Sign installer moves premises
12th March 2007
Sign installation and maintenance specialists Xmo Strata have moved into a swish new head office in a beautifully converted oasthouse in the village of Marden, in Kent.
The company has owned the premises for some while, but until recently, was renting it out to a software development firm. As a consequence, the building has a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure. Xmo Strata officially moved in some weeks ago, but managers also called-in the builders to carry out additional renovations and improvements. Walls and staircases have been moved, extensive replastering carried out, new floors laid, and new kitchens and bathrooms installed. The work has been done sympathetically and the building retains its historic feel.
The distinctive offices feature oak beams, wooden and stone tile floors, glass-walled meeting rooms and a private garden. Meeting rooms have been equipped variously with comfortable sofas or leather chairs – and the turret contains the office of Managing Director Steve Martin, and the boardroom. There is a galleried garden room and generous parking space.
The move – from offices in a high-rise building in Maidstone town centre, a few miles away – was conducted in well-planned and well-orchestrated shifts. A project manager was appointed to ensure that the company was not fully “off the air” (in terms of its call centre, computers, office phones etc) at any stage. Employees continued working at their desks whilst the removal team literally cleared the area around them; replica workstations were established at Marden, and in movements co-ordinated to tight time margins, each employee left his or her desk when asked to do so, was driven to Marden, and was “up and running” at a new workstation, in a manoeuvre usually taking no more than 30 minutes.
Senior manager Kate Spencer-May, who masterminded the operation, said: “There were a few glitches, as there always are in these situations, but the important thing is that service delivery to customers was virtually unaffected, and most people were unaware that they were talking to us in Maidstone in the morning, and Marden in the afternoon. We had one or two hairy moments, but in the end it all worked out. I think most of the staff actually enjoyed the experience – it was certainly a different day at the office.
“For the company, it is a very attractive proposition, economically. Since the moment we acquired it the building has made a healthy profit for us; the previous tenants paid a substantial lump sum to be released from the remainder of their lease, and that more than covered the costs of the move and the refurbishment work which we did; and we will have new tenants installed in two self-contained office suites we have built very shortly. The building is quite well known in the Maidstone area, and the agents are marketing the new offices as ‘aspirational’, and at a rent which reflects that. They are certainly extremely well equipped.
“It’s a fantastic working environment for our own staff, which helps a lot with recruitment and retention, and it’s a great place to bring customers, so to have that, and make a profit on it as well, is a pretty good deal for us.”
The company delayed making a general announcement about the move until the building and renovation work was complete. Its offices at Telford, in Shropshire, which is also the home of sister company Xmo Veritas, remain unaffected by the head office move.
Phones and email addresses remain the same. The full address for the new office is Xmo Strata Ltd, Branden Oast, Staplehurst Road, Marden, Kent, TN12 9BT.
