Ian Coull's Slough Estates is to finish 2006 on a high note following the agreement of more than 758,000 sq ft (70,500 sq m) of pre-lets across its European portfolio.

The chief executive of the UK’s fifth largest quoted property company, told shareholders Slough had ended the year ‘in the same way we started it - delivering a series of transactions which demonstrate how we actively manage our assets.’

In Belgium, Slough has signed an 182,988 sq ft (17,000 sq m) pre-let to Ernst & Young for a bespoke office building at its Pegasus Park office scheme located in Diegem near Brussels airport. Ernst & Young has signed a 15-year lease at an annual rent of E2.3m (£1.54m).

Further east, global logistics company Kuehne & Nagel has agreed a 516,672 sq ft (4,800 sq m) pre-let at Slough’s speculative warehousing scheme at Tulipán Park in Prague. Kuehne & Nagel has signed a 52-month lease, at a rent of approximately E269,000 (£180,632).

Slough has also secured a 59,202 sq ft (5,500 sq m) office and light industrial pre-let from a French distributions company at its Carré des Aviateurs business park in Paris.

The letting is for a term of nine years at a rent of E460,000 (£308,888).

Closer to home, HelioSlough, the joint venture between Helios Properties and Slough, has secured a £100m forward funding deal with CBRE Investors to develop six speculative distribution properties totalling 1.57m sq ft (146,000 sq m) across the UK. The deal includes the 50 acre Sheffield International Railfreight Terminal (SIRFT), where HelioSlough will start immediately on two sheds totalling 622,000 sq ft (58,000 sq m).

Slough has acquired a development site in Newbury for £10.1m from Highcross. Slough hopes to develop 12 new warehouse and industrial units ranging

from 1,800 sq ft (167 sq m) up to 35,000 sq ft (3,251 sq m). The purchase also includes two industrial investments producing £536,000 a year.