Key Travel, the international travel management company dedicated to the travel needs of not-for-profit organisations, has moved its Manchester headquarters to St James’ Building on Oxford Street  after strong business growth led to the expansion of the team.

The company, which works with clients in the humanitarian, faith and education sectors, has taken the entire ninth floor at St James’ which means that the operations and administration departments now share one 20,000 sq ft office – as opposed to being spread across four offices at its previous location in Lowry House.

Commercial property specialists Matthews & Goodman advised Key Travel in the search to find new space and advised on lease negotiations with Bruntwood, the landlord at St James’ Building.

The new office is designed to reflect Key Travel’s values of Impact, Simplicity and Compassion. The office has four zones named after the four continents where Key Travel does most business – Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. There are also business lounges, meeting rooms and collaborative working areas named after some of the landmarks it sends groups to such as Everest, Mount Fuji and Lake Victoria. The theme of each zone also features displays of curiosities and object d’art sourced from local charities.

Meanwhile, the employees’ rest and kitchen area is named the Beehive, in recognition of the office’s Manchester location and all the furniture is either recycled from its previous office, or ethically sourced to be 100% renewable. Staff will also have access to an outside terrace.

Megan Cameron, Key Travel’s Property and Facilities Manager, who led the relocation project said: “Our success and subsequent growth in the last 12 months meant we had outgrown our previous offices. The space at St James’ gave us a blank canvas, albeit with challenges set by a building dating back to 1912 featuring low ceilings and no raised floors.

“Our new office co-locates our UK team in one space in an inspiring environment. This enables them to identify better with the travel needs of our unique customers and to demonstrate their compassion more effectively. Co-location also promotes better collaboration and simplifies work-flows, improving our efficiency in supporting clients who are making a positive impact on communities across the world.”

Matthews & Goodman Partner David Laws, who led the team’s search for the new office, as well as the lease negotiations, added: “The Key Travel team were very clear about the operational requirements for their new offices, as well as its need to reflect their brand and corporate values. I believe their new offices tick all those boxes.”

The interior design, build and delivery of the workspace was carried out by ADT Workplace.  Stacey Charlesworth, Design Director at ADT Workplace, commented: “By working closely with the team at Key Travel, we were able to design an inspiring and unique environment which is tailored to the organisation’s needs and aspirations with nods to travel throughout, for example a distinctive Tuk Tuk and luggage tables, as well as reflecting the company’s strong brand personality.”

Slater and Gordon, which has an office in Manchester, has become one of the world’s first companies to deploy Microsoft Managed Desktop, a new service that modernises workplace computing with Microsoft-backed security.

The agreement is part of a wider investment by Slater and Gordon in new technology intended to transform how it provides consumer legal services. Last year, the company announced plans to spend £30 million broadening and digitising its work.

With Microsoft Managed Desktop, colleagues at Slater and Gordon can now bring consumer-focused legal services directly to customers and immediately access key information on Surface laptops that Microsoft manages, updates and protects.

Many organisations struggle to stay up to date with Microsoft security and feature updates to Windows and Office, leaving their systems exposed to wilful or accidental data breaches through known vulnerabilities.

Microsoft Managed Desktop solves this problem by updating the desktop management environment and giving user devices the latest versions of Microsoft 365, a suite of industry-leading security, productivity and collaboration tools. Microsoft manages and protects the devices directly over the internet, while streamlining the device user experience for reliability, security, and performance.

For Slater and Gordon, the system leverages Microsoft’s global security infrastructure, artificial intelligence and automation tools to maintain and proactively protect the desktop environment. As a result, customers have the most convenient access to legal services, as well as confidence in the privacy and security of their information, backed by Microsoft.

Chris Gibbons, Slater and Gordon’s Head of Architecture and Security, said: “Data security has rightly become a top priority for all companies – particularly those in the legal sector. We take it incredibly seriously here at Slater and Gordon. Microsoft Managed Desktop gives us industry-leading security, plus an adaptable and flexible platform that suits our agile working culture.”

The new service is also enabling Slater and Gordon to push ahead with efforts to introduce agile ways of working for staff. The company recently relocated its London office to 90 High Holborn – a modern and flexible workspace, designed to cater for agile and collaborative working.

David Whitmore, Slater and Gordon’s Chief Executive, said: “If legal service providers are to meet the demands of consumers in the years to come, we have to continually look for ways of being more flexible and innovative. That way of thinking also applies to how we as organisations work. That’s why we are looking to harness new technology, such as Microsoft Managed Desktop, to enable us to work smarter and more efficiently for our customers.

“This new technology allows us to produce services that better suit our clients’ needs and, importantly, also create the best working environment our colleagues want in a modern company.”

Bill Karagounis, General Manager, Microsoft Managed Desktop, said: “Slater and Gordon have a clear vision about how getting modern will drive their core business, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for among early adopters of Microsoft Managed Desktop. We have transformed desktop maintenance into a commodity function that frees up overburdened IT teams so they can better innovate and help users stay productive.”

A MediaCityUK-based company has been selected by the Home Office Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate to support the delivery of a new Strategic Operating Model (SOM).

Mason Advisory, a leading provider of IT Consultancy and Advisory Services, has been tasked with supporting and enabling DDaT to deliver flexibly against changing priorities using a coherent and informed governance approach, and build on existing capabilities developing a strong brand and reputation for efficient and effective delivery.

Mason Advisory, recently listed in the London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report, was selected from more than 50 applicants as the preferred partner to deliver the £3.7m contract across a two-year period.

“The ability to combine all of the workstreams that form a successful transformation rests heavily on understanding the human side of business change”, said Duncan Swan, Managing Director – Public Sector at Mason Advisory.  “And that really does play to our core strengths at Mason Advisory.  Of course, we’re delighted to have been given this opportunity to help the Home Office transform its delivery capabilities – more than that, we’re already enjoying our initial interactions with the Home Office team and share a common goal of ensuring the Strategic Operating Model for DDaT is delivered successfully.  It really matters; it is core to achieving the value for money outcomes we all expect Government”.

The engagement will see Mason Advisory working with DDaT programme team to commission, assure and support a programme of change across the merged Home Office Digital and Home Office Technology functions. The implementation of the SOM aims to improve value for money, ensure effective delivery of customer needs and improve organisational effectiveness. The engagement will require Mason Advisory to coordinate across the initiatives and engage with senior DDaT stakeholders including the Chief DDaT Officer and her senior management team.

Mason Advisory was selected from 51 applicants based on its extensive experience in supporting the delivery of multi-workstream programmes for complex organisations, such as central government departments, its proficiency in implementing organisation design, its excellent business change and communication skills, as well as its understanding of complex stakeholder environments and its familiarity in working closely with senior leaders.

Now in its fifth year of operation, Mason Advisory has customers from well-known brands across multiple sectors, including finance, life sciences, retail, FMCG, emergency services, health, energy, water, education, government and transport. Last month, the company was featured in the London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019 and earlier this year was recognised by the Financial Times as one of the fastest growing companies in Europe and one of the leading management consultancies in the UK. It was awarded the Queen’s award for Enterprise in the international trade category and was also recognised by Great Place to Work as a centre of Excellence in Wellbeing.

“Over the last five years the Mason Advisory brand has become synonymous with the delivery of high-quality consultancy in challenging environments. The skill and expertise of our specialist consultants means that we are able to provide intelligent solutions to complex business challenges time and time again,” added Duncan. “This latest Government contract comes on the back of a successful year for the company delivering projects for high-profile clients and receiving industry recognition. We hope to continue this success over the coming months and take the company from strength to strength.”

Legal technology provider, F-LEX is celebrating its most successful year yet as the business continues to build its reputation for offering a flexible and affordable solution to recruitment.

The three-year-old company, which recently opened a Northern Hub in Manchester Technology Centre, has enjoyed year-on-year growth of 160 per cent. The first quarter of 2019 saw a 54 per cent increase in the number of paralegals placed and a 97 per cent rise in the number of clients using F-LEX’s platform.

F-LEX offers quick access to highly qualified, pre-approved paralegals and can provide individuals through to entire teams to boost resource for projects or one-off pieces of work. These include litigation support, document review, GDPR-related administration, contracts and compliance.

Eimear McCann, head of F-LEX’s Northern Hub, said: “The last twelve months have been fantastic for F-LEX; growing our team and our presence in the North.”

“The legal sector is becoming more and more receptive to new innovations. Firms are beginning to recognise that the introduction of technology not only provides solutions to common issues, such as recruitment, but also futureproofs their business in a digital world.”

F-LEX offers placements at law firms, legal tech companies and within in-house teams to ensure junior lawyers and paralegals gain the skills needed to succeed throughout their career.

Eimear continued: “It’s great to be a part of an exciting shift within the industry, providing on-demand services to a wide range of different legal providers whilst developing an exciting career path for junior lawyers in the process. We have had such fantastic success stories from our paralegals, who have had amazing opportunities through F-LEX, from training contracts to secondments to Brazil.”