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Close Brothers

Close Brothers60,000 sq ftHolbornCAT B

Close Brothers, a modern merchant bank with 150 years of history, used to occupy three central London workspaces. Now they’re down to two. They haven’t downsized, taken on a massive amount of floor space, or crammed people in like sardines; instead, they’ve redesigned their workplace for the future and inspired positive change for thousands of people in the process.

Consolidating Close Brothers’ offices from three buildings to two was about far more than reducing space. With around 1,500 people affected by the move, the focus was on creating a workplace that supported employees, clients and customers while embracing diversity, wellbeing and the future of the business. A 13-week consultancy programme gave us the insight needed to understand how Close Brothers worked today and shape a confident strategy for where it wanted to go next.

    Capturing the Culture

    It’s hard to define and even harder to influence but supporting positive culture is a crucial factor in change management. Our early consultation work identified potential stumbling blocks to rolling out a redefined workplace, as well as cultural enablers. These insights allowed us to develop a 12-18-month roadmap to support cultural change, including consolidating operations, restacking and refurbishing their space.

    Sustainable well-being

    Plenty of greenery, abundant natural light, access to the ground-floor courtyard and space to switch off all support employee wellbeing. And they can rest easy knowing we sourced recycled materials, reconditioned furniture, and used only UK suppliers to minimise the building’s carbon footprint. Furthermore, Close Brothers decided to partner with both our charity, Thirdway Trust, and Toilet Twinning, to “twin” all 53 of their toilets. In return, this funded the build of life-saving toilets in local communities within countries such as Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe to name a few.

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