National independent building and project consultancy Paragon has opened an office in Leeds city centre as the business continues to implement its targeted 海角视频 expansion strategy.
Paragon鈥檚 new office is located at Avenue HQ on East Parade and is headed up by director and shareholder, Robert Simpson, who has been with the consultancy for six years and lives in Leeds.
Founded in 2009, Paragon employs around 140 people and has offices in London, Esher, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh. The consultancy has been operating in Manchester since 2015 whilst its Bristol and Edinburgh offices both opened in 2018 as part of its nationwide growth plan.
Prior to joining Paragon, Mr Simpson was an associate director in the Leeds office of global real estate services firm Colliers International where he worked for 12 years. He has been joined in the new office by senior building surveyor, Tom Pitt, who was also hired by Paragon six years ago.
They will be supported in the expansion by the head of Paragon鈥檚 Manchester office, director and shareholder James Onions, who also lives in the city. The consultancy anticipates recruiting for a range of building surveying, project management and cost management positions as the office expands.
It comes in direct response to growing client demand and new opportunities for Paragon throughout Yorkshire. The consultancy鈥檚 clients operating in the region include Legal & General, Select Group, APAM, Landsec, Northwood and Kinrise.
Mr Simpson said: 鈥淥ur work within Yorkshire has continued to expand both in terms of volume and remit so it makes perfect sense for us to open an office in Leeds.
鈥淲e have an established reputation for delivering commercially-focused advice in a way that鈥檚 straightforward and without waffle, so we will continue to grow our business in Yorkshire upon those firm foundations.鈥
Projects that Paragon has advised on in Yorkshire include the recently completed 拢7.5 million refurbishment of 1 City Square in Leeds for APAM and the 拢250 million expansion of Thorpe Park business park, also in Leeds, for Legal & General.
The consultancy continues to provide project and cost management services to property developer and landlord Landsec on several of its assets, including shopping centre Trinity Leeds.
In addition, Paragon acted as project manager for the recently completed 376-bed, 18-storey Vita Student development on St Albans Place in Leeds.
Mr Simpson added: 鈥淗aving an office in Leeds means we can provide our existing clients in the region with even greater levels of service delivery whilst also enabling us to identify and secure additional commercial opportunities.
鈥淎s a business we have established a number of new in-house services in recent years, most notably the expansion of our energy and sustainability offering, which we will look to develop alongside our clients within the local area.
鈥淎s someone who lives in Leeds, it is great to open an office in my home city and further grow Paragon鈥檚 connections with funders, developers and intermediaries operating in Yorkshire and beyond.鈥
