Bristol specialist software firm Iken Business has relocated into larger waterfront offices to support its continuing expansion.
The move to 1 Georges Square off Victoria Street has also been triggered by the redevelopment of its previous base – the 1970s Lewins Place block in Lewins Mead, which is among the growing number of city centre office schemes being converted to residential use.
Iken, which launched in 1997 and now employs 35 people, develops and implements market-leading business efficiency software for tasks such as work tracking, case management and time recording, as well as document and court bundling for law firms and other professionals.
Its users can be found in the public and private sectors across the UK, as well as the rest of Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific region.
Iken general manager Tanya Corsie said the move to the 5,820 sq ft, grade A office not only placed the firm closer to the business heart of Bristol but was a far better setting for a company that serves blue-chip clients around the globe.
“As well as giving us more meeting space, the move will enable us to keep on track with our expansion ambitions,” she said.
The new office was acquired for Iken by Bristol property agency Williams Gunter Hardwick, whose director Andrew Hardwick said: “Iken’s move is indicative of how Bristol’s business heart has moved in the last decade or two in the direction of Victoria Street and the Temple Quarter.
“1 Georges Square is now very much at the heart of things and has a highly-attractive water frontage.”
He said the area around Lewins Mead and Rupert Street once had more than 500,000 sq ft of offices, much of which had been converted to residential or student accommodation.”
Iken’s new office was let on a lease expiring in 2023 at £19.50 per sq ft with a break after six years.
Also moving into 1 Georges Square, home to the Bristol office of national law firm Clarke Willmott, is People Source Consulting, which has recently acquired 6,335 sq ft.
GVA and Colliers represented Clarke Willmott, which owns the building.
Lewins Place is being converted to 130 apartments under the Permitted Development Rights scheme, which is transforming large swathes of UK city centres by allowing developers to convert low-grade offices for residential use without the need to provide social housing.
Pictured, from left: Harriet Martin, Iken office manager; Alex Riddell, GVA senior surveyor; Andrew Hardwick, Williams Gunter Hardwick director; Andrew Chester, Iken CEO; and Tanya Corsie, Iken general manager 
