O Invests Six Figure Sum As It Moves To New Premises

The creative communications agency, whose client list includes Flymo, Goldsmiths and British Masters, was previously located in Ouseburn and has bought a circa 4,000 sq ft office space to provide room for growth with dedicated studio space.

Richmond House in Old Brewery Court will feature a digital studio for creative content design, photography and videography as well as a large open-plan client services department for its growing team.

The Sandyford historic stone and brick-built property dating from 1831 has three floors including a significant basement. Refurbishment plans include a ground floor space for collaborative working and to host O’s regular Ocademy events on the latest trends in marketing.

Investment in recruitment has included new roles in content marketing, social media and SEO along with account management and graduate talent in recent months.

Kari Owers, founder and managing director at O, said: “During 2017 we began our investment programme with a focus on digital and social media experts. However, in the background we have been looking for somewhere to expand the business for some time and are delighted to have completed the deal at Old Brewery Court.

“The historic building has fantastic character which we will preserve, and we are excited to begin a ground floor refurbishment while the team expands into the upstairs client services and studio spaces. As well as the obvious room for further growth and providing a creative environment to work close to the city, the fact that it’s on the site of an old brewery appealed to us too.”

The property was purchased from Graham Hall of Graham S Hall Chartered Surveyors, with legals provided to O Communications by Hay & Kilner, property search by Johnson Tucker and finance from Lloyds Bank. Existing tenants, Paul Windle Design, will remain in one of the ground floor units.

Graham Hall said: “I’m sad to see the property go after 28 years as this was a large part of my life as a chartered surveyor and has proven to be a sound property investment which I’m sure will be the case for the new owners. We at Graham S Hall Chartered Surveyors wish O Communications well in the next stage of their business expansion.”

O was founded in 2005 and has won over 50 industry awards, including being a finalist in Best Agency Outside of London at the PR Week Awards in 2017.

The agency works with high-profile clients including Flymo, Parkdean Resorts, Goldsmiths Jewellers retail chain and the British Masters.

“We are proud to be based in the North East and be working with many of this region’s best businesses as well as increasingly national brands outside the region that want to connect with customers across the UK. This investment is really putting down roots for the future and we are excited to have the space to continue our growth into 2018 and beyond,” added Kari.