Kier : creates 250 jobs with new Manchester office

The FTSE 250 company, which employs over 5,500 people in the north of England, has located its new national finance function to an office on Fountain Street, Manchester.

Currently being refurbished by Kier's development division Kier Property, the office will provide around 25,000 sq ft of space over five floors and enables the £4bn turnover plc to expand and centralise its finance function. The team is responsible for managing supplier invoices, billing, project finance management and tax and accounting.

The existing FSSC team of 50 employees will be significantly expanded with the addition of 250 new roles, bringing the total workforce to 300, all to be based from the new Fountain Street office.

Kier already has offices in Queen Street and at Trafford Park, and this latest investment builds on a range of other commercial and regenerative activity delivered across the city and the region. Kier Property recently purchased Oddfellows House in Manchester's prime central district. Once redeveloped, the site - to be known as Eleven York Street - will deliver 80,000 sq ft of Grade A new build office space in the city.

In regeneration terms Kier has worked with BBC DIY SOS as main contractor on the original Veteran's Village housing project in Newton Heath in 2015, then went on to partner Haig Housing in 2016 to redevelop the rest of the site. Kier also delivered the £6m transport interchange at Wythenshawe on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester, which has played a key role in helping to regenerate the area since it opened in July last year.

Nigel Brook, Kier executive director of construction and infrastructure services, commented on the office move: 'Our decision to locate Kier's new national finance function to Manchester is a testament to our strong and enduring commitment to the city and the region. We deliver a wide range of work here from property investment and development to a broad spectrum of construction and regeneration projects, to building and maintaining affordable housing and providing workplace services and facilities management.

Over and above the £2.5bn of value our work in the north of England creates every year, this specific investment will create several hundred new jobs, tapping into a wealth of talent in the city and creating wider economic stimulus at a time when the city and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority looks set to go from strength to strength.'