the north east |


WALKER MORRIS ANNOUNCES FLAGSHIP OFFICE MOVE TO ACCOMMODATE FUTURE GROWTH


L


eading law firm, Walker Morris, is to relocate to 33 Wellington Street, Leeds – a move that will be the largest professional services relocation in the city for almost 15 years.


The building is undergoing a


comprehensive £10 million refurbishment to provide a premium working environment for Walker Morris with significantly improved sustainability credentials. Walker Morris, which was advised by specialist property consultancy Fox Lloyd Jones, will move from its current locations split across two buildings on King Street into 76,000 sq.ft of fully renovated, Grade A office space at the heart of the Leeds business district in summer 2019. Once complete, the relocation will see all 500 of Walker Morris’ staff together under one roof, underlining the Firm's position as the largest single site law firm outside London. Malcolm Simpson, incoming Managing


Partner of Walker Morris, commented: "This is a very exciting time for the firm.


Walker Morris is a fantastic firm, with the best people, superb clients and a great future. The move is a significant investment by the partners and underlines the confidence we have in our future growth plans for the firm. We are also investing heavily in our IT infrastructure, and the overall aim is to inspire our staff, and enable them to work more collaboratively and effectively; whether they are in the


COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2018


designed to provide an agile working environment; with a hybrid of open, private and meeting areas; which will engender collaboration, and support flexible and seamless team working for the Firm’s multidisciplinary client teams. When complete, the refurbished building will also feature a floor to ceiling glass façade to the offices, and a unique south facing outdoor courtyard area, which


office, working remotely at home, with clients or on the move."


The relocation commitment comes on the back of a major workplace analysis exercise by Walker Morris in consultation with its employees, to explore ways in which they can work together, both now and in the future, to use space more efficiently, and deliver innovative client services. The result is that the new Wellington Street offices have been


Walker Morris has a


distinctive strategy, operating from a single site centre of excellence in Leeds from which it services its national and international client base.


the Firm sees as a great and unique asset to be used for both client and employee events. The move will be underpinned by a number of ongoing IT infrastructure investments, all of which have been preceded by a multimillion pound investment in a new practice management system during 2017. Walker Morris has a distinctive strategy, operating from a single site centre of excellence in Leeds from which it services its national and international client base. The Firm has retained a dominant footprint within the region and is consistently ranked by Experian as one of the most active corporate law firms. At the same time the Firm has invested in developing national leading specialist teams enabling it to win over 70 per cent of its work from outside the region, including 20 per cent from clients based overseas. The property, which was bought by


Knight Frank Investment Management for Lancashire County Council Pension Fund from MEPC in 2010 for £20 million, was occupied by PWC for 20 years before PWC moved to new headquarters in the city at Central Square in October 2016.


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