Maritime business expands and takes over new offices

Transas, which employs almost 1,000 people around the world, signed a 10-year lease on 21,000 sq ft offices at Lakeside North Harbour, Portsmouth.

The firm, which employs 35 people locally, now has on-site capacity to double headcount at Building 2000. It was previously based at Voyager Park for 18 years.

Transas has nearly half of the world’s maritime simulation market. Its marine onboard equipment is used on more than 13,000 vessels from more than 100 nations.

Paul Dollery, Transas’ global property director, said: ‘Our new regional headquarters reflects Transas’ aspirations to be the best company of its kind in the global maritime IT market, helping vessels navigate the word’s seas and waterways safely.

‘We are grateful to Hughes Ellard for helping Transas find our new permanent berth at Portsmouth.’

Hughes Ellard, a commercial property consultancy in the Solent region, acted for Northwood Regional UK, the landlord, in the deal.

Northwood Regional UK has invested £9.5m in refurbishing 100,000sq ft of former IBM space at Building 2000 and Building 3000 into high-spec offices with room for up to 2,000 people.

Transas spent a further six-figure sum in a bespoke fit-out, including the Transas Academy, a training and simulation centre where state-of-the-art bridge simulators are being installed.

Russell Mogridge, the business space director at Hughes Ellard, said: ‘Transas is a market leader which required larger high-quality office, production and training space under one roof.

‘Building 2000 at Lakeside fitted the bill exactly, being more than twice the size of Transas’ previous base in Portsmouth.’