Area opens new Birmingham office

Office design and fit-out form Area is expanding its UK operation and opening a new office base in Birmingham to support and grow its existing client base. The move to Birmingham – one of the UK’s most dynamic regions – comes on the back of a series of successful projects in the region and builds on strong relationships with local clients such as Mills & Reeve, Zurich, Legal & General, Jaguar Land Rover, KPMG, Handelsbanken, Aviva, Grant Thornton and Deloitte. Birmingham and the West Midlands are regarded by economists and businesses alike as one of the most promising places in Britain to invest and grow, which creates opportunities for the commercial property market.

Andrew Harris, Regional Director for the West Midlands, has been working for Area’s Thames Valley team for the past five years. Residing locally to Birmingham, Andrew has been working within the region for over four years, and upon seeing the potential the region has to offer, personally championed Area’s expansion into Birmingham.

Andrew Harris comments:  “When setting out on this venture I have often been asked ‘why Birmingham?’ and my response has been: The West Midlands has presented an amazing opportunity since working in this region for the past five years. In that time, Birmingham has become a “home from home” for me. The community has been so warm and welcoming and the people I have met are passionate in building long, solid and sound relationships. The Area team and I are hugely excited to be able to better serve our clients across the West Midlands, and our workplace strategy offering and thought leadership approach enables us to offer something new.”

Gary Chandler, Chief Executive of Area said: “Our clients are based across the breadth of the UK, it’s therefore important for us to focus on our domestic market beyond Southern England. It made perfect sense to have a strong base in Birmingham. The whole region has tremendous ambition to prosper and benefits from great connectivity as well as a strong talent pool. The Midlands has so much appeal – we want to be at the heart of it, in the middle of Birmingham.”

Nicola Hewitt, Commercial Director at the West Midlands Growth Company, said:  “Area’s decision to launch a new office in Birmingham – its first UK base outside of the South East region – is testament to the region’s fast-growing business, professional and financial services sector. Home to more financial and professional services businesses than any other core regional city in the UK, Birmingham has welcomed an impressive portfolio of global banking, management and insurance firms in recent years, and continues to attract investment from expanding companies who want to make the most of the city’s unique connectivity and highly-skilled talent pool in this area.

“Area will be well-placed within the region’s thriving business community and we look forward to seeing more of their design excellence in office spaces across the city and the wider region.”