Bank moves offices to accommodate accelerated growth
DF Capital, the specialist commercial lending and personal savings bank, has moved to a larger office in Manchester city centre, with much needed space to accommodate its rapid growth over the past 12 months.
Formerly at 196 Deansgate, the 80-strong firm formally relocated to St James’ Building in Oxford Street earlier this month.
The newly refurbished office – on the ninth floor – is approximately 9,500 sq ft, which makes it twice as large as the Deansgate location.
The inspiration behind the new space was to provide DF Capital colleagues with a place to collaborate, learn, develop and have fun while at work, but also to be a great centre to meet with customers.
There are both formal meeting rooms designed for working as a group and informal social areas that allow colleagues to come together in a more relaxed, informal setting. As an innovative and customer-focused business, this space will encourage an atmosphere of discussion and teamwork and to connect people within DF Capital, enabling true collaboration so that the team can best support the needs of the bank’s customers and develop new products and services, it said.
The bank also has a training and innovation centre for learning and development activities, a wellbeing lounge with space for activities such as relaxation, mindfulness, yoga or Pilates and a quiet room offering tranquillity and privacy for personal activities such as prayer, meditation or looking after individuals’ mental health. An outdoor terrace with fantastic views of the city is also available for use by the company.
The new base reflects the agile culture of the bank and will provide ample space to continue its recruitment drive in the region.
Carl D’Ammassa, DF Capital chief executive, said: “We are all very excited to be moving into St James’ Building. It’s an iconic location with great character and our new office provides a modern environment in which to work, collaborate and further continue our entrepreneurial spirit.
“We expect the larger workspace, great community and superb facilities will attract talent from across the region as we mark the start of the next phase of our strategic growth plan and shows our commitment to growing our headquarters and team here in Manchester.”
Dominic Pozzoni, director and head of Colliers Manchester, advised DF Capital on its office relocation and said: “St James’ Building was identified as ideally suited to accommodate DF Capital’s expansion and growth.
“From the outset of the property search it was important to find somewhere which would not only would facilitate DF Capital’s growth, but also offer a workplace environment which would encourage collaboration, something which, post lockdown, all businesses are so very focused on providing. St James’ Building provided the ultimate solution to DF Capital’s brief.”
Recent full year results stated that DF Capital’s loan book grew by 36% in the 12 months ending December 31, 2020, and that it had a strong start to 2021 exceeding £193m at March 31, 2021, up 70% from December 31, 2020.
