BRUNTWOOD is reporting a 15-year high in enquiries from potential private sector occupiers for its Liverpool office space.

The North West firm, one of Merseyside’s biggest providers of office space, says its recent data contradicts the oft-made claim that the city is over-dependent on the public sector.

Bruntwood owns almost 872,000 sq ft of space in Liverpool and in 2010 saw lettings total 88,590 sq ft.

Its biggest properties in the city include The Plaza and the Cotton Exchange complex – both in Old Hall Street in the central business district.

The firm says that due to the demand for serviced office space it has increased the number of workstations at The Plaza by 25%.

In its annual report Bruntwood said: “Although London-based commentators sometimes view Liverpool as a city substantially dependent on the public sector, our recent experience could not be further from this.

“We have more active private sector negotiations ongoing than at any other time in our 15-year history of operating in the city.

“The fact that a good deal of this activity is within the SME sector is a healthy sign and backs up the recently-published statistics putting Liverpool third in the UK’s league table of locations for business start-ups, after London and Manchester.”

Last month, Bruntwood reported, the total value of its portfolio of offices was up 4% to £948m, and its net worth up 3.2%, to £310m for the year to the end of September 2010.

Turnover was up 3% to £100.2m, while net profit fell slightly to £11.1m.

Bruntwood owns more than 100 office buildings across Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham.

The report added: “New customers in Liverpool this year include HH Law, who have already expanded their space four-fold since signing with us in January, 2010.”