HIGH CUSTOMER RETENTION AND OCCUPANCY MARK ANOTHER SOLID YEAR AT HILLINGTON PARK
In 2025, an impressive 87% of the £1.475m of income at risk through lease expiries or break options was retained, well above the seven-year running average of 78%. Estate-wide occupancy also remained steady at a very strong 95% throughout the year.
Several significant lease extension transactions were recently completed with long-established Hillington Park businesses, including Lookers, Steder, and Elliot Baxter, securing their continued operation within the estate’s automotive and logistics sectors. Despite limited available stock, the team also completed 14 new lettings, generating £0.414m of new contracted headline rent.
Grant Edmondson, Commercial Director at Hillington Park said: “Despite broader economic challenges and a general slowdown in occupier demand over the last few months, the estate once again demonstrated an excellent set of performance numbers, underpinned by high occupancy levels and our focus on delivering competitive lease packages and consistently high service standards.
“I can remember Hillington Park being described as the “jewel in the crown” when it was acquired as part of the Caledonian Land portfolio in the late 1990’s due to its fantastic location, surrounding transport infrastructure and extensive development opportunities. Whilst it has had a few owners since, I’m really proud of what the management team has delivered over the years and how consistently well Hillington Park has performed as both a commercial real estate investment and a thriving business community.”
A key workstream throughout 2025 has been the continued divestment of older, smaller industrial stock as part of the estate’s long-term investment strategy to rebalance towards a modern, sustainable industrial portfolio. This year alone, 21 sale transactions were completed across 85 units, representing 588,000 sq ft of built space. As a result, the portfolio’s weighting toward modern industrial assets has now increased to 62%, with sales proceeds being used to reduce borrowing and reinvest into refurbishments and future new developments.
