Great Annual Savings Group HR director
Judith Bennison with head of quality
and risk, Craig Shields, outside the firm’s
impressive new HQ in Seaham.
PICTURE BY TOM BANKS
FIT FOR
PURPOSE
Fully-subsidised
staff
gym part of impressive
plans for new £3m HQ
With stunning views across
the North-East coast, it’s
easy to see why Great
Annual Savings Group’s
new HQ will be a big pull for employees.
The ambitious firm has revealed exciting
plans to expand its total office space to
80,000 square feet, after agreeing a lease at
Spectrum 7 in Seaham.
The business cost-saving specialist aims
to double headcount this year and has
ambitions of becoming one of the largest
independent employers in the North-East.
The new £3m HQ of Great Annual Savings
Group (GAS) will include gaming zones and
a state-of-the-art, fully-subsidised gym for
staff, which will be managed by a trained
health and wellbeing manager.
But those are just some of the elements
which GAS believe will create a unique
workplace for its people.
Head of quality and risk Craig Shields,
who is project-managing the expansion, said:
“I think people have been surprised when we
said we're planning an on-site gym, but we
really meant it, and it's going to be a real topquality
facility, including a treatment room,
a private studio and an open-plan gym with
panoramic sea views.
“If you look at head office space around
the North-East, there aren't many that offer
this type of facility.
“It was something we were keen to do, to
stand us out from competition locally and be
a real point difference for our colleagues in
terms of retention and recruitment.”
Group HR director Judith Bennison
added: “We are bringing in an experienced
fitness expert and have branded our physical
wellbeing offer as GASfit (functional intense
training). This is going to be something our
colleagues around the country will be able
to benefit from through streamed classes,
personal programmes and nutrition advice.
“It will be linked to our GASTRO catering
facility and other wellbeing elements. We
have been clear about our commitment to
putting our people first at GAS and I think
this will set us apart, not just in the sector,
but in employment in the region.”
As well as the 8,000 sq ft gym, GAS’s HQ
will include health and wellbeing facilities,
a state-of-the-art catering set-up, an arcade,
an e-gaming zone, zen rooms, speciality
training and development suites and more.
Chief executive Brad Groves said: “Along
with the health and wellbeing manager,
we will be recruiting an experienced
professional to occupy a rewards and benefits
role, whose sole responsibility will be to
create incredible experiences for colleagues
across our staff benefits and our reward and
incentive schemes.
“The second floor we have taken at
Spectrum 6 is initially to allow our colleagues
to return to the working environment in a
safe way. It gives us more room to maintain
a social distance and reduces demand for
facilities such as toilets and kitchens.
“We have invested further to go above
and beyond the government’s workplace
guidelines for safety and are only bringing
people back into the workplace when the
time is right.
“We have some more exciting plans
for Spectrum 6 in the future, which will
be of benefit to the region as well as our
colleagues.”
Groves says the new office space will
enable the group to grow to more than 1,000
people.
“We recently announced that we will be
more than doubling in size, whether that
is in our new headquarters or around the
country in our field-sales division,” he added.
“Recruitment processes for these posts have
now begun.
“At a time like this, businesses will be
looking to reduce their outgoings across the
board and become more efficient.
“This makes GAS’s services more
important than ever, and we need more
staff to deliver these services to as many
customers as possible.”
GAS helps businesses to reduce their
variable costs in energy, water, telecoms,
merchant services, insurance and more.
It has more than 10,000 customers across
the UK and Ireland and employs staff across
the UK.
Find out more at greatannualsavings.com
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