£750,000 revamp ‘breathes new life’ into Aberdeen city centre building

The SRE Group said it was "fully behind" the regeneration of Union Street and sees "potential" in the city.

By Kelly Wilson

December 20 2024, 6:00 am

50 Huntly Street has been acquired and refurbished by SRE Group. Image: Skylark PR

An Aberdeen city centre office block has been revamped in a £750,000 project.

The SRE Group acquired 5o Huntly Street in the summer and has let two floors of the building to drilling firm Sekal.

The firm said it had decided to relocate to Aberdeen city centre to “upscale and grow its operations”.

SRE Group consultant John Grewar, who is in charge of the lettings, said the move by Sekal was a great example of a local firm keeping jobs in the city.

City centre regeneration

Extending to 14,581 sq ft across three floors and benefiting from 30 car parking spaces, 50 Huntly Street is a B-listed building and offers lift access, showers and cycle storage.

Mr Grewar said: “It’s a new base for Sekal and a great example of keeping jobs in Aberdeen.

“It’s a lovely building with a modern fit out and parking.

“We were able to buy it pretty cheap and we saw the potential by breaking it down to smaller units to make it easier to let.

50 Huntly Street was acquired and refurbished by SRE Group. Image: Skylark PR

“Next we are going to refurb the lower ground floor and we’ve hopefully got one of those suites under offer.

“We are very supportive of the city centre being alive. The regeneration of Union Street is good and we are all for Aberdeen city centre.”

Landmark building

Sekal, which specialises in automation for the drilling industry, has relocated from Anderson Drive, and let 8,509 sq ft at 50 Huntly Street.

Stewart MacKinnon, Sekal operations manager UK, said: “Our new space at 50 Huntly Street will be home to our expanding operations group and represents a significant upscaling in footprint to support continued growth and our expanding global customer base over the next 10 to 15 years.

To go with story by Kelly Wilson. 50 Huntly Street has been acquired and refurbished by SRE Group. Image: Skylark PR

“It is fantastic to see SRE’s commitment to breathing new life into one of Aberdeen’s landmark buildings providing us with a bespoke facility, full of character and tailored to our needs.”

Sekal will relocate to the first and ground floors as well as agreeing 21 car spaces on a 10 year lease.

SRE Group also owns the Union Point, Woodburn House and Merchant Exchange buildings in Aberdeen.

It also has plan to spend £5m on a revamp of Caledonian House, on the corner of Union Street and Union Row.