Amaze’s flight to First Street caused by toilet trouble

MANCHESTER-based marketing agency Amaze’s hasty relocation of its headquarters from Chapel Street in Manchester’s Castlefield district came as a result of problems with the building’s sewage system.

TheBusinessDesk.com understands that shortly after Amaze relocated staff from offices in Warrington and Manchester into its flagship new headquarters in February, it was discovered that effluent from some of the toilets was being discharged into a nearby canal.

Once the discovery was made, toilets were closed off and portable loos were shipped onto the site.

Amaze agreed a leasehold deal in February 2009 to take 12,000 sq ft of offices at Chapel Street from Bluetree Estates , which had bought the building three years earlier from pop mogul Pete Waterman for £1m. Bluetree agreed a reported £3m mortgage deal with Nat West in November 2008 to fund its conversion.
 
A spokeswoman for Amaze said that the firm had “teething problems” with the building. She admitted that this was related to the building’s sewage system, but declined  to comment further. She said that the firm began to look for new premises during the summer, arguing that the First Street site represented a “fantastic opportunity” for the business.

Within the past 18 months, Amaze’s parent company Hasgrove plc has declared excpetional costs of £1.4m relating to the firm’s move, associated redundancy costs following the closure of  its Daresbury office and a bad debt incurred in Germany. It did not break down how much of these exceptionals related purely to the move.

Last Friday, it announced a move into 18,000 sq ft of space at the top floor of Ask Development’s nearby Number One First Street building. It said the offices would be operational by Monday (22nd).

“We think Chapel Studios is a stunning building and it remains so, but if something is not as you want it to be you have to make certain decisions,” said the spokeswoman.

Rod Hyde, chief executive of parent group Hasgrove plc said the new First Street headquarters were in “a prestigious building with notable environmental credentials”.

“We are committed to creating office spaces that foster the best opportunities for collaborative working and innovation and this setting on the top floor offers a huge expanse of natural light and stunning views over the south side of the city, which make it an impressive place to work,” he said.

Bluetree Estates was unavailable for comment.