There has been no shortage of hand-wringing over Glasgow city centre in recent times.

Clearly, there are areas of the city centre that present major challenges.

And Glasgow had a painfully slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, relative to other UK cities. There is no doubt about that.

However, when it comes to the cold numbers these days, there is plenty that is encouraging.

Notably, there has been a steady flow of good news on the Glasgow office market.

This might come as a surprise to some people who harbour hardline views against hybrid or remote working, who sometimes, it seems, like to paint a picture that such arrangements are responsible for all the woe of Glasgow city centre. Such people also tend to overlook the huge productivity gains that many workers can harness when working remotely but that is a whole other story.

The latest good news on the Glasgow office market came this week from independent property consultancy Knight Frank, which forecast a sharp rise in headline office rents in Glasgow to record levels.

This prediction on rents, on which I reported exclusively this week, does not really chime with the yarn that is spun by the hardliners on the return to office topic.

Knight Frank said rents are expected to climb as potential occupiers compete for a declining supply of Grade A office space in Glasgow city centre.

The property consultancy declared that Glasgow’s headline office rent could reach £45 per square foot for the first time by the end of 2026, “as occupiers compete for the dwindling supply of high-quality space in the city centre”.

Simon Capaldi, office agency partner at Knight Frank in Glasgow, flagged the fall in availability of Grade A space as a sign of........

© Herald Scotland