Accountancy firm EY is moving its Liverpool team out of its current home at 20 Chapel Street to a new waterfront location – cutting its space by almost two-thirds. Tony McDonough reports

Accountancy giant EY is moving its Liverpool team out of 20 Chapel Street in Liverpool city centre and into a new – and smaller – home at the Royal Albert Dock.

EY has been based at 20 Chapel Street, in the heart of the city’s commercial district for a number of years, occupying 6,000 sq ft. Now it is moving to 2,200 sq ft at the Clockwise facility at the Grade I-listed Edward Pavilion in the Royal Albert Dock in the spring.

It insists the new space is configured more efficiently and provides a similar volume of desk space. But the firm adds the move also reflects its previously announced shift to a new hybrid working model which will see people spending more time working from home. There will be no reduction in headcount.

A similar change in culture has taken place across the professional sector with the pandemic accelerating flexible working practices. Smaller spaces used more effectively is now becoming more of the norm for many firms.

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The new office marks EY’s continued investment in Liverpool, which has grown to a team of more than 50 people. In the last financial year it has promoted two associate partners in its audit practice and welcomed seven graduates and apprentices.

Its new home will provide areas for in-person collaborative and hybrid working, along with a variety of workstations including hot desks and team areas. It is also in close proximity to Tate Liverpool, with which EY has an arts partnership.

Supporting EY’s sustainability goals, the office space offers practical bike storage, showers and lockers to enable cycling to work. In addition, through reducing embodied carbon within new workspaces and reporting on carbon performance annually, the building is designed to be carbon net zero by 2025.

Jenn Hazlehurst, office managing partner at EY in Liverpool, said: “Our office relocation to Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool demonstrates EY’s continued commitment to our people and our business, and is part of our wider growth plan for EY in Liverpool and across the North West.

“The new office space provides an environment that meets the needs of our people, clients and other stakeholders, while supporting the benefits of both in-person collaboration and flexible remote working. This is a really exciting time for our business in Liverpool and I look forward to welcoming the team to our new premises in the spring.”

EY Liverpool has continued to grow its teams during the past financial year. The firm has promoted two associate partners in its audit practice and has welcomed seven graduates and apprentices.

It has also provided six students temporary short-term placements through industrial placements and summer internships. The EY Foundation – EY’s independent charity – also supported 24 students from Liverpool with placements on its Smart Futures, Tech Futures and Beyond Your Limits programmes in 2021.

Through these programmes, the EY Foundation helps support young people from low-income backgrounds to receive paid work experience, mentoring, employability skills and career advice.