London calling for architecture firm

ARCHITECTS at The Harris Partnership are expanding into London.

The Harris Partnership, based in Wakefield, are behind developments such as Flemingate in Beverley, the redevelopment of the former Yorkshire Post site and the White Rose Shopping Centre.

Now, the 140-strong firm are looking for further investment in their growth strategy.

The firm’s new offices are located at St Christopher’s Place W1. It already has offices in Manchester, Milton Keynes and Reading.

Group managing director, Mike Schorah spoke to TheBusinessDesk.com. He said: “Over the last few years post recession, work from major London-based funds, including British Land, L&G and JP Morgan, has kept us going.

“We found ourselves down on the train quite a bit and as we’ve come out of recession that workload from London funds has not decreased. We felt the time was right to create a design hub there, to feed the wheels of the offices in other regions.

“Having that presence is important for our clients as well. I’m a proud Yorkshireman and we still have our Wakefield office as the head office because of the great infrastructure.

“As we’ve expanded now with more of a national presence, we feel we need a London base to get people in to showcase what we do.”

Mr Schorah described the business as a “small giant” – reflecting its expansive coverage as well as the commercial and retail projects it undertakes. But the business could be getting even bigger in the coming years.

“Our next adventure could be moving further north itself,” he said, settling the London office and expanding it to include up to a dozen new staff is a more immediate priority.

“We are particularly proud of our track record of bringing major investment schemes to the north that generate employment and economic prosperity, and our new London office will play an important role in growing that investment stream over coming years,” he said.