Maxim Park opens its doors to first direct and HSBC UK colleagues

After months of meticulous planning, a thousand first direct and HSBC UK colleagues have this week moved across to their brand-new offices at Maxim Park – one of the most significant office moves in the region in recent years.

Set across three floors comprising 54,446 square feet, the new space at Maxim 4 boasts more than 500 workstations, state of the art technology and meeting spaces, and colleague amenities including a nursery, games area and restaurant. This follows an extensive, two-year design project.

The new office, which is located between Glasgow and Edinburgh, replaces the previous site in Hamilton.

To support colleagues commuting to the new site, a range of transport options and connections are available, with over 150 buses per day serving Maxim Park, seven railway stations within 5 miles and free parking available for those who drive.

The full list of features for the new office space include:

• Over 500 workstations, including training and academy rooms for learning and development, plus a town hall meeting space and state of the art, technology-enabled, flexible meeting spaces
• Multiple touch-down points, including meeting booths and phone booths to support confidential conversations
• Excellent colleague amenity provision including nursery, games areas, restaurant and breakout areas on each floor with hot beverage stations
• Wider on-site and location-based amenities include a gym and wellness centre, pitch and putt golf course, cycling facilities, and electric car charging points
• Enhanced ventilation system and presence detector controlled lighting system, saving energy and cost
• Repurposed and recycled furniture and carbon negative carpet tiles
• Biophilic planting throughout

The new office has been awarded the Construction Industry Council’s Inclusive Environments recognition for HSBC’s continued efforts in fostering inclusive environments for their colleagues. The building includes ergonomic workstations and spaces to support equality, diversity and inclusivity – such as a parenting room, a decompression room and a library.

Chris Pitt, CEO of first direct, said: “As one of the biggest employers in the region, it’s important to us that our people have access to an office space that they love coming to. We chose Maxim Park because it delivered just that, with state-of-the-art facilities that will support people to thrive in their day-to-day roles, and added perks like subsidised on-premise childcare and electric car charging points.

“This move has involved scrupulous planning for two years, and I’d like to extend a massive thank you to everyone within the team that has worked so hard to make this happen. The feedback we’ve received from our people so far has been great and I know everyone is very excited to get settled in.”