Office space lying empty

THE number of firms occupying new office space in Edinburgh has dropped dramatically over the past three months.

Occupier take-up in the first quarter of 2011 totalled 150,000 sq ft in 39 deals, a drop of 31 per cent from the three months ending last year, and noticeably down on the same period last year, when office take-up totalled 190,000 sq ft.

There were only two deals where 10,000 sq ft was taken up, one of which was Virgin Money (30,000 sq ft) at 28 St Andrew Square, which will bring 300 jobs to the city.

Craig Watson, associate director Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "It's not surprising that take-up is lower, particularly because there have been no significant prime transactions."