To accommodate its growing team, Red Engineering Design Ltd (RED) has moved three times in eight years within Hoults Yard.
The global engineering consultancy first moved on to the Yard in the summer of 2015, with a team of four taking a small office on the ground floor of Maling Exchange.
Four years later, and after expanding into the office next door in 2017, RED was on the move – taking a larger space in the Jam Jar to accommodate its team which had then grown to 16.
We’ve been very happy here and weren’t really interested in looking elsewhere
RED, which has offices including their Hoults Yard office, in London, Oxford, Guildford, Dublin, Cork, Dubai, Istanbul, Singapore, Malaysia, Manilla, Clark, Berlin, worked with Hoults Yard surveyor and project manager Mark Coulter on designs for the new office.
Then Director (now Chief Operating Officer) Mark Smith said at the time: “Our growth in the UK has been remarkable and our move within Hoults Yard is to cope with our growing team within the north east. We incorporated another space into our existing office last year, but we quickly outgrew that too so were on the lookout for new offices on the yard. We’ve been very happy here and weren’t really interested in looking elsewhere.
“Those at the Yard couldn’t have been more helpful or accommodating,” he added.
Another three years and in 2022 RED had once again outgrown their offices. This time the company took an even larger office just vacated by tech consultancy Opencast who had moved into award-winning new offices on the Yard’s Kiln development.
The company’s growth had been steady, but rapidly accelerated during the Covid lockdowns, prompting the move.
RED’s third office is on the second floor of Maling Exchange, and can accommodate 50 people.
Carl Pratt, Technical Director at RED, said: “The Yard suits us perfectly, so we wanted to stay here and the Hoults staff worked hard to find us the right space, and then to shape the office the way we wanted it to be.
“Our headcount has grown throughout the global pandemic to 35, so with our hybrid way of working we have plenty of potential for further expansion if needed. Team members tend to spend 60 per cent of their time at the office and 40 per cent at home. We’ve also got plenty of space if everyone is in at the same time.”
Prior to each of their moves, RED had looked around to see what other spaces were available on Tyneside.
Carl explained: “We have looked, but we’re happy here – it’s close enough to the city centre, there is always parking available, we’re within walking distance of the Quayside and we like the environment here. It’s friendly, supportive and the Hoults team has always let us put our stamp on our offices. Laura Goldston and Mark Coulter have always been helpful and great to work with.
“It’s an inspirational and aspirational place and we have the flexibility to continue growing here.”
RED is an international, award-winning building services consultancy, designing MEP services for infrastructure, new buildings and upgrade projects, with a focus on low energy solutions. More and more of their work is around clients’ zero carbon and energy efficiency agendas.
The company is owned by the French multinational utility company Engie.
