Rapleys sets up ‘National Hub’ in new Birmingham office

Published in Property Week (07.07.23)

UK, 3 JULY 2023 – Rapleys has launched a national hub for its people across the UK to use flexibly. The strategic property consultancy took a lease for a first-floor premium office suite at newly refurbished 120 Colmore Row, in the heart of Birmingham’s business district, for its new space.

Rapleys has 175 people across seven regional offices including Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Huntingdon, London and Manchester. The business removed core working hours in its recent People Plan, meaning all employees have the opportunity to work whenever and wherever they like, with the agreement of their line manager, having pioneered the 4-day week and 9-day fortnight pre-Covid.

The Birmingham team has specialists from Building Consultancy, Commercial, Planning & Residential plus sectors including Automotive & Roadside, Charity & Not For Profit, Healthcare, Dentistry & Veterinary, Housing, Offices, Industrial and Retail & Leisure.

Jane Nichols, head of Rapleys’ Birmingham, said: “120 Colmore Row is an exceptional, flexible space that works perfectly as a hub for our business. It offers room to grow from our existing space a few doors down. Our Birmingham team has a full-service offer in line with our national core divisions of Building Consultancy, Commercial, Planning and Residential and our numerous industry specialisms – both traditional and alternatives/niche so it works well as a hub. The team are excited to have such a new space in the city centre that provides a brilliant first impression for our clients as well as an excellent workspace for our people, whether based there or visiting.

Richard Crow, partner in Birmingham, said: “Rapleys have had a Birmingham office presence for 7yrs, where we have slowly grown our regional offerings. The Birmingham and West Midlands growth and expansion have been the vision of the company for a number of years, which was a pivotal factor for me, when Justin Tuckwell sold me the vision of the business, prior to me joining two years ago. Moving into a larger, more modern office is a significant step forward with our growth and expansion plans.”  

Justin Tuckwell, Managing Partner at Rapleys, said: “We are firmly focussed on providing the best workspace and experience for our people. It was important to us that we based a national hub where people can come together from all over the UK to work, socialise, learn and network, outside of London. Too often businesses are seen as London-centric or run from the Capital, whereas our regional people operate as one overall team nationally. This space also needed to accommodate our future growth strategy which is in full force, and we want to ensure the best workplace for our people to feel comfortable, healthy and happy while using it however and whenever they wish to, as per our recent decision to remove core working hours as part of our new People Plan launched in May.”

Rapleys has recently hired a number of senior specialists to run teams and disciplines who are based across the regions including Jack Cawthra, based in Manchester as head of cost consultancy, William Gittus as head of Leisure & Sport based in Bristol and Simon Corp as partner of Affordable housing, based on the South Coast. The business also acquired a team of planners – formerly known as CSJ – in Bristol. Rapleys has also been open about its desire for a team/office in Leeds to take its regional presence to seven offices.

120 Colmore Row is billed as an exceptional space with an elegant Victorian façade, four floors including office suites and designated areas for collaborative working. It was recently redeveloped by AHWL who were advised by Vail Williams on the leasing to Rapleys, which was the first major letting at the building.