Much-needed new office space for Leamington town centre

"We identified Holly Walk House as a great opportunity to create much-needed new office space in Leamington, to meet a gap in the market, which will complement and support the other spaces also coming on stream in the town in the future."

A plan to create much-needed new office space for small and medium sized businesses is soon to be underway in Leamington Spa.

Warwickshire County Council’s Holly Walk House, on Brandon Parade, is to be refurbished thanks to funding of £500,000 from the Government’s Getting Building Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) with additional funding of £500,000 from the County Council towards the project.

The project involves transforming approximately 5,500 sq ft of office accommodation over three floors, previously occupied by staff from the County Council’s Adult and Children’s Services, to create high-quality office suites.

Holly Walk House is a pair of Grade II listed semi-detached buildings, dating from around 1843, which were joined and converted into offices in the 1970s. The refurbishment project will protect the historic nature and charm of the property while at the same time creating modern flexible work spaces.

Local contractor Sandell Group succeeded in winning the £800k refurbishment tender and will be starting on site this month with completion due in May 2022. Architects on the project are YMD Boon and QS Thornton Firkin.

Leamington Spa is home to the largest cluster of video game developers, by economic value, outside of greater London according to national trade body Ukie, with a core of 50 businesses anchored around the town. Its growth has been phenomenal during the last 18 months with studios creating around 500 new jobs in the region.

Leamington’s vibrant town centre is very attractive to the creative industries. The diversity of national and independent retailers and the mix of unique food and beverage establishments provides an excellent offer for staff and is an attractive benefit to join their companies being so centrally located.

Cllr Peter Butlin, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for Property and Finance, said: “We identified Holly Walk House as a great opportunity to create much-needed new office space in Leamington, to meet a gap in the market, which will complement and support the other spaces also coming on stream in the town in the future.

“There is a particular need for office space for the growing gaming, digital and creative sectors. Our inward investment team is actively working with a number of businesses that are looking for office space of this type and size, and Holly Walk House will offer space for these businesses to expand and grow, and is an attractive addition to the business premises that the County Council already offer in their portfolio.”

Sarah Windrum, Chair of CWLEP, added: “Many digital creative businesses have continued to grow despite the pandemic and these purpose-designed offices in Holly Walk will provide the space many companies need to expand further in the area.

“Strengthening Coventry and Warwickshire’s global reputation as a cluster of digital creative talent to support growth and attract investment is one of the key pillars of CWLEP’s Strategic Reset Framework. Projects such as this – funded through the Getting Building Fund – will help our existing innovative businesses retain highly-skilled employees as well as entice more to locate within Silicon Spa.”

Marketing of the offices will start early next year, but the County Council is expecting early interest from companies wishing to lease the new accommodation.