Deloitte opens its new Midlands headquarters at Paradise

Deloitte has officially opened its new Midlands headquarters at One Centenary Way, in the Paradise development in the heart of Birmingham.

The professional services firm has taken 46,000 sq ft across two floors of the building, which will be the base for more than 1,000 people working across the region.

The opening

The office was opened this week by Deloitte's UK chief executive, Darren Graves, and the mayor, Richard Parker. They were joined by Nick Smith, head of infrastructure at Birmingham City Football Club, among other guests.

Deloitte announced in January that it would move its Midlands operation to Paradise, and the relocation follows a series of office moves by the firm around the country in recent years, including in Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol and Manchester.

One Centenary Way

One Centenary Way overlooks the A38 Queensway and was built as part of the second phase of Paradise. It is now one of the largest modern office buildings in the city, and is known for the steel frame on its outside.

That frame is still being repainted. Paradise said last year that white patches visible on the building were where the steel had been prepared for its final coats of paint, and the work has continued through 2026.

Why firms are moving

Large employers across the country have been moving out of older offices into new buildings with high energy ratings and better facilities, partly to meet their own environmental targets and partly to persuade staff to come into the office more often after the pandemic.

Paradise has been one of the biggest beneficiaries in Birmingham. The £1.2bn development between Chamberlain Square and Centenary Square already houses firms such as Goldman Sachs, EY and Arup, and the council says it has supported the creation of about 7,500 jobs.

The professional services cluster

Birmingham has one of the largest professional and financial services sectors in the UK outside London. Accountancy, law and consultancy firms employ tens of thousands of people in the city, and many of the biggest firms have chosen to expand or upgrade their Birmingham offices in recent years.

The growth has been helped by HSBC UK's headquarters, which moved to the city in 2018, and by the government's decision to move some civil service jobs to the city. Graduate recruitment from the city's five universities is another draw for employers.

Supporters of Paradise say the arrival of big names like Deloitte shows that the city centre can still attract major employers, even as many companies have reduced the amount of office space they take. Business leaders in the city have repeatedly argued that new, high-quality space is what keeps those employers coming to Birmingham rather than other regional cities.