NEWS
Bank on us – mayor Andy Preston with GBB ’ s Steve Deutsche in front of the Centre Square building .
THE CENTRE OF ATTENTION
Four new tenants snap up 80 per cent of Middlesbrough office development
Mayor Andy Preston believes
Middlesbrough can start to challenge Newcastle and Leeds for investment and success after months of hard work saw four bluechip businesses take up 80 per cent of the space in the town ’ s Grade A Centre Square office development .
The four new businesses were unveiled in as many weeks as committing to taking space in the state-of-the-art offices situated close to the Town Hall , the mima art gallery and Middlesbrough ’ s town centre shopping facilities .
Days after it was announced that new property bank GBB would create up to 120 new jobs when they move into Two Centre Square , nationwide pension experts XPS confirmed they will occupy the whole of the second floor of the building as they expand their existing operation .
Meanwhile , Causeway , a rapidly expanding global technology company , will occupy the top floor of One Centre Square between the Civic Centre and Teesside Crown Court .
Causeway will be joined by Firstsource , a leading business process management services firm that will expand its presence and strengthen its commitment to Middlesbrough , ultimately creating more than 100 new jobs .
Designed to attract and create new jobs in the town centre , while breathing new life into the town ’ s retail and service sector , Centre Square is a partnership between Middlesbrough Council and Ashall Projects .
Expressing his delight at sealing the quartet , mayor Preston said : “ All of the council staff have worked so hard to get Centre Square let .
“ It ’ s fantastic news because it ’ s good for the council ’ s finances in challenging times , it ’ s good for the shops and restaurants who are having a tough time during the pandemic , and it ’ s good to change the look and feel of the town centre .
“ But it also builds confidence in the town , too . I ’ m a realist and Middlesbrough is a hard sell at times but my job is to get us on the path to be there towards the top of the pecking order and make Middlesbrough a real option for local , national and even international businesses .
“ Our job now is to make stuff happen . We ’ re working incredibly hard to do that and there ’ s every reason to be confident . “ With our plans for business , homes and leisure , Middlesbrough town centre is going to be amazing . It ’ s going to become a magnet for positive , ambitious , energetic people .”
Simon Hunter , VP operations , Firstsource
“ We ’ re excited to open our new offices in One Centre Square . We already have a fantastic team in Middlesbrough and are looking forward to growing our workforce .”
GBB , currently based in Newcastle , announced Middlesbrough as its new headquarters , with the bank set to move into the offices alongside the law courts and mima early in 2021 .
Focusing recruitment on local talent , the bank expects to initially employ a team of around 60 people , doubling this as it grows .
It is already actively recruiting around 40 of these roles in the fields of finance , risk , customer management , marketing , human resources , IT , lending , savings and more .
Causeway , which creates technological solutions to transform commercial performance in construction , is to occupy the top floor of One Centre Square .
The worldwide company already has a small base in the town but is looking to
64 | Tees Business