Great Portland joins the big Old Street rush with £30m buy

Great Portland Estates has joined the property industry's rush into Old Street's Silicon Roundabout by spending £30m on the Post Office's headquarters.

GPE's Great Ropemaker Partnership, a 50/50 joint venture with the BP Pension Fund, has bought 148 Old Street from the sole ownership of the BP fund. The deal underlines the buzz around east London's growing "tech belt", after rival property firm Derwent last month committed to build its new White Collar Factory there. The No 148 building is let to Royal Mail, which pays £2.1m a year in rent, but it is now occupied by the Post Office, which was hived off in April last year.