Law firm relocates to Birmingham’s CBD

Thompsons Solicitors is set to relocate its Birmingham office to Embassy House.

Thompsons Solicitors, which specialises in personal injury claims, has signed a 10 year lease on 7,600 sq ft of office space at Embassy House. The deal was agreed by Cushman & Wakefield on behalf of the landlord, Catalyst Capital, whilst Sanderson Weatherall represented Thompsons Solicitors.

Located on the corner of Church Street and Cornwall Street in Birmingham city centre, Embassy House is situated in the heart of the central business district.

Embassy House comprises a 10-storey office building of 64,070 sq ft and was recently acquired by Catalyst Capital, the European real estate investment and asset management firm, from Royal London Asset Management. The new owner has plans to improve it further following an extensive refurbishment carried out in 2012. Highlights include a refreshed reception area, roof terraces on the upper floors, plus cycle storage, showers and a drying room in the basement.

David Rigby, Associate in Cushman & Wakefield’s office agency team, commented: “We are delighted to have agreed this letting to Thompsons Solicitors at Embassy House. The company joins established tenants such as Maersk, AIG and Marston Group. Embassy House continues to attract quality tenants looking for competitively priced office space in a central location. The planned improvements are going to help us attract further tenants in the near future.”

Sarah Cooper of Catalyst Capital commented: “This is an exciting opportunity to improve and refresh Embassy House, which is well positioned both within the central business district and within close proximity to the Snow Hill regeneration area. 60 Church Street offers a good address at competitive rents and modern facilities which we are looking to improve further.”

GVA has been appointed as joint letting agent alongside Cushman & Wakefield.

James Walters, Associate at GVA, said: “GVA are delighted to be appointed as joint letting agent for Embassy House and we are extremely excited by the improvement plans that Catalyst have for the building. The office market in Birmingham is continuing to show significant movement and while standards consistently improve there is a current lack of readily available high specification office space in the city centre. This makes the refurbishments of existing stock, including Embassy House, essential in meeting future demand.”

Thompsons Solicitors has 14 offices across the UK and was previously based at the Mclaren building in Birmingham but required office space which allowed its staff to occupy space across a single floorplate.