Government Hub in Birmingham Awarded Leesman+ Certification

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20 March 2023

The Government Property Agency’s Birmingham Hub offers the best employee workplace experience in the UK’s public sector.

23 Stephenson Street in Birmingham was awarded the Leesman+ certification, a globally recognised accolade which is awarded to organisations that provide employee-focused workplace experiences.

The building, housed on the old site of the Theatre Royal and Woolworths, was refurbished from disused retail space to create modern workspaces to support 1,700 people from across 20 government bodies, and was officially opened in July 2022. The refurbishment was part of the government's Places for Growth programme, which aims to move 22,000 civil service roles out of London by 2030. The latest such building to open is at Fletton Quays in Peterborough, which will house over 1,000 staff from the Home Office and DEFRA.

Leesman has surveyed more than 7,300 buildings to date for Leesman+ certification. Only 202 buildings have successfully achieved the certification, placing the Government Property Agency’s (GPA) Birmingham building in the top two per cent of global workplaces.

Calculating Workplace Experience With Employee Survey Data

Leesman uses surveys and testing to determine a workplace’s Leesman Index (Lmi) score, a 0-100 rating of how a working environment is (or isn’t) supporting employees. The survey must be sent out to everyone in the workplace, with a minimum of 50 respondents. Both building-based civil servants, and those who visit more flexibly from other offices, were independently surveyed using Leesman standardised questions.

The Leesman+ certification is awarded to top-tier workplaces that have achieved an Lmi of 70 or above, and the GPA’s Birmingham hub was awarded 76.

Dominic Brankin, Workplace Services Director at the GPA, said: “The GPA is incredibly proud to learn we are providing a truly top-rated workplace experience for civil servants. We are all navigating our way through new ways of working that have evolved at alarming speeds. But we always work hard to maintain focus on our clients and customers to ensure we create great places to work. Our Leesman+ certification is proof we are delivering on what we promise.”

Tim Oldman, Founder and CEO of Leesman, added: “Stephenson Street’s fantastic Leesman Index workplace experience rating score is testament to the GPA’s tireless effort to put public sector employees at the heart of their workplace design strategy. And shows that functionally outstanding, contemporary workplaces are certainly not the preserve of the private sector, demonstrating that user-centric, evidence-based approaches deliver an outstanding return on investment.”

Picture: a photograph of the interior of 23 Stephenson Street in Birmingham, showing an open plan co-working space with private booths and people working on laptops. Image Credit: GPA

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 20 March 2023

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