Shepherd Chartered Surveyors have secured their biggest Letting of the year.

Not only did the commercial property office secure the largest office letting in the Highlands in 2011 – it also secured the largest office sale, the largest industrial letting and the largest trade counter letting.

The largest office transaction in Inverness this year was the letting of 5000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation at Oykel House (Building C5) Cradlehall Business Park to Inverness-based telecommunications company Highnet. The high specification two storey pavilion style modern open plan office, with 18 dedicated car parking spaces, was let for a period of 10 years at £80,000 per annum.

Meanwhile, the largest (by square foot) office sale in the Highlands was 16,000 sq ft at Metropolitan House, Inverness on behalf of property company Telereal Trillium to New Land (Highland) for an undisclosed figure. Situated on the city’s High Street, Metropolitan House comprises a five storey purpose built building with retail space on the ground floor. Shepherd has recently secured a letting of the ground floor to Ramsdens, the consumer financial services business.

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The largest industrial letting in the Highlands was for 7000 sq ft of depot, warehouse and a rear workshop at 13 Walker Road, Longman Industrial Estate, Inverness to vehicle recovery firm Bri-Nick on a 10 year lease at £38,000 per annum. Shepherd acted on behalf of RFC Holdings.

Finally, the largest trade counter letting in the Highlands this year was also at Longman Industrial Estate in Inverness when, acting on instruction for MacGregor Properties, Shepherd let the 7000 sq ft Unit A trade counter at 10 Harbour Road to power tool supplier Screwfix on a 10 year lease for £52,500 per annum. Currently under construction, Unit A is scheduled for completion in April 2012. Unit B which extends to 6,000 sq ft is presently available however there has been significant interest.

Sandy Rennie, Head of Shepherd’s commercial department in Inverness, said: "We’re delighted to secure the largest office letting, office sale, industrial letting and trade counter letting in the Highlands this year. These deals confirm the buoyancy of demand in the competitive market for prime commercial space in Inverness."

(GK)