Our strategic asset management planners are able to address the logistic and cultural issues our clients face in the drive to provide better value for money.
The staff in our Stockport office are working on a 5-year strategic asset management plan to rationalise Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council’s 18,600 m² of office space. The portfolio was spread over 11 locations, many of which were not supportive of modern working practices. The cost of heating and maintaining the estate was also unacceptably high.
To provide the necessary data, our surveyors carried out a detailed workplace audit. This needed to be done sensitively, without leaving staff feeling uneasy about their future. The survey looked at building condition, the occupiers’ ideal accommodation needs, and the development value of opportunities within the estate. This gave us a clear picture of the whole-life costs of different options. With this intelligence we were able to create a proposed strategy for the future. It will see the Council’s asset reduce from 11 buildings to three, with a total floor area of 15,000m².
Two of those three buildings are well-known landmarks — the magnificent Grade II listed Town Hall, and Stopford House, a 1970s concrete structure made famous as the setting for the BBC drama “Life on Mars”. Stopford House has received extensive refurbishment by NPS, to provide a modern open-plan working environment. The third building will be constructed on the site of Ponsonby House, an existing Council property which has now been demolished.
We are managing the logistics of the rationalisation, including decanting departments into leased premises while work is carried out. The remaining eight buildings are being disposed of, and our property agency specialists are managing that process for the Council. The outcome will be a reduction in the burden for Stockport’s taxpayers, while giving modern and comfortable premises in which the Council’s staff are able to work.
