve always advised landowners, investors and developers and, of course, a lot of university colleges.”
Science and technology growth, unsurprisingly, will be key to Bidwells’ expansion, as the demand for more property in these sectors in Cambridge and Oxford continues unabated.
“There is a huge demand out there for the laboratory sector and a lot of that is American-driven – and they want it immediately,” notes Liz.
To illustrate the demand, the latest Bidwells research found there was a demand at the half year point for 690,000 sq ft of lab space in the Cambridge region, but the level of supply was down at 128,000 sq ft.
On the office side, there was more balance, with demand for 750,000 sq ft of space and supply of 870,000 sq ft, although that included some lesser grade B space.
“We’ve just had about 350,000 sq ft of office and lab completions that will be coming through in 2024-25 and that will add about six per cent to the existing stock,” says Liz.
Beyond this growing field, an expanding area for the firm is its energy and climate-related services, which include grid and infrastructure, renewables, biodiversity net gain, forestry and natural capital, the latter including the likes of peatland restoration and the creation of new woodland.
Bidwells is finding that with demand for growth to be balanced with sustainability, it can play an increasing role in helping developers meet their commitments.
“Our biodiversity net gain team have an exciting project on the Lower Valley Farm in South Cambridgeshire, where they sold credits to and developers to offset the negative impact of their schemes,” says Liz.
Another field of expansion for Bidwells is termed ‘operational living’.
“It means student living or it can be build-to-rent, where investors buy blocks of properties to develop and rent out to the private sector,” explains Liz.
Build-to-rent industry veteran Iain Murray and his former team at operational living agency Cortland Consult were hired to kickstart the national operational living division earlier this year, as the Cambridge Independent reported.
Whatever the sector, however, one trend that is key to today is the drive to integrate developments in their environement – something planners are increasingly demanding.
“It’s why a lot of our landlord clients want to work with the community, so it’s not just putting up a building. It’s looking at everything that goes around it,” says Liz. “Cambridge Science Park is a really good example. The new Cambridge Science Centre, for example, is funded by the landowners to try to encourage schoolchildren in.”
The Science Park is also a good example of how Bidwells’ own integration into its community operates.
“We have property managers who are there day-to-day looking after tenants and facilities managers looking after the buildings,” explains Liz. “In addition, you’ve got my team – I do the rent reviews and lease renewals. When there is a rent review every five years I will negotiate that for the landlord. When the lease comes to expiry, I will look after that.
“Our agents do the new lettings on the park and we also have a planning division who will work closely with the client and our in-house development team to look at the best way to develop the park out.
“So everyone all connects together and that’s really helpful, because you get the full picture.
“It is great to be able to talk it all through as one entity, rather than through lots of different businesses.”
The result of this tight-knit integration with landowners, leaseholders and tenants is long-term relationships. On the Science Park, it dates back to its founding in the 1970s.
“The history is often invaluable,” says Liz. “It’s great to have new ideas as well but having the knowledge of what we’ve tried and what we’ve done before – things are changing clearly – is useful.
“Also the relationship with the tenants is important. Our management team is so nearby. A lot of businesses manage from London. But we have a presence on Granta Park and we are on Cambridge Science Park every day, popping in and out, seeing tenants.
“So you are not just looking at it from a landlord’s perspective, you are understanding what the occupiers want, what their business requires and understanding their business as well.”
But what is it that tenants want from their office space today?
Liz mentions environmental credentials and social spaces to help ensure coming into an office offers more than working from home, but notes: “There are lots of things you would have on the wishlist but they have to be balanced with cost.”
And she notes that in the recent past a subdued economy has led to a lack of funding coming through, even in the science and technology sectors. But there is more positive news on that front.
“Whether or not it’s because we have some stability, we are seeing that funding is coming back in to the science and tech market, so over the next 12 to 18 months we are hoping for a lot more activity,” she says.
“We had good activity over the first quarter on the science and tech side, but it was a bit subdued in quarter two. It’s balanced out for the half year, but we are looking a lot more positive coming forward.
“Everyone in business in Cambridge has to work together because we do have a place on the world stage.”
Despite the more challenging investment conditions of recent times, commercial property rental prices in Cambridge are strong.
“In my market, which is mainly offices and labs, the lack of supply is pushing up rents. When I work out what someone will pay, I will look at what is happening in the market. If there isn’t much out there, and there is demand, rents go up.
“But we’re not seeing that everywhere. The growth in Norwich, for example, is not as prolific as Cambridge – it’s a very special place. Investors still want to invest in it.”
Liz began her career with Bidwells in Norwich, before moving to Cambridge and spending about 15 years as divisional managing partner of its commercial department.
For the past year, she has enjoyed heading up the Cambridge office, taking particular pride in working with its younger recruits.
“We’ve got about 320 people in our Cambridge campus at Bidwell House and High Street, Trumpington,” she says.
“We’ve embraced inclusion and diversity, and it’s great to be a part of that, and we are trying to enable younger people and succession planning.”
Apprenticeships are playing an increasing role in Bidwells’ recruitment plans as it builds towards doubling its headcount.
“Mainstream rural and commercial surveyors tend to be graduates – we’ll put them through training but they have a vocational university degree,” says Liz.
“But I think apprenticeships are great. We have some fabulous 18-year-olds, particularly in our building consultancy teams. We put them through the training so they are at college as well. I think it’s the way forward. It can be quite a shock to go from school to an office setting.”
Liz is keen to ensure girls are made aware of career opportunities in property consultancy, and people from diverse backgrounds.
“Like most businesses, we want to promote females, so we need to be doing more at an earlier stage. People don’t understand all the things you can do as a property consultant,” she notes.
What is clear is that Bidwells’ property consultants are embedded throughout the city.
Liz describes the roles they are playing not just on outlying business and science parks, but in the city too – they are involved with the likes of Brookgate on developing the Station Road area, for example, with the 50,000 sq ft 10 Station Road building the latest to complete.
“It’s a very strong market in the city centre, with the likes of Microsoft and Apple. We’ve been involved with the planning and building in Station Road, and the investment, over many years.
“We’re also involved in Botanic Place with Railpen and Socius and at Cambridge North with Brookgate.”
Wherever you turn in Cambridge, it seems, you’re not far away from a scheme in which Bidwells is involved. And with nine other offices already, including in Scotland, and plans to double its size, that could soon be true further afield too.
Bidwells is sponsoring the reception at the Cambridge Independent Business Awards 2024, taking place at King’s College on 26 September. Visit cambridgeindependentbusinessawards.co.uk for more.