Bidwells entered a new phase of its 179-year history today when it’s Cambridge headquarters re-opened officially after a transformative refurbishment project to create the city’s most agile work space.
The High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Richard Pemberton, cut the ribbon on Bidwells’ high specification Trumpington Road headquarters and its 264 Cambridge staff raised a toast in their modern ground floor café, known as The Brewery Cafe.
Bidwells’ full commitment to Agile Working practices in its carefully designed three-storey 21,000 sq ft building means there are no internal offices, other than meeting rooms, and not even the senior partners have their own permanent desks.
Julie Archer, Director of People and Change at Bidwells, said:
"Agile working is the term we use, but it boils down to thinking creatively about the task in hand and how you get the best result. It’s all about having choices about the way you work and share ideas.
Our objective is to reaffirm Bidwells as a great place to work; one in which colleagues are empowered to be their best."
Bidwells’ Cambridge-based employees will choose to work between a range of ‘anchored desks’, breakout spaces, quiet areas, the 100-seat café and seven meeting rooms. The rooms are named after Cambridge’s most well-known pubs: The Anchor, The Architect, The Castle, The Eagle, The Maypole, The Mitre and The Pickerel.
Richard Pilsworth, Head of Cambridge at Bidwells said:
"This is a major investment in our people, the City of Cambridge and the wider Golden Triangle region and sets us up for the next generation.
We want people to talk to each other and share ideas in an agile way, so we took our time to design the building around this central aim and we are delighted with the way it has turned out. Our employees love it already."
Bidwells’ own architecture and project management teams formed the main consultant team. Munro Building Services led on the Mechanical and Electrical Installation side of the project and office design and fit-out specialists, COEL, delivered the internal design and refurbishment.
