Great Annual Savings chief executive Brad Groves has revealed
major expansion plans for the business cost-saving specialist.
Great Annual Savings aims to double
headcount with new £3m HQ
Ambitious Wear firm Great
Annual Savings aims to double
its headcount after revealing
multi-million pound plans to
quadruple its office space.
The business cost-saving specialist
has agreed a lease on a new building on
Spectrum Business Park in Seaham, taking
its total office space to 80,000 square feet.
The firm’s new £3m HQ will include
gaming zones and a state-of-the-art, fullysubsidised
gym for employees, which will be
managed by a trained health and wellbeing
manager.
Great Annual Savings (GAS) – also
revealed as Sunderland AFC’s new shirt
sponsor this summer – has been on a rapid
growth journey since its inception in 2012,
reaching 300 employees at the start of
2020 and recruiting 150 staff in the last 14
months.
After a 2015 move into the ground floor
of Spectrum 6, GAS is now becoming one
of the region’s largest employers by adding
a second floor to Spectrum 6 and taking on
the whole of Spectrum 7.
The space available will provide GAS with
the capacity to employ more than 1,000
people in a Covid-compliant, socially-distant
working environment.
The fit-out is now underway and the plan
is for the business to move into the building
at the end of 2020.
Chief executive Brad Groves said: “Our
new headquarters in Spectrum 7 will be
one of the finest office facilities outside of
London and Manchester.
“We are committing a multi-million
pound investment to create an innovative
building focused on employee experience
and wellbeing.”
GAS has already revealed plans to create
300 new jobs in the next year.
Groves added: “GAS is one of the fastestgrowing
companies in the UK and we are
now increasing that rapid pace even further.
“We will be opening recruitment for these
posts imminently in sales-related roles with
others to follow.”
Paul Wellstead, developer of Spectrum
Business Park, said: “Hot on the heels of
what was Spectrum’s biggest ever letting
a few months ago to Believe Housing, the
new letting of Spectrum 7 to Great Annual
Savings is bigger still.
“This continues the significant momentum
Spectrum is achieving in the North-East
office market.
“Spectrum’s stunning setting on the
County Durham coast, along with the
fantastic facilities and transport connectivity,
make it an unbeatable destination for
dedicated employees.
“Great Annual Savings has demonstrated
its commitment to rewarding and cherishing
its employees since the company first arrived
at Spectrum in 2015. Their new HQ will take
this to the next level.
“GAS is now the biggest employer in
Seaham and has played a fundamental role
in the area’s regeneration. Many of the
group's colleagues have moved into the
area and they have fully embraced their
surroundings. The company will be key to
Seaham’s continued progress.
“The fit-out is being provided by Ultimate
Commercial Interiors, who have already
delivered stunning office environments for
Northumbrian Water and Believe Housing,
the latter of which is nominated in this year’s
North-East Property Awards.
“I am incredibly excited to see yet another
new benchmark being set by Great Annual
Savings.”
See page 24 for our special feature on
Great Annual Savings.
News
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TAKING THE MICKEY?
A £150,000 investment in a state-of-the-art
excavator at a Sunderland waste yard will
pay homage to the oldest member of the
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Thompson Waste Centre at The Parade,
Hendon, has purchased a Doosan DL 250
excavator, which allows the company to
handle huge amounts of materials.
The company has a tradition of naming
new kit in honour of an employee who has
made an important contribution and 74-yearold
Mickey Bulmer, who has been with
Thompson’s for a staggering 54 years, gets the
honour this time around.
START-UP PROGRAMME
Durham Ambitious Business Start-ups
(DABS) is an innovative new approach to
supporting start-up businesses in County
Durham.
Set up by Business Durham, the economic
development arm of Durham County
Council, DABS will test pioneering new
approaches for encouraging and supporting
ambitious business start-ups across the
county.
The three-year project will provide
a programme delivered by three subcontractors
– TEDCO, Candle Digital and
UMi – who will each be responsible for
different elements of DABS.
FIRE FIRM RISES FROM ASHES
A new Sunderland company is vowing to
lead the UK’s fire safety and training after
emerging from the embers of liquidation.
And the CEO of ProFire Safety & Training,
Will Fatherley, now based at the Business and
Innovation Centre (BIC) in Sunderland, says
the firm has laid the foundations to become a
leading name in the sector.
LOCAL FIRMS GET CONTRACT
BOOST
Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor
(SSTC3), a £70.8 million scheme being
delivered for Sunderland City Council,
has led to contracts being awarded to 27
Sunderland-based businesses in all.
The £35 million construction contract,
which was awarded to North-East civil
engineering specialists Esh Civils, is one of
a number of projects designed to bolster
the economy in the city, connecting Port
of Sunderland to the new International
Advanced Manufacturing Park in
Washington.
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