'Much-needed' new office space to be created in Leamington town centre

Warwickshire County Council’s Holly Walk House in Brandon Parade will undergo a £1 million refurbishment
Sarah Windrum, chair of CWLEP, outside Holly Walk House in Leamington.Sarah Windrum, chair of CWLEP, outside Holly Walk House in Leamington.
Sarah Windrum, chair of CWLEP, outside Holly Walk House in Leamington.

A plan to create "much-needed" new office space for small and medium sized businesses is soon to be underway in Leamington.

Warwickshire County Council’s Holly Walk House, in Brandon Parade, is set to undergo a £1 million refurbishment.

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This is thanks, in part, to funding of £500,000 from the Government’s Getting Building Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) with additional funding of £500,000 from the County Council towards the project.

The project involves transforming about 5,500 sq ft of office accommodation over three floors, previously occupied by staff from the council’s adult and children’s services, to create office suites.

Holly Walk House is a pair of Grade II listed semi-detached buildings, dating from around 1843, which were joined and converted into offices in the 1970s.

Contractor Sandell Group succeeded in winning the £800,000 refurbishment tender and will be starting on site this month with completion due in May 2022.

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The architects for the project are YMD Boon and QS Thornton Firkin.

Cllr Peter Butlin, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for property and finance, said: “We identified Holly Walk House as a great opportunity to create much-needed new office space in Leamington, to meet a gap in the market, which will complement and support the other spaces also coming on stream in the town in the future.

“There is a particular need for office space for the growing gaming, digital and creative sectors.

"Our inward investment team is actively working with a number of businesses that are looking for office space of this type and size, and Holly Walk House will offer space for these businesses to expand and grow, and is an attractive addition to the business premises that the County Council already offer in their portfolio.”

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Marketing of the offices will start later in the year, but the council is expecting early interest from companies wishing to lease the new accommodation.

“Sarah Windrum, chair of CWLEP, said: “Many digital creative businesses have continued to grow despite the pandemic and these purpose-designed offices in Holly Walk will provide the space many companies need to expand further in the area.

“Strengthening Coventry and Warwickshire’s global reputation as a cluster of digital creative talent to support growth and attract investment is one of the key pillars of CWLEP’s Strategic Reset Framework.

"Projects such as this – funded through the Getting Building Fund – will help our existing innovative businesses retain highly-skilled employees as well as entice more."