Cooke & Arkwright
News
Countrywide expansion
21/06/07
Countrywide Property Lawyers (CPL), part of the Countrywide plc group and the largest residential conveyancer in the UK, has doubled its presence in Cardiff and taken the entire 14,000 sq ft on the 11th floor at Brunel House in Fitzalan Road, Cardiff. The company is expanding and strengthening its conveyancing teams to accommodate market growth and a growing volume of instructions. Having previously occupied part of the 8th floor, the move sees the number of employees at the Cardiff centre increasing from 80 (FTE) in January 2006, to 122 in May 2007.
“We anticipate that the centre will continue to grow with staff levels expected to reach 140 by the end of 2007,” said centre manager Rhian Robinson. “In January 2006 we were managing 2,500 customers; this increased to 3,300 in May this year and we expect to be handling around 4,000 clients by the year end.”
Other tenants of the sixteen storey building, let by Cooke & Arkwright, include Legal & General, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Irish Consulate, Black Horse Limited and Marsh Ltd. At approximately 225,000 sq ft, Brunel House is one of the largest privately owned office buildings in Cardiff.
Roger Thomas of Cooke & Arkwright, managing agents of Brunel House and joint letting agents, said that the 11th floor had been completely refurbished prior to the move. “We are now in the process of refurbishing the 9th floor on behalf of our clients, Dawnay Day Property Investment Limited, who own the building,” he said. “Office space within Cardiff city centre is at a premium and the space vacated by CPL on part of the 8th floor, along with the 9th floor following refurbishment, will quickly attract the attention of further key tenants.”
CPL said that Brunel House was seen as the ideal choice when considering the options for expansion, particularly as the requirement could be satisfied on a single floor. The move provides them with a modern, spacious, open plan environment, and the on-site facilities, including the gymnasium and crèche, are significant attractions which many of CPL’s existing staff utilise. Brunel House also occupies an excellent position in the city centre and is ideally situated to benefit from a host of public transport, parking and shopping facilities, which were key considerations for CPL as an employer when selecting the building.
Pictured, l to r: Roger Thomas, Cooke & Arkwright; Rhian Robinson, CPL; Gordon Hill, CPL; Alex Easton, King Sturge and Steven Matheson, LSH