Leeds Dock – the South Bank waterside digital and creative community – is celebrating further success with the arrival of four new marketing sector firms and a property industry award for its partnership with Sky. An additional 15,000sqft of workspace at Leeds Dock has now been released to allow the continued growth of its technology and media hub.

The CoStar Agency Awards 2016 has crowned the arrival of Sky at Leeds Dock as the Editor’s Choice for ‘Deal of the Year’ in Leeds. Sky now has 60,000sqft of workspace in three buildings at Leeds Dock, with over 650 members of staff based there across its digital and technology services.

Since Sky moved in to Leeds Dock earlier this year, the community has expanded with the arrival of Hatch Communications, alongside integrated communications agency ilk and technology specialists iseePR. The three communications firms will be joined at Leeds Dock by First 10 digital agency in November.

Tim Gee, director of Leeds Dock, said: “We are delighted with the award for our partnership with Sky, not least for the recognition of the major impact it has had on the continued development of Leeds Dock as we proudly see it grow as a digital and creative community.

“It’s great to welcome Hatch Communications, ilk and iseePR into this community and we look forward to First 10 joining us next month as we continue to create a unique place for enterprise in Leeds.”

Leeds Dock is also now home to carefully-chosen independent leisure and entertainment outlets including Dock 29 café and bar, Laynes Espresso, Primal Gym and Yoga Hero.

Tim Gee continued: “Our vision for Leeds Dock since we acquired it in 2012 has been to create a true enterprise community for the digital and creative industries as we knew they would particularly appreciate the waterside location.

“In order to support the growth of this community and create a holistic environment for everyone who is based here we have invested in creating and attracting events as well as attracting the right leisure and retail providers for everyone to benefit.”

An additional 15,000 sqft of workspace has now been released to allow the continued growth of the Leeds Dock digital and creative community – including 3000sqft on the first floor of Magellan House, which was acquired by Leeds Dock owners Allied London earlier this year. Hatch Communications moved into the ground floor of Magellan House in July 2016 and the first floor has now been refurbished ready for immediate lease occupation.

Phase 2 of the Block E building on the main boulevard at Leeds Dock has also now been released for use as workspace. The 12,000sqft space, which can be configured in variety of ways to suit a range of business needs, has previously been used to host a number of pop-up and short-term ventures such as the popular Code-X escape room game this summer and housing installations for the Lumen Art prize in April.

WSB Property Consultants are the official agents for workspace at Leeds Dock and partner Duncan Senior is the main contact for businesses interested in becoming part of the community. Duncan commented: “We’ve shared Allied London’s impressive vision for Leeds Dock and its potential from day one and it’s great to see the success of the estate in attracting such a diverse mix of occupiers. We continue to work with Allied London to further establish and expand Leeds Dock as the city’s main creative and tech hub offering truly unique workspace and a vibrant working environment.”

Major events that Leeds Dock has played host to this year include the Leeds Digital Festival, the Lumen Art Prize, the British Street Food Awards and a major installation for Light Night Leeds 2016 which attracted over 7500 visitors. Leeds Dock is also now host to a fortnightly Home Grown market featuring fresh and artisan-crafted produce.

Tim Gee, director of Leeds Dock concluded: “The award for our partnership with Sky, and our new arrivals are great indications that others are now sharing in our vision for Leeds Dock. It’s wonderful to see it come to fruition and continue to flourish with the release of new workspace and we look forward to welcoming more businesses into our community very soon.”