THE north's largest professional services firm PwC insists it “definitely won't be imposing any return-to-work directives” on its thousands of staff despite finally throwing open its new £70 million Belfast headquarters, which has been described as “the next frontier in office space”.
The idea of relocating from its Waterfront Plaza base to the heart of the city centre had been conceived five years ago, when Covid hadn't entered anyone's vocabulary.
Ironically the official opening of its 200,000 sq feet Merchant Square building coincided yesterday with England's so-called 'Freedom Day' and with guidance that people should work from home if they can is dropped.
PwC is the sole tenant of the nine-floor Wellington Place office complex, Belfast’s biggest-ever private sector office letting deal.
And while the building will ultimately be able to accommodate 3,000-plus people (leaving PwC plenty of scope to build on its current 2,400 payroll), under current physical distancing arrangements it will make room for just 737 people.
However, there was just a fraction of that number in-situ yesterday (a side-effect of it being the height of the holiday season).
“We're very much wanting our people to be given the opportunity to return to the office, but are by no means forcing anybody's hand,” said Kevin MacAllister, PwC’s regional market leader in Northern Ireland.
“Rather, we're creating this spectacular environment to encourage them to return, in their own time.
“We've had open dialogue with all our staff, and right now the majority say they prefer to work from the office rather than remotely.
“Work and life are very much intertwined, and we believe Merchant Square sets the tone for a new future of workspace.”
A steering group, from graduates to senior partners, have collaborated over the last two years to ensure the new office meets the needs of PwC's Northern Ireland staff and its network of clients and regional partners.
With a focus on encouraging collaboration, spaces at Merchant Square can be transformed from intimate meeting rooms for six people to large event areas for up to 150.
Booths in the restaurant come with screens so teams can connect over lunch with people working remotely. Face and voice-tracking technology has been installed in enclosed meeting spaces to ensure that the hybrid-meeting experience continues to support all participants.
The fifth floor includes a dedicated wellbeing space, offering live exercise classes including HIIT and yoga, meditation pods and personal services such as physio, reflexology and manicures.
The firm's chairman and UK senior partner Kevin Ellis said: “Merchant Square sets the tone for a new future for the office, with hybrid working enshrined for our people, a wellbeing space that takes up half an entire floor and an elegant fusion of technology and interior design.”
One PwC executive told the Irish News yesterday: “It's almost like they've thrown away the corporate office rule book in designing this incredible work environment”.
Mr MacAllister is a passionate advocate of supporting the economy by bringing PwC's workforce back into the city centre as soon as possible and helping local businesses recover.
And he revealed that the findings of an economic impact assessment report, due to be released shortly, will underline the actual extent in monetary terms that PwC's short flit from Laganside to Merchant Square will provide for Belfast's coffers.
“It'll be a very big number,” he hinted.
“We’re fully aware of the significance of opening a city centre office, and today's opening is an important step forward and signifies the confidence PwC has in Northern Ireland, and our ambition for our clients and our people,” he added.
PwC, which last month signed on on a £40m investment in a new advanced research and engineering centre in Merchant Square, creating 800 additional jobs over the next five years, says Belfast will be at the heart of its global technology strategy going forward.
