Member Article

Unusual new Manchester city centre office for recruitment consultancy

Recruitment firm Search Consultancy wished their new office in Manchester to reflect their status as a major player in UK recruitment.

The interior space planning, design and fit-out of this new 14,250 sqft office has now been completed by Ben Johnson Interiors. Search UK was so impressed that they made a short time-lapse film of the work being carried out and have placed it on their website.

Corner Block, Quay Street, Manchester is the first of the consultancy’s UK offices to have exposed ceilings and columns and so has a contemporary, industrial feel, but this style sometimes causes problems with echoing and acoustics. As a solution, Ben Johnson Interiors suggested using Flutex flooring which is a carpet/vinyl hybrid, offering a practical, concrete finish look but with the softer, acoustic properties of carpet and the resilience of vinyl.

High specification, acoustic glass partitioning between areas and some meeting rooms was also installed to minimise noise, introduce natural light and convey an open, transparent feel to the interior. Another departure from Search’s previous office layouts has been the introduction of staff lockers to facilitate a shift to a more agile, flexible culture.

As its Northern “flagship” office, Search was keen to add a further “wow” factor to this new workplace and so Ben Johnson Interiors installed an eye-catching, white reception desk complete with integrated Search logo and a feature wrought iron back panel.

Debbie Caswell, Chief Operating Officer at Search said: “Our employees are delighted with the investment in the premises and the designers really did meet our brief for creating a space we could all be proud of, and one aligned to our business culture.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kate Slater .