Facilities business gears up for expansion into two major cities

A Suffolk-based estate and facilities firm is set to expand into Nottingham and Glasgow.

Estate Strategy Group launched in Sudbury a year ago. Managing director Mark Johnston-Wood said the Friars Street enterprise - which now employs 12 consultants plus support staff - had expanded rapidly.

'Sudbury is the ideal place to set up a new business,' he said.

'We have access to a fantastic pool of local talent and we have easy and fast access to major cities, without the huge price-tag of a London office.

'Business is changing to become more connected and less focused on city locations. In Sudbury, we can offer flexible working arrangements with the hub of a central workplace and that means we can attract brilliant and capable people who might not want the pressures of a nine-to-five job in London.'

Customers include large hospital groups such as the Manchester Children's Hospital and Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Salvation Army and large manufacturing groups such as M&H Plastics in Beccles.

'Our success in Sudbury has given us the freedom to consider options elsewhere,' said Johnston-Wood.

The new offices in Nottingham and Glasgow, where the firm has seen 'hot spots of activity', will employ the same model as in Sudbury. 'Thanks to advances in remote-working software and conferencing, our colleagues further north are still very much a part of our team,' said Mr Mark Johnston-Wood.

'We look forward to another phase of growth for the Estate Strategy Group. We owe a large part of our success to the fact that we started the business in Sudbury and this will always be our headquarters.'