Firms based in and around the town of Watford can call on Thames Contracts to carry out office design and build projects. Based in nearby Barnet, a part of London bordering Hertfordshire, Thames has a good knowledge of the area and frequently works with Watford companies and organisations.
An office design and build project could be required by a company for several reasons. Among them are moving to new premises, company expansion, updating, rebranding and corporate takeovers.
At Thames, we ensure our office design and build projects run as smoothly as possible for our clients. We visit the premises and get input from the client at design stage, drawing up a brief to suit their requirements. We then project manage the whole installation, to be completed within budget and with the minimum of disruption.
Focus on Watford
Watford lies within the M25 motorway, less than 20 miles from central London. It is surrounded by St Albans, Borehamwood, Bushey, Hemel Hempstead, Harrow, Chesham, Northwood and Rickmansworth, and has its own character as a regional centre.
Amenities include a number of retail establishments, such as the intu Watford Shopping Centre, an indoor development with 140 stores, restaurant and cafes. It also has several lively bars and restaurants, parks, gardens, a town museum and various listed buildings. The Colosseum hosts regular classical music and pop concerts and has some of the best acoustics in Europe.
Watford has a rapidly growing population of 94,000 (2013 figures), up 14,000 from 2001. Property prices have also been increasing in recent years, which shows just how popular the area is. Demand for property is rising from both local workers and those who commute into London, and average house prices are still significantly lower than in St Albans.
It is very much an up-and-coming area with various new developments springing up all the time. This includes the popular Grade II listed conversion, Royal Connaught Park, which has been turned into executive housing.
Looking into the future, the town is undergoing a major revival. In addition, Watford is set to benefit from new transport infrastructure, with new underground stations and also the possibility of a new Crossrail link. This is likely to lead to more households and businesses relocating to the area.
Employment Picture
Major national and international companies are based in Watford, including Camelot, TK Maxx, Taylor Woodrow, Balfour Beatty, Mothercare and Total Oil. Warner Bros film studios at Leavesden is where many Hollywood film productions are made and is open to the public for the Harry Potter studio tour.
Watford has seen major growth over the last few years. It has been named as one of the areas with the highest rates of employment among older workers, and also a high level of youth employment. West Herts College, a technical college of further education, also serves to further boost skills in the region.
Further revivals include the £300 million development of the surrounding brownfield land of Watfield General Hospital, which is due to be turned into a health campus. It will create more homes, 1,600 new jobs and provide new hospital facilities in the region. The Charter Place arcade is set to be turned into a £100 million leisure and shopping centre complex, with a multiplex cinema, providing 1,225 new jobs in the retail and leisure sectors. All of this spells good news for this up-and-coming town.
In addition, Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is working to attract more businesses to the whole area, including Watford, and is working to bring 38,600 more private sector jobs into the county.
Meanwhile, if you are based in Watford or elsewhere in Hertfordshire or London, and want to arrange an office design and build project, Thames can help.
Office Design and Build Watford – Contact Thames Contracts for more information on office refits in the Hertfordshire area.