Wealth manager JM Finn has decided to scale back the size of its London HQ and will move into smaller premises, a short distance from its current Coleman Street address.
The decision to downsize has to some extent been driven by covid and the need for people to work remotely, which has demonstrated to the company’s management that the business can operate without the need for a centralised space that has a seat for everyone every day.
Hugo Bedford JM Finn’s CEO said that
“As a people business, I firmly believe that without personal interaction we lose the innovation, idea sharing and camaraderie that makes up the fabric of a firm like ours”
However, he added that
“My aim is to find an approach that blends the benefits of the office with a more agile approach to remote working and the new office will help us achieve this “
JM Finn manages £9.30 billion on behalf of 18,500 clients
One of the positives to emerge from covid and its associated lockdowns has been how well, and largely seamlessly, many organisations have managed the move to remote working.
And in the case of financial services businesses that transition occurred against the backdrop of record trading volumes and enhanced levels of customer activity.
Overall JM Finn will reduce the floor space it occupies by around -10.0% but at the same time, it will consolidate all of its operations onto one floor. rather than the five that it currently occupies.
The firms 250 staff members are expected to move into the new premises in late 2021, JM Finn will take possession of its new space in May.
This will be the first relocation of its HQ that the firm has undertaken for 13 years and is one of only a few conducted in the firms 75-year history. Though in that time the business has expanded via a series of regional offices in centres such as Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Bury St Edmunds and Winchester.
JM Finn’s move is one that is likely to be echoed by other businesses in the city of London, and elsewhere, not least because a smaller office coupled with a more flexible approach to working should allow them to reduce overheads and increase productivity and staff satisfaction, which has to be a good thing for all concerned, landlords apart.
