Our place, our time
By Matt Hammond, Midlands Region Chair and Senior Partner at PwC
Our 2000-strong Birmingham team has now completed its move to our new home, One Chamberlain Square, at Paradise.
It was a momentous first month in our new home, a time also to reflect on our decision to relocate across the city after more than 25 years at Cornwall Court.
The move to One Chamberlain Square begins the latest chapter in our proud involvement with the people, clients and communities in Birmingham and the Midlands, which dates back to the 19th century.
Our Firm celebrates its 170th anniversary in 2020, and in the UK we now employ more than 10,000 colleagues outside of London. Our decision to relocate our Midlands HQ, and significantly grow our headcount over a four-year period by 1,000 people, will ensure that we reach the milestone of 2,300 by 2021/22.
A landmark investment at One Chamberlain Square is testament to our commitment to growing and investing in our regional teams. Over the past three years we have put more of our people, expertise and technology into larger strategic locations, delivering a range of integrated services to best suit our clients’ needs.
One Chamberlain Square has been created as a home for several next generations of business leaders – a place where our teams can grow creating new opportunities for people now and in the future. From graduates, school leavers and apprentices, to Directors and Partners – our Midlands team is growing as we continue to attract people from different backgrounds, markets and industries.
We have created a first-class destination inspired by our location in the civic heart of Birmingham as well as our region’s heritage, culture and markets and industries. Our people decided that they wanted to be at the heart of the city and at the heart of the region.
Our team took inspiration from Birmingham’s motto ‘Forward’, as well as the striking graffiti art on an elevation of the Central Library by artist Lucy McLauchlan with the inscription ‘Todo Es Posible’, translated to mean ‘Everything is Possible’. We have carried these principles into every aspect of the design to create an unrivalled environment for our people, clients and visitors.
We recently hosted architect Eric Parry for a tour of the building enabling us to showcase the design of the internal spaces and views across the public realm squares. Each vista from the interior of One Chamberlain Square makes the very best of the high quality location at Paradise.
One Chamberlain Square is much more than an office investment. We have designed our space recognising that the future of work is changing rapidly. Technology, mobility and flexibility are at the heart of creating a distinctive destination, which connects our people, clients and the communities in which we work.
And this ethos has been the driving force behind our move ever since we first signed up to Paradise in 2016. Even then we had a vision to grow our team, our footprint and create opportunities for our people and communities, and we are now fulfilling that ambition as the leading tech-enabled firm.
But the move itself isn’t the end of our journey. It’s just the beginning as we look forward to making new possibilities a reality in our own home in Paradise.