Commercial property giant CBRE found 58,650sqft of offices were taken up in the quarter. That made for the strongest first quarter on record and an increase of 100 per cent on the 10-year average for the first three months of each year. The findings were in contrast to the UK as a whole, where take-up fell 74 per cent compared with the same period in 2020 and 40 per cent on the five-year average for the quarter. The biggest local transaction saw the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) take almost 24,000sqft at Frobisher House at Nelson Gate. Mott MacDonald acquired 11,850 sq ft at Mountbatten House, Grosvenor Square, one of Southampton’s most prestigious landmark offices.