Work Interiors - Offices Development - Leeds, Contact Leeds
Date: 09 Mar 2006
Leeds based Work Interiors has successfully completed a £625,000 contract for the interior space planning and office/technology fit out within a major new state of the art customer contact centre for Leeds City Council.
The completion of the project, the first of its kind in the UK, represents a significant milestone for Work Interiors which hopes to boost its public sector portfolio with a concept that is believed to set a precedent to other local authorities across the UK.
Leeds City Council have commended Work Interiors for its contribution to delivering Contact Leeds, which was officially launched by Jane Tomlinson and Cllr Mark Harris this week.
This £2.8 million investment in a corporate contact centre that has consolidated seven separate call centres across the city to deliver an improved centralised service to residents. A silver service concept has been set up to more efficiently manage around 1.25 million annual enquiries ranging from anti-social behaviour and pot holes to council tax and refuse collection.
The project team, set up only a year ago to manage the transfer, secured new city centre accommodation within West Gate which is a refurbished scheme on Grace Street. But with open plan space covering 34,000 sq ft over three floors it needed to consult with a specialist team to plan the most effective allocation for up to 350 workers as well as highly complex IT provisions.
After a strict tender process Work Interiors secured the prestige contract because of its thorough understanding and ability to deliver against the government led 'working without walls' initiative.
Anthony Burnham at Leeds City Council, comments, "The work environment is no longer viewed as a passive overhead but as a powerful and integral aspect of local authority business, which, given the right attention and investment, can significantly enhance the effectiveness of public service delivery. This is about embracing not just physical change but also integrated business, organisational and cultural change."
Work Interiors provided a full turnkey solution that started with an audit of existing functions, management workshops and detailed consultation with all working teams to prepare them for the move process. Totally transparent dialogue with the project team led to a series of design and layout proposals with cost effective fit out and furniture specification which included electrics and mechanical provisions.
The end result is a secure and comfortable workplace with state of the art equipment and new ergonomic furniture designed to maximise productivity. The space is effectively planned to incorporate team desk clusters, a 'think tank' creative room, hot desk facilities, one to one briefing zones, diner style food areas and high technology training rooms that are also used by external departments. Key brand messages are also reflected through colour schemes on carpets and furniture right through to wording across walls and glass partitions.
Work Interiors delivered the project over three phases to coincide with a staged move process. Anthony Burnham at Leeds City Council concludes, "Work Interiors has demonstrated considerable knowledge, expertise and professionalism to deliver a complete solution that was mindful of our needs against justification of expenditure."
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