Law firm Hugh James is looking to sublet space at its Cardiff headquarters as it moves towards a permanent blended working from home and office approach.
It occupies more than 100,000 sq ft at the 2 Central Square grade A office building in the centre of the city, which is owned by Credit Suisse. It has now entered into consultation with nearly 600 staff at its HQ, which is expected to result in staff being office based on average for three days a week and two at home.
This will free up space, allowing it to sublet floors three and four which extend to around 40,000 sq ft. It will maintain floors five to eight, which provide around 70,000 sq ft of space. Property advisory firms Cooke & Arkwright and Emanuel Jones have been appointed to market the two floors to new tenants.
The firm moved staff at its previous Cardiff offices at Hodge House and Fusion Point under one roof at the newly built 2 Central Square in 2018.
It entered into a 20 year lease with no break clause at £25 a per sq ft. Assuming they can can sublet all the space at the same cost, it could save the firm around £1m a year in rent on the building. It will also make savings on building service charges and business rates.
The building, which extends to 145,000 sq ft, is also occupied by Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture.
Hugh James, which also has an expanding office in London, said its new approach would give staff the flexibility to balance the benefits of remote working with the collaboration that comes from office interaction.
The expansion of its London office follows a series of strategic hires and growing workloads with clients. It’s also significantly expanding its specialist asbestos team and securing a base in Southampton, to support clients and staff located across the south of England - including Plymouth, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
The firm’s managing partner, Alun Jones, said: “While we’ve always known it, Covid has brought into even sharper focus the importance of developing an agile business that is responsive to a changing environment and the shifting needs of our clients and workforce. We’re excited to be driving through a series of projects which puts Hugh James in the best possible shape for the next few years.
“The world has changed and naturally we’re adapting our services, our people and our real estate to reflect the current and future needs of the firm and the businesses and individuals we’re here to support.”
The building was the second office scheme to be completed at the wider Central Square development from Rightacres Property.
