A national finance firm has announced it will spend £1.4m on its new Liverpool office - which will feature a military bunker meeting room, suites dedicated to Everton and Liverpool legends, and a podcast studio modelled on Oprah Winfrey's set.
Sedulo says the lease for its new offices at the iconic Exchange Flags development will cost more than £1m, with a further £400,000 to transform the 7,000sq ft space, with features honouring the city's history.
Included in the new workplace will be a Jurgen Klopp and Howard Kendall suite with an indoor garden, dugouts, table football machines and seats in blue and red.
The main board meeting room has been designed like a military bunker, complete with sandbags and 1940s Wrens uniforms - to pay respects to the building which once housed a bomb-proof bunker in the basement of Walker House as part of a military command headquarters.
There will also be a McVitie’s/Crawfords suite - with Crawfords having been a major Liverpool confectioners producing biscuits from the late 1800s until it merged with McVitie’s in the 1970s. Sedulo will serve afternoon tea each day in its Liverpool office with a stock of Crawfords biscuits for staff.
A podcast studio, modelled on Oprah Winfrey’s set, is being put in place to remember the slave trading that took place at Exchange Flags, while there will also be a 3,000 sq ft bar, an outdoor Victorian terrace garden overlooking the Royal Liver Building and an American diner.
Sedulo founder Paul Cheetham-Karcz said: “From day one the plan was to open offices in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. We’ve got a London office but outside of the capital these are the UK’s most dynamic cities.
“I wanted to be the first proper advisory firm that had a real hold in each city, people have tried it before and done the odd seat, table or two-man desk but we didn’t want to do that as we wanted to build a stronghold in all three.
“I love all three cities, Liverpool is great and I don’t understand the competition. If you ask me, 90% of all the cities are the same - they have strong working-class roots and are built on a strong work ethic but the 10%, culturally - that’s what makes them all fantastic. It’s those 10% quirks that I try to respect.
“Bringing in the locality, paying respects to the building we are in and tipping the hat to the history of the area is really important. I am incredibly excited to be launching Sedulo in Liverpool.”
Sedulo, which also has a base in London, started out as a tax accountancy firm but developed into a company providing a suite of financial services including advice on taxes, mortgages, financial planning and accountancy.
The company invests in businesses and recent funding has been agreed with a Wirral travel company, a gym wear brand and a nutrition performance start-up.
Mr Cheetham-Karcz said: “The reason why we built all that is because entrepreneurs are busy and if you’re not careful, you can get fragmented.
“We then realized footballers, boxers, athletes, musicians, actors, presenters, TV celebrities and busy business leaders all need the same thing and are looking for an all round holistic advisor - rather than several different people advising you without ever being in the same room.
“So they need an overall vision and that is what we provide.”
