Office move is Shropshire’s Biggest for 15 Years

Waste management business Reconomy is set to move into new offices in what agents in the county say is the biggest such deal Shropshire has seen in 15 years.
The company announced in January that it had taken over Shrewsbury-based Countrywide Waste Management, and the businesses are now set to join together at HMRC’s former offices in Kelsall House at Stafford Park in Telford.
With around 30 staff joining the firm as a result of the acquisition, and with the company’s currentoffices on Stafford Park 7 fit to burst, the business is now set to relocate to another site on the Telford industrial estate.
It now has around 180 staff, while turnover is running ahead of target at around £95 million.
Managing director Paul Cox said: “It’s an exciting time for ourselves, everybody involved, and I think for Telford.
“Bringing everyone under one roof from the two companies is important for the business in terms of growth, and for Telford.
“That’s because it means we don’t have to lift up and move down the M54 which was nearly the case due to our not being able to find another site.”
Reconomy is now refurbishing its new home, on which it has agreed a lease deal, and expects to complete it move by May.
It will also add the necessary capacity for additional jobs to be created in the future.
Mr Cox added: “Countrywide was getting to the stage as a business where it was having to look at putting extra resources in place, like HR and training departments, whereas we already have those things.
“We are continually recruiting and looking at embedding high quality people in the business, and the new site will give us the capacity to grow.
“Our aim was to create a national head office. We were already the largest outsourcing waste management business, and this gives us the capacity to continue growing and to plan for the future.”
Commercial agents Andrew Dixon & Co said the deal was “probably the largest letting on a single building completed in Shropshire in the last 15 years”.
The three-story, 24,732 sq ft office building was the home of the Inland Revenue in Telford until last summer.
Nicholas Dixon, from the firm, added: “We were acting for an overseas based family trust, and initially faced a daunting task in a difficult market for large vacant office buildings.
“However, we identified the requirement from Reconomy Limited, who have experienced tremendous growth in the last few years and were looking for a corporate style headquarters building with large footplates and a generous onsite car park.”
The company, which was last year named as one of Britain’s 10 fastest growing waste companies, says it expects to continue growing at a rate of around 20 per cent a year.
The takeover of Countrywide was in the offing for six months following an approach for the Battlefield-based company by Reconomy, and was completed in late January. Countrywide owners Paul and Louise Corbett became part of the management of the company in the deal.
(full story from Shropshire Star PUBLISHED: April 7, 2015 08:00 LAST UPDATED: April 7, 2015 13:49)
http://www.shropshirestar.com/shropshire-business/2015/04/07/office-move-is-shropshire-s-biggest-for-15-years