Telecoms firm doubles Sheffield office space

FAST-GROWING telecoms business XLN has doubled its office space in Sheffield just 10 months after moving in.

The firm is doubling its existing 14,000 sq ft at One North Bank. XLN is now occupying two floors of the riverside building.

The company, which supplies services such as phones, internet and energy to small businesses, was ranked at number 85 on the 2015 Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 which ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits, based on performance over the past three years.

Peter Whiteley, partner at Knight Frank, which is acting for One North Bank landlord Commercial Estates Group, said: “This past year has been an exciting one for XLN, with huge expansion to Sheffield.

“Sheffield was chosen by the XLN founder Christian Nellemann as the location for its expansion from London ahead of other northern cities. Its transport links, world-class universities and excellent companies were behind the decision.”

“What is appealing about North Bank is its Grade A office space in close proximity to the city centre, offering the best accommodation, but avoiding the headline rents evidenced in other key cities.”

XLN founder and group shief executive Christian Nellemann said: “Sheffield was the perfect choice for XLN and so was One North Bank. It’s a grade A building and we are investing huge sums in employee well being. It isn’t easy starting from scratch in a new city but we now employ over 160 amazing people and we are looking to double that over the next year. We are starting to attract high calibre candidates from other companies that want to be part of our exciting journey.”

Jonathan Baucher, partner at Cushman Wakefield, acting for XLN, said: “Having conducted an extensive search of both the Nottingham and Sheffield markets, XLN identified One North Bank as its preferred destination for new premises. The building has been extensively refurbished and provides a high internal specification floorplate with the ability to further expand, which was most attractive to the business.”

A management buyout in the last quarter saw ECI Partners triple their return on investment in XLN.
The company moved to Millbank Tower as a London base and the firm invested £40m in employment in the Sheffield office, with more than 160 employees now in total.