City ‘Set for More Paperless Offices’

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Leeds has been a city in transition for many years. Once a major centre for the textiles industry, Yorkshire's largest settlement has seen its economy diversify out of necessity in the years since. Innovation is nothing new.

The city suffered heavily from the financial crisis, as it was a significant base for the financial sector, as well as being hit by the general economic malaise that arose from the recession. As the economy recovers, however, the future will bring both challenges and opportunities – which may be helped by a range of new initiatives, including paperless offices.

That is the suggestion of Jonathan Shires, the head of office agency at CBRE, who was one of the speakers at a seminar this week, the Yorkshire Post reports.

His Leeds-based colleague Alex Whiting, senior director of capital markets for the firm, said the initial surge of new investment money went "piling in" to London, causing some property market overheating. Now, he argued, the cash has started to spread – firstly to Manchester and Birmingham, but now to Leeds.

“We’re seeing a more buoyant economic outlook. The outlooks for both 2013 and 2014 are being revised upwards… More institutional money is looking at the regions this year,” Mr Whiting said.

It was in this context that Mr Shires suggested the demand for office space in the city centre and beyond may not be met, as the last few years have denied Leeds the kind of expansion required.

This would have a number of results, he suggested. Rents would rise, while redevelopment and refurbishment would be boosted. Perhaps most notably, he said the way companies use space may change in order to make more of less. This would include hot desking (where an employee works in a temporary space) and paperless offices.

Both of these factors can free up space, with the first involving remote working. In either instance, companies based in Leeds may increasingly see the benefits of using offsite backup and data storage, as well as deploying document scanning to ensure information can be safely stowed at alternative locations. All this will free up more room for essential day-to-day working.

There may be plenty of good reasons for suggesting Leeds will see plenty of growth – and with it a greater need for clever use of office space.

One of them is that the UK economy appears to be enjoying a broad-based recovery. The latest Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data for the UK has revealed significant growth in manufacturing, construction and services alike. In the latter case, activity in August this year was rising at the fastest rate since December 2006. The services PMI report noted: "Capacity continued to be tested, with backlogs of work rising at the sharpest pace for over 13 years."

The report noted employment levels are not yet rising rapidly, but suggested this could soon change if growth continues. Moreover, the latest KPMG report on jobs in the north of England has revealed August's figures for the region to be very positive, with a "sharp and accelerated" rise in staff placements. All this would suggest offices in Leeds and other northern cities could get very crowded unless space is used extremely efficiently.

Another reason for optimism may be the HS2 rail project. Some questions were raised over a possible future Labour government's commitment to the line after shadow chancellor Ed Balls – himself a Leeds MP – said he could guarantee a "blank cheque" for the project. However, Labour remains officially committed to HS2 and, of course, they may not be in office to make the decision anyway.

The Leeds link will, proponents of the line argue, help bolster the city with the fast links it will enjoy to other cities on the network, including London, Birmingham and Sheffield. Although the Y-shape of the line means it will not have a high-speed link to Manchester, the existing line between the cities is being upgraded.

While HS2 is intended to help spur more development in Leeds, the economic benefits and wider growth may see demand for office space continue to outstrip the increase in supply for some time yet. The future for Leeds may be brighter, but it will also have to be smarter.

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