Law firm’s 500 staff move into prominent 76,000 sq ft building
Law firm Walker Morris has this week relocated to its new 76,000 sq ft office at 33 Wellington Street in Leeds – a move that is the largest professional services relocation in the city for almost 15 years.
All 500 employees will work together under one roof, after the firm bought Benson House – the former home of PwC – in March 2018 in a mutli-million pound deal. Since then, it has undergone a major £10m refurbishment.
Walker Morris said the move from its former King Street premises, where it was split across two sites, underlined the firm’s position as one of the leading independent law firms outside London.
The new Wellington Street offices have been designed to provide an agile working environment; with a hybrid of open, private and meeting areas; which the law firm said would will engender collaboration, and support flexible and seamless team working for its multidisciplinary client teams.
The refurbished building features a floor to ceiling glass façade to the offices and a south facing outdoor courtyard area.
Malcolm Simpson, Managing Partner at Walker Morris, said: “This is a very exciting time for the firm. Walker Morris is a fantastic firm, with the best people, superb clients and a great future. Our new building provides us with an outstanding working environment which fits with our brand as a preeminent and distinctive law firm.”
The property, which was bought by Knight Frank Investment Management for Lancashire County Council Pension Fund from MEPC in 2010 for £20m, was previously occupied by PwC for 20 years before the firm moved to new headquarters in the city at Central Square in October 2016.
