Risk Management firm, AMP Risk Management Ltd (AMP), has launched its first Leeds City Centre office at 114 Wellington Street in a move that signals almost 200 new jobs for the city and near full occupation of Bruntwood’s 127,000 sq ft West One estate. CBRE acted for Bruntwood and AMP was unrepresented.
Following a recent investment enabling AMP to enter a phase of significant growth, the firm has relocated from out of town offices on York Road into the 8,299 sq ft 7th floor at West One’s 114 Wellington Street office building. Bruntwood’s West One estate was expanded in 2013 with the acquisition and speculative refurbishment of the adjacent 100 Wellington Street. The two buildings total some 127,000 sq ft and form one of the largest multi-let office buildings within Leeds City Centre.
Following this latest deal, West One is now operating at 99.9% occupation, its highest occupancy since the estate’s expansion. Cornerstone Direct join a host of existing customers including; Handelsbanken, Carat, Stickyeyes, URS and DLA Piper.
AMP, which is part of Fortisworld Group, was established in 2012 with just two engineers and after a year of trading it had carried out over 300,000 appliance tests for its 8,000 customer base. The team of 12 from York Road has been immediately boosted to 57 upon the move to West One and AMP will be filling a further 160 new positions in the next 12 months as it seeks 120 office staff and 40 engineers.
Craig Burrow, Director of Bruntwood’s Leeds business, said; “We are delighted to have been selected as AMP’s new city centre base and to be welcoming yet another customer to West One. To be operating at such high occupancy levels is a great result for this extensive scheme and demonstrates the success of the refurbishment works and the appeal of Leeds’ West End commercial district.”
Alex Hailey, Senior Surveyor at CBRE’s Leeds office, continued; “Only a limited number of small suites remain available at West One, making it one of the city’s true success stories. Bruntwood’s decision to speculatively refurbish 100 Wellington Street paid off and the quality accommodation was snapped up by a good mix of tenants.”
Simon Waterton, Managing Director of AMP, commented; “The recent investment into AMP has enabled us to press on with the second phase of business growth and we are incredibly excited to be establishing our Leeds City Centre office. We viewed over 30 offices and West One ticked all the boxes with location, parking, on-site gym, great reception and the added benefit of nearby quality hotels for our overseas visitors. We are actively recruiting for the rest of our team and hope to have a further 160 staff by Autumn 2015.”
DTZ is joint agent on West One with CBRE.
