Safety specialist Arco to bring 190 jobs to Hull city centre

Safety company Arco has completed a deal to open a national customer engagement centre in a former newspaper office, bringing around 200 jobs to Hull.

Arco, a family-owned business which dates back to 1884, plans to have the new centre up and running during the first week of July at WORX, a new office development created by Allenby Commercial at the junction of Beverley Road and Spring Bank in Hull.

Arco revealed earlier this year that it planned to bring its customer engagement services together under one roof, with 190 trained and equipped customer service specialists operating in the centre.

The investment programme will see the creation of 90 new posts in the region.

The company has now secured a 10-year lease at WORX and will move the first of the new arrivals into 14,000 sq ft of space this week.

The Hull Daily Mail, which moved to the purpose-built site in 1989, still occupies part of the first floor. Garness Jones is marketing the rest of the property, with around 11,500 sq ft still available and another leisure use to be announced soon.

This new facility is part of Arco’s investment programme that includes the £25m expansion of its National Distribution Centre on Clive Sullivan Way, which will double its warehouse and distribution capacity and create up to 200 new jobs when it opens in 2019.

Sacha Redman, divisional director of Customer Experience, said: “Our business is undergoing a period of significant investment as we transform our customer offer. The new location will open with the latest cloud contact technology, ahead of our new digital platform launch later this year.

“Having a single location for handling all our customer interactions is a key part of this, and we were keen to create an office environment that is reflective of our ambitions.

“Arco has a long history in Hull, and the family are keen to continue their investments in the local community. Choosing Hull for the new location was always the desired choice. We have already recruited 60 new colleagues to join us in the new centre along with 120 existing colleagues.”

Georgia Allenby, Allenby Commercial’s marketing manager, added: “We saw the large, ground floor plate as a novelty space and a real opportunity to do something different and to link with the historical Botanical Gardens which were nearby.

“We also recognise the importance of providing modern, stylish space so we brought in Red Frog Design to create a grade ‘A’ office environment. Arco is a modern, forward-thinking Hull business and a global brand. We see them as the ideal operator for the WORX site, and we’ve worked hard to make sure the space fits all their requirements.”

Charlie Allenby, Contracts Manager at Allenby Commercial, also commented: “It’s been great to work with Arco who are a like-minded business. We were both keen from the offset to create a space that works for the users and their new offices show what can be achieved.

“This is a major milestone for WORX, and a multi-million-pound investment which will transform the landmark site. We place great emphasis on delivering quality accommodation and are continuing to do so with further offices from 1,000 to 11,500 sq ft coming to the market in the next few weeks.”

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