Architects group moves 100 staff back to Wolverhampton
An international architects’ group has moved back into its former Wolverhampton home.
More than 100 staff at RPS Planning & Development have now relocated to the Grade II-listed offices at Salisbury House on Tettenhall Road, where the company is hoping to take on apprentices as part of its expansion plans.
RPS employs around 2,000 people across the UK and Ireland, and 5,000 around the world, with the Wolverhampton office handling architecture, civil engineering, building services and landscape architecture services.
Rod Spiby, a partner at Bulleys, said: “We were delighted to have negotiated new terms that brought RPS back into Salisbury House, a distinguished property in a prominent position on the main A41 road.
“This is a great location with plenty of space for potential future expansion, and we’re sure the company and its staff will quickly settle and will be happy to be working back in Wolverhampton again.”
The move comes around five years after RPS relocated to Quinton.
Alan Green, managing director for design at RPS Planning & Development, said: “It’s great to be back in Wolverhampton as we have a lot of history here, and we’re grateful for Bulleys’ assistance at negotiating the right deal.
“We are thrilled to be able to open a Wolverhampton base which will further strengthen our West Midlands presence, bringing jobs into the area and building on our strong relationships with local clients.
“I think this is a positive move for both us and the city, and we hope to be able to contribute to its exciting future.”
Green was originally a partner at Mason Richards Partnership, also based in Salisbury House before it was acquired by RPS in 2004 and moved to Quinton about five years ago.
The offices were later occupied by Tarmac until the concrete business moved to the new i10 building in the city centre.
He said the end of RPS’ lease on its Quinton offices provided the opportunity to move back to Salisbury House.
Green said: “It was a bit like coming home, and so we’re very pleased to be back. We are hoping to establish links with the university in the city and looking to take on some apprentices as part of our expansion plans.”
Bulleys worked with letting agency Towler Shaw Roberts to arrange RPS’s rental of the 10,445 sq ft Salisbury House from a private landlord on a ten-year lease.
