Thale, Reading -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/17/2010 -- The natural environment at Rainton Bridge Business Park has seen it beat off stiff competition to win the Best Commercial and Industrial Effort category at the Sunderland in Bloom Civic Awards 2010.

The awards, which have been held for the last 12 years, recognise achievements by the local and business communities that helped improve the environment and contributed to a cleaner, brighter city.

Sunderland-based Rainton Bridge Business Park, which has also won the Best Business Park at the Northumbria in Bloom Awards for the past two years, is owned, developed and managed by global property group Goodman, in successful partnership with Sunderland City Council.

The Best Commercial and Industrial Effort category at the Sunderland in Bloom Civic Awards is open to all businesses, including factories, industrial estates, garages, car show rooms, hotels and retailers.

Niall McGilp, regional development director for Goodman, said:

"Winning this award, alongside our previous accolades, is testament to the hard work and effort we put in to ensure Rainton Bridge Business Park is a well maintained, pleasant environment to work in.

"Carefully landscaped office surroundings have a significant impact on office wellbeing and productivity and we ensure the site's environment is kept at a high standard to the benefit our customers."

Rainton Bridge Business Park recently welcomed Sunderland technology company Leighton Group and is also home to RWE npower, the regional base for housebuilders McInerney Homes and the location of the City of Sunderland's e.volve Centre, which accommodates more than 30 small high-growth technology companies.

Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Paul Watson said: "Sunderland is very proud of its horticultural achievements in this year's Britain and Northumbria in Bloom awards, and its continued success in creating a green and pleasant environment for people to live, work and study in.

"We can only maintain this with the help and hard work of the public and business community, and these annual civic awards are our chance to recognise and reward the outstanding contribution of valued partners such as Goodman to our city."

Rainton Bridge Business Park, which is located on the A690 between Sunderland and Durham, is home to more than 2,300 staff. The site has more than 400,000 square feet of commercial property space, developed across seven buildings, with a remaining 20 acres of land still available for development.

Goodman, which owns, manages and develops more than 30 business and science parks across the UK and Europe, is now looking to target a range of potential new occupiers – including the region's SMEs – by offering flexible deals and office space which is sub-divisible from 2,000 sq.ft. up to 70,000 sq.ft. according to the occupiers' requirements.

Issued by:
Matthew Pittam / Phil Addicott
The BIG Partnership
0141 333 9585
matthew.pittam@bigpartnership.co.uk / Phil.addicott@bigpartnership.co.uk

07824 666956 / 07763 909 599

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Goodman Group, comprised of the stapled entities Goodman International Limited and Goodman Industrial Trust is the largest industrial property group listed on Australian Stock Exchange and one of the largest listed industrial property groups globally.

Goodman's global property expertise and integrated 'own+develop+manage' customer service philosophy ensures its customers receive an end-to-end solution to their property requirements. In Europe, Goodman has offices in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

Please visit: http://www.goodman.com/ukbusinessparks

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Thale, Reading -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/17/2010 -- Global property group Goodman is over-seeing a new £500,000 office fit-out for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) at its Scottish headquarters, in Glasgow due to an increase in staff at the organisation.

ACCA, the global body for accounting professionals will be refurbishing its 30,000 sq ft of offices in Glasgow in the ground and first floors of No.2 Central Quay and taking out temporary 5,000 sq ft accommodation at 138 Hydepark Street, next to Central Quay, the waterfront business park in Glasgow's International Financial Services District.

The ACCA has been based at Central Quay, which is managed and developed by Goodman, since 2004. The refit is being conducted to accommodate the increased number of staff at the organisation, which has doubled to 418 in the past six years.

Work has already started on site by contractors Vernier and the fit-out will be finished by Christmas. On completion there will be more desk space, breakout areas and an installation of new air conditioning units across the three offices.

Niall McGilp, Regional Development Director at Goodman, said: "Goodman's business parks and buildings offer customers flexible space allowing us to design and develop internal space plans to the exact specifications of any occupier. Our strong track record in delivering this service to our customers means we are able to alter office layouts with minimum disruption to staff and the day-to-day operation of their business.

"The existing office buildings at Central Quay business park are fully occupied and we are currently developing the next stages of the masterplan. This will set out in detail our proposals for future phases of the site's development, outlining a range of new office buildings and other amenities to be built at the current location."

Raymond Harvey, Facilities Manager at ACCA in Glasgow, said: "I'm happy with the way our refurbishment at 2 Central Quay is progressing, we have had some good positive feedback from staff and visitors. The new layout should allow for a better flow of traffic around the office and the additional meeting and breakout space will be extremely useful as we grow."

The 11-acre business park, which is owned by Arlington Business Parks Partnership, is also home to a number of companies and organisations such as GE International, NHS Scotland and Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd., who together occupy 158,000 sq.ft.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Matthew Pittam / Chris Black
The BIG Partnership
0141 333 9585
07763 909 599 / 07969 814 003
matthew.pittam@bigpartnership.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS
About Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Goodman Group, comprised of the stapled entities Goodman Limited and Goodman Industrial Trust, is the largest industrial property group listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the largest listed industrial property groups globally.

Goodman's global property expertise, integrated own+develop+manage customer service offering and significant fund management platform ensures it creates innovative property solutions that meet the individual requirements of its customers, whilst seeking to deliver attractive long-term returns for investors. In Europe, Goodman has offices in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
Please visit: http://www.goodman.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm