Travis Baker doubles size of Nottingham office

Planning consultancy Travis Baker has doubled the size of its Nottingham office after moving into offices on Stoney Street. The new site, which is a former lace mill, was redeveloped by landlords working alongside professional services firm FHP Property Consultancy – the group which also brokered the tenancy of Travis Baker.

Following a record first half of 2017, which saw Chinese investors pump cash into the London real estate scene, recent analysis from CBRE shows that interest in commercial real estate in London remains strong. However, optimism in the face of a challenging Brexit is by no means limited to London, when it comes to the office real estate space at least.

2018 has already seen numerous consulting firms opt to expand their offices in the Midlands and the North of England, in anticipation of heightened demand and a growing headcount. Last year, PwC announced it would boost its presence in Birmingham by 2019, while recently this saw RSM expand its technology and management offering with the launch of a new Manchester-based hub. BDO similarly grew its Liverpool office space, amid its team expansion, at the end of February. Now, Travis Baker has opted to expand its presence as well.

Established in 2006, Travis Baker’s team of 40 staff, predominantly consisting of professional consulting engineers, works to provide clients with civil, geo-environmental, structural engineering services, as well as to support transport planning projects, among other offerings. Over the last 12 years, the company’s focus on cost effectiveness and sustainability in its solutions has led to strong growth, and Travis Baker now caters to the needs of a nationwide client base.

In 2012, this saw the firm’s initial expansion into its second office in Nottingham, from which Travis Baker employees provided transport planning and civil engineering services in particular. Six years later, the firm, which also boasts an office in the UK’s second city of Birmingham, has opted to double the size of its Nottingham presence.

Travis Baker has leased new offices at 39 Stoney Street, following a high quality refurbishment which was undertaken by the landlords working alongside FHP Property Consultants. FHP also brokered the deal which sees Travis Baker staff take up residency in the Lace Market locale.

Rob Travis of Travis Baker remarked on the move, “We are delighted with our move to Stoney Street which offers us the opportunity for expansion and growth in the East Midlands region.”

Office expansion

Mark Tomlinson, a Director at FHP, said, “I am delighted that we could help Travis Baker Transport Planning with their office move,” before adding, on the growth of FHP themselves, “Providing the right quality of accommodation and working in an environment for staff has become increasingly important over the last few years with the acquisition of good talent going hand in hand with the quality of offices a company provides.”

Property consultants FHP – who also maintain an office in Nottingham, alongside another in Derby – are active in the East Midlands and nationally within the retail and industrial lettings sector, providing a full range of property professional services to businesses and individuals. According to Tomlinson, the results of 39 Stoney Street are just part of a city-wide redevelopment which could act as a major boost to businesses looking for office space in the area.

“The Lace Market is an ideal location for many companies and its former lace mills are ideal to provide attractive stripped back work spaces. We have been working with a number of landlords in the city centre to provide ‘design led’ accommodation, and 39 Stoney Street was no exception… As a result, we are seeing an improvement in achievable rental values for office space across the city centre,” Tomlinson stated.