Cooke & Arkwright
News
Car group strategic manoeuvres
23/05/2013
White Dove Motor Group, one of the largest privately owned motor groups in south east Wales, has acquired the freehold on three acres of strategically placed land from Cardiff County Council at Hadfield Close in Leckwith. Cooke & Arkwright advised White Dove on the purchase of the land, which will be used for the continued expansion of the successful car dealership. The family owned business has been established for over 40 years and specialises in new and used SEAT, Skoda and specialist executive cars.
Flats to boost student living standards
07/05/2013
Quin & Co, the investment arm of CPS Homes, has purchased Crwys House in Cardiff, a 20,000 sq ft four-storey office building, for a figure in excess of £1m. The empty building, which had originally been occupied by Welsh Water and until last year, by Dunn and Bradstreet, was sold by Cooke & Arkwright on behalf of clients, Altena Estates Ltd. Quin & Co has submitted a planning application to convert the offices to student accommodation comprising 116 rooms in 28 self-contained flats.
Welsh Power at redeveloped Park Place
17 April 2013
The completion of a major redevelopment at 18 Park Place in Cardiff has attracted its first new tenant, energy company Welsh Power, which has taken a ten year lease on 2,642 sq ft on the first floor. Cooke & Arkwright acted a joint agents on behalf of private landlords Andrew Giles and Richard Williams on the deal.
Last chink of light extinguished on High Street
12/03/2013
The Welsh Government’s decision to defer the Business Rate Revaluation until 2017 is a disaster, according to Huw Thomas, Director in charge of Retail at Cooke & Arkwright. “Letting shops in today’s climate on many of our high streets is a significant challenge,” he said. “The high street is under huge stress, but this is potentially a deal breaker for new lettings and lease expiries.”
Cooke & Arkwright named Most Active Agent
6/3/2013
Leading property publication, Estates Gazette, has named Cooke & Arkwright as the EGi Most Active Agent in Wales in 2012. EGi said ‘...Cooke & Arkwright’s performance proved solid enough to claim back the Welsh title...’. The firm was previously Most Active Agent in Wales in 2010, while the Retail Agency was named the Most Active Retail Agent in Wales in 2011.
A taste of Spain for Penarth
24/01/2013
Bar 44, the first and longest established Spanish tapas bar in Wales, which has a thriving business in the market town of Cowbridge, has opened a second establishment, Bar 44 Tapas y Copas in Penarth. Brothers Tom and Owen Morgan opened Bar 44 in Cowbridge straight after leaving university. They celebrated 10 years in business last September, with the restaurant serving some 2500 dishes each week and being listed in the Good Food Guide for the second year in succession.
Wimbledon school buys former David Morgan home
24/01/2013
The former home of eminent 19th century Welsh entrepreneur David Morgan has been sold to a Wimbledon school for a sum in excess of its guide price of £1.295m. Hall School Wimbledon aims to restore Llanbrynean, a handsome five-bedroom Victorian residence in the Brecon Beacons with 55 acres and its own waterfall, and will use it as an off-campus residence to host geography field courses as well as a range of other curricular and extra-curricular activities.
Creative letting fills park
9/01/2013
Capital Retail Park in Leckwith, Cardiff is 100% occupied after the final office suite in Pod 1 was let to Creative Risk Solutions. The company has provided insurance cover for many well-known TV productions including the BBC drama series, The Indian Doctor, Richard Hammond’s nature series, Miracles of Nature and CBeebies’ acclaimed children’s animation programme, Rastamouse. It has also recently provided cover for Hinterland, a new detective drama series that is being shot in Aberystwyth for both BBC and S4C by the Danish broadcaster responsible for the hit TV series, The Killing.
Promotion and new Graduates
11 December 2012
Cooke & Arkwright has promoted Alex Kalebic to the position of Associate in its Retail agency and recruited new graduate Benjamin Davies to boost the team, which despite a very challenging market has performed strongly. The firm has also recruited another graduate, Mark Siddons, who joins the restructured Business Space department.
Peter Pan works his magic
29/11/2012
Cardiff’s Sherman Cymru theatre launched a ‘Peter Pan’ appeal in October 2012 after finding that school children across South Wales were missing out on their usual annual trip to the theatre’s Christmas production because of financial constraints. The appeal went out to businesses to help schools by donating between £500 and £1,200 to enable pupils to attend, and Cooke & Arkwright was one of the early respondents.