Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, is set to move from 1 and 2 Wellington Place to newly developed 5 Wellington Place. The deal is one of the largest city centre deals in the UK this year* and comes as Willis Towers Watson continues to enjoy sustained growth.
The business, which was Wellington Place’s first occupier, having signed on the dotted line 17 years ago, now requires more space having seen its workforce expand from 80 to 240 employees. The company will be taking over 26,500 sq ft of office space across two floors of 5 Wellington Place, a 75,257 sq ft office and retail space that was completed last year. Work has already begun to prepare the office space ahead of the Willis Towers Watson move scheduled for early July.
Slavica Sedlan, Managing Consultant at Willis Towers Watson, said: “It was a very easy decision to make to stay at Wellington Place when we found we needed the additional office space. It was the best solution to meet our expansion needs, with the added bonus of staying with a highly attentive landlord and offering us the opportunity to create a forward thinking office space allowing for further growth.
“MEPC has shaped a fantastic environment within the Wellington Place development, creating an amazing sense of community and offering essential green space whilst being situated in an ideal location just on the edge of the town centre.”
James Dipple, CEO of MEPC also commented: “I’m delighted that Willis Towers Watson has chosen to remain at Wellington Place and move across the site to accommodate their growth. Wellington Place is home to a number of occupiers who have been with us for a very long time; this is testament to our commitment to providing superb quality office and retail space, as well as our ability to provide a dedicated and responsive customer service.
“Willis Towers Watson is a company with a great office culture and geared around delivering excellent customer service. It’s always pleasing to have a happy occupier take up more space within Wellington Place, which illustrates how well cultures are aligned.”
The development at 5 Wellington Place currently has two further floors to be let remaining at the prominent five-storey building, offering grade A office accommodation with ancillary retail space and benefits from a BREAAM excellent rating. The significant location, on the junction of Northern Street and Whitehall Road, establishes 5 Wellington Place as a striking landmark building for Leeds as part of the wider 290,000 sq. ft. of recently constructed existing office and retail space at Wellington Place, with additional amenities such as a state-of-the-art gym, bars and restaurants, and five-a-side football on-site at the new urban quarter, which has over an acre of public space.
Number 3 Wellington Place is the next exciting phase which is due to complete in December this year. Situated on the junction of Wellington Street and Northern Street, the building will form the principal north-east gateway into Wellington Place.
