ESG team helps to underpin growth at commercial building consultancy
The formation of an in-house sustainability team at Jones Hargreaves, a commercial building, project and sustainability consultancy, has contributed to a 74% revenue uplift for the first six months of this year when compared to the same period in 2022.
The consultancy firm, which has offices in Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol and London, established its expert ESG team last summer in response to client demand. Since then, the business has hired eight people into its ESG team to scrutinise potential acquisitions, enhance the management of existing portfolios, advise on improving energy and carbon performance and much more.
During the first half of 2023, Jones Hargreaves fulfilled more than 450 client instructions across all commercial building projects. In the latest trading quarter, between April-June 2023, new office refurbishment and fit-out instructions dominated as clients looked to re-invest in and enhance their existing portfolios.
Matthew Jones, partner at Jones Hargreaves, said: “In the last year we’ve focused on investing in our team to broaden services and expertise and this has underpinned a strong half year of trading for 2023. It’s really promising to see how well the ESG team has established itself. This has had a positive impact for our clients, who have valued being able to access expertise in one place when dealing with complex commercial builds and fit-outs.
“Despite some headwinds in the market, we continue to see a healthy appetite and pipeline for commercial building projects in the regions we operate in across the UK. We will continue to focus on delivering high quality end-to-end projects with ESG as a central pillar where clients require this.”
Projects completed in the first half of 2023 include the fit-out of Gilbanks in Manchester, refurbishment of Unit 2 Centenary Park in Salford, common area refurbishment of Apex House in Birmingham, refurbishment of Treloggan Industrial Estate in Newquay and fit-out for a national IT firm at One Sovereign Quay in Leeds. In Wales, the consultancy has led the refurbishment of several commercial buildings including M2-M6 Capital Business Park in Cardiff, Units 1 & 2 Ely Industrial Estate in Tonypandy and three units at Bedwas House Industrial Estate in Caerphilly.
