Employment and skills charity WISE Ability has relocated into newly refurbished offices in Sheffield to allow greater interaction with jobseekers.
The charity, which delivers quality employment support, skills development and community development services to the community through a range of initiatives, has moved to St James House to capitalise on more flexible working space.
It has taken 6,000 sq ft on the ground floor of the building, being marketed by the Sheffield office of Knight Frank and Fernie Greaves, and become tenants alongside companies including Green Eco Grants, PK Education, Teaching Personnel and IBM.
Kay Sutton, chief executive at WISE Ability, said: “Our new office provides us with a much more suitable space than our former base at Cathedral Court. Not only is the space a more modern, working environment, but we can now hold events on site which offers a much more practical solution to meeting our jobseekers.”
Manchester developer MCR Property Group is completing the £1.25m refurbishment project on the 11-storey, 57,000 sq ft building in Sheffield’s Cathedral Quarter to provide much needed small to medium sized office suites in the city.
Rebecca Schofield, partner at Knight Frank, said: “The refurbishment project has been extensive on this building with the internal works, which includes new decor, communal areas and reception, and external works including new window replacement, nearing completion. MCR saw fantastic potential to add value to a city centre site. It is already paying off with tenants both relocating within the building and new tenants including Wise Ability moving in.”
Rebecca added: “The suites have filled a shortfall in good quality, smaller office stock in the city centre by offering sub 3,000 sq ft, broadband-ready suites available immediately for businesses.”
Charles Denby, asset manager at MCR, said: “Quality city centre office space in Sheffield is in relatively short supply, particularly across small to medium sized units of high specification. The refurbishment of St James House fits this remit and adds significantly to the MCR portfolio.”
St James House is located between the Fargate shopping area and the professional office areas of Campo Lane and Paradise Square, alongside popular office developments including Fountain Precinct and The Balance. Suites are available from 734 sq ft upwards.
