Dear Sir

Last week's Analysis 'of office letting activity in Parks, and Town Centres' was interesting. Very recently we undertook a survey of office movers within the greater Reading area, over the last 6 years. Your readers may find the results interesting.

We approached 50 such companies. We had responses from 24. The sample included 12 town centre movers and 12 out of centre movers.

Nearly all the out of centre movers were within the telecoms, media and technology sector. None of the town centre movers were in this sector, thus reinforcing the point that TMT firms, in this area, do not as a rule select town centre locations. The majority of movers into town centre properties were in the financial, professional or public sector.

It is interesting to note that 9 of the movers were companies new to Reading. Only 3 of these moved into town centre locations, one was an acquisition of a business already in the town centre; another moved close to an established parent company's town centre operation. The town centre movers were nearly all already in the town centre or had some specific connection with it.

For town centre companies, already in town centre locations prior to the move, established travel patterns of existing staff, built around a good rail link carried more weight than any inconvenience for those commuting in by car or doing business by car. In contrast, 8 of the 12 out of centre movers identified town centre traffic, poor town centre car access and car parking constraints as reasons for their decision to chose an out of centre location. Only 3 firms mentioned prior association with the out of centre location as a reason.

We also enquired about the attitude of movers in both locations to ascertain what would have persuaded them to consider an alternative location, either in the town centre, or out of the centre, in preference to their actual choice. About half of the movers out of the centre consider the town centre unacceptable as a location, but other factors such as better road access, good parking, the right building and cheaper rents were also factors, which might entice them to consider a future relocation in the town centre.

By contrast fewer town centre movers (3 companies) suggested out of centre locations were not suitable for their needs, citing good access by rail, good car parking and high specification office buildings being some of the factors that might persuade them to consider out of centre locations.

To sum up, during the period most firms new to the area have chosen an out of centre location. The majority of firms who chose the town centre were already established in the centre, or had strong links with the centre.

The conclusion is Reading, to retain its role as a major growth centre in the Thames Valley, must offer choice; a dual supply to satisfy the differing needs of individual businesses.

Yours faithfully

Ian Campbell