John Lewis Partnership has chosen TCN’s new creative workspace in Birmingham as the location for its new innovation hub.
The company has taken 800 sq ft in TCN’s Grade II listed Assay Studios, formerly the Assay Building, located in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, one of the city’s most vibrant and lively areas. TCN, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month (November 2016), is a nationwide workspace developer and operator. Assay Studios is its first building in Birmingham, adding to a nationwide portfolio that includes London, Bristol, Norwich and Glasgow.
Jujhar Singh, Lead Engineer of John Lewis Tech Hub, said: “We’re delighted to have joined TCN’s Assay Studios building. They have created an energising, imaginative and inspiring place marrying the heritage features of a 19th century building with modern finishes and facilities. It’s a place that we’re very much looking forward to working in, and being a part of a creative hub.”
TCN purchased the Assay Building in 2014 to regenerate it into 30,000 sq ft of creative office space, for Birmingham’s burgeoning creative and tech industries. The architects for the project, Glenn Howells Architects, have ensured that refurbishment has been sensitive to the local heritage space, with minimum intervention to achieve maximum impact, combining the existing characterful elements of the building with contemporary features to create eye-catching, modern office space.
Richard Pearce, CEO of TCN, said: “The growth potential for businesses in Birmingham is considerable. With the recent announcement by the Government of the Midlands Engine for Growth, the regional economy could grow by £34 billion by 2030. This will put significant pressure on office space, most especially for small and start-up businesses.”
Other Assay Studios tenants include Deliveroo, Grayling Communications, Green Room Retail Design, Emerald Technology Recruitment and Weareaspire Recruitment.
The launch of the building comes as TCN celebrates its tenth anniversary as a developer and operator of creative workspaces. Over the past 10 years, TCN has developed a strong track record of identifying opportunities for regeneration in growth areas of London and key regional cities, often becoming the catalyst for the wider regeneration of areas, including residential, retail and leisure.
Since the founding of the company in 2006, TCN has regenerated over 600,000 sq ft of space, including long term asset management of properties, attracting over 250 companies to its portfolio. TCN’s aim is to create innovative clusters for SMEs in the creative and tech industries, promoting opportunities for networking and building vibrant communities.
Richard Pearce commented: “TCN has grown steadily as the disruption to the traditional office market, and growth of the SME sector, has increased the relevance of creative workspace to satisfy demand. We’ve always worked to maintain the character of the buildings we regenerate and Assay Studios is a great example of this. It’s very pleasing to see the high-calibre of companies choosing Assay Studios as their new homes.”
Start-up food delivery company Deliveroo has taken 2,000 sq ft and global communications agency Grayling Communications has taken 1,800 sq ft, both on a five-year leases. Media and digital recruitment firms Emerald Technology Recruitment, Weareaspire Recruitment and Green Room Retail Design have taken 2,800 sq ft, 3,500 sq ft and 6,000 sq ft, respectively, all on 10-year leases.
The agents for Assay Studios are CBRE.