Property firm DTZ sees sign of recovery

PROPERTY advisory firm DTZ boosted recovery hopes in the sector today after seeing better levels of activity in its key markets of London and Paris.

The group, which operates in 148 cities, including Leeds, and employs 10,000 people worldwide, added that its businesses in Asia Pacific continued to see good levels of business, particularly in China where it has been involved in a number of major deals.

Last year the firm team advised on one of the biggest office letting deals in Leeds city centre in recent years, 60,000 sq ft at One Leeds City Office Park.

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In the UK and Ireland, DTZ noted increased activity in the investment and occupier markets, led by central London. This includes advising Macquarie Bank on the acquisition of 217,000 sq ft of space at British Land's Ropemaker Place.

The company's retail team has also been involved in a number of high profile deals across the UK in recent months, including advising Hammerson on its 297 million joint venture purchase of the Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow.

DTZ said in a trading update today: "It is encouraging to report that in certain markets we see signs of growing confidence and activity, a trend we highlighted in our half year results in December.

"However, while there are signs of recovery in some areas of our industry it is too early to determine what extent this recovery will be sustained, particularly while economic uncertainty remains."