Successful relocations
Peterborough has been attracting new companies throughout its history – some of
our most successful modern businesses moved here a century or more ago.
Listed below are some of our more recent relocations – a wide range of businesses
in diverse sectors that have chosen to operate from Peterborough.
Action Mailing Services
American mailing company Action Mailing Services opened its first UK office in Fengate,
Peterborough, in July 2004 to take advantage of the city’s central location and
its excellent transport links.
Established in 1967, Action Mailing provides mailing solutions for companies in
a variety of sectors including financial, manufacturing, insurance and advertising/marketing.
The company uses automated equipment to handle both small and large mailings and
uses a number of technologies, such as variable data laser imaging, to meet clients’
requirements.
Base Commercial Mortgages
Base Commercial Mortgages is a newly launched commercial mortgage lender which has
recently opened its doors for business on the business park at Lynch Wood. The company
focuses on servicing selected mortgage brokers and intermediaries. Its new processing
centre is staffed by a dedicated team of underwriters and processors who service
a national team of business development and lending managers.
Base uses a fully integrated online system and leading edge information technology
to link brokers, valuers and solicitors with underwriters at the Peterborough office
from anywhere in the UK. The IT solution was provided by another Peterborough company,
Sibson based Advanced Business Solutions. Advanced Group provided all the necessary
systems and support to help maintain Base’s business.
BNP Paribas Securities Services
BNP Paribas Securities Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BNP Paribas Group,
provides a wide range of securities services and investment operations solutions
to issuers, financial intermediaries and institutional investors worldwide. The
company employs nearly 5,000 professionals worldwide, with around 1,200 in the UK,
240 of whom are based in Peterborough.
The securities services division of BNP Paribas relocated some of its personnel
to Peterborough to take advantage of its excellent location and transport connections
to attract new clients.
Charis Grants
Charis Grants Limited, the company that delivers grants on behalf of independent
charitable trusts, has relocated its Peterborough office within the city to accommodate
an increasing workforce.
Charis Grants delivers charitable trust funds on behalf of grant making trusts such
as the British Gas Energy Trust, Anglian Water Trust Fund and the EDF Energy Trust.
The charitable trusts make grants available to reduce or clear outstanding utility
and other bills for people facing financial hardship. Charis Grants enables companies,
individuals and grant making trusts to use their charitable funds effectively and
provides key services such as grants management, support and advice.
The company has been established for five years and has recently relocated to new
premises at Midgate House, Peterborough, to enable the company to grow. Charis Grants
currently employs around 20 staff and is planning to recruit more.
Cirrus IT
Cirrus IT, which provides managed IT services, consultancy, and training for payroll
and human resources (HR) software, opened offices in Peterborough in late 2004 to
bring its workforce under one roof.
Following continued growth it recently moved into the city centre, employing more
staff at its new Grant House offices and also introducing new services. The company’s
clients include a number of top 250 companies such as RMC Group, Limit Underwriting,
Harvey Nichols and IKEA.
As Peterborough is centrally located and has excellent travel connections, it has
proved to be ideal for the company’s needs as its client base is located across
the UK from London to Scotland.
Cowen
Insurance broker R A Cowen and Partners Limited opened its first office outside
Mansfield at the Equinox Business Park in Lynch Wood, Peterborough.
The company, which has been established in Mansfield for 30 years, chose to open
a second office in Peterborough to extend its client base into East Anglia. The
location proved ideal due to its excellent transport links and connections to the
Eastern region.
The company has purchased a brand new, purpose built office at a business park near
the city centre. It plans to employ up to ten staff from the local area and is looking
to expand further in the future.
EINSA
Spanish company EINSA designs, manufactures and maintains civil and military airside
equipment. The company has secured a Ministry of Defence contract to maintain and
repair weapon loaders at RAF bases in the UK and worldwide.
The company opened its first international office outside Spain in Orton Southgate,
Peterborough, and the office currently employs seven locally recruited engineers
and administration staff.
Peterborough proved to be the ideal location for EINSA as it is close to a number
of RAF bases in the East of England and has good transport connections to other
bases around the UK. It is also close to Stansted and Luton airports, enabling staff
to travel to a number of international locations.
Froglife
National amphibian and reptile conservation charity Froglife relocated to Peterborough
to take advantage of the city’s transport connections and to benefit from its status
as an Environment City.
Froglife is involved in numerous conservation projects in Peterborough, most significantly
the management of the internationally important flagship nature reserve at the city’s
southern township, Hampton. The reserve is home to a number of protected species
including great crested newts and rare plants.
As well as providing project management, Froglife offers information and advice
to professional conservationists, government bodies and members of the public about
the conservation and welfare of native amphibians and reptiles.
Froglife also manages an ecological consultancy business providing services to a
wide range of companies. Its work includes carrying out amphibian/reptile surveys
and translocations.
General and Medical
General and Medical provides individual, family and corporate health insurance.
The company recently relocated its headquarters from Northamptonshire to Peterborough
because expansion of the company and its workforce meant the company had out-grown
its former premises.
Peterborough proved to be the obvious choice to establish a new headquarters due
to its excellent transport connections.
Since the move the workforce has grown to around 20 people and recruitment is still
continuing to increase the sales team. Long term plans include further expansion
within the administration department.
Henderson Insurance Brokers
Henderson Insurance Brokers Ltd (HIBL) opened its first Cambridgeshire office at
the Lynch Wood business park in Peterborough in October 2004. The location was chosen
to take advantage of the city’s selection of commercial property and the area’s
strong and diverse economy.
The range of affordable commercial property available in the city meant that the
rapidly expanding company was able to find an ideal location that would allow it
to grow further.
HIBL is a leading insurance broker which deals with a variety of businesses. The
Peterborough office deals predominantly with commercial insurance for small to medium
size businesses.
Home Office
The Home Office chose Peterborough for its new National Offenders Management Services
offices. Home Office and Ministry of Justice staff in the city now total around
50 people.
IKEA
Swedish furniture giant IKEA opened a £40 million distribution centre located on
a 30-hectare (75-acre) site alongside the Fletton Parkway section of Peterborough's
ring road in July 2003. It has 85,000 square metres (915,000 sq ft) of storage space.
The centre, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, distributes stock
to IKEA’s existing 17 stores and to regional hubs for onward direct delivery to
170,000 customers. IKEA chose Peterborough for the centre because of its proximity
to East Coast ports and the availability of a highly skilled workforce.
MENCAP
National learning disability charity Mencap, which works with people of all ages
with learning disabilities and with their families and carers, recently opened new
offices in Peterborough. It employs 50 staff in Peterborough, with HR and finance
functions amalgamating here from offices in London and Bury St Edmunds.
Tesco
Tesco opened a distribution centre in Peterborough in 2005 providing a rapid turnaround
operation for chilled and fresh produce which is delivered, sorted by individual
store requirement and typically dispatched to stores within 12 hours. The company’s
operations continue to expand and it now employs more than 1,000 staff in Peterborough.
Tritin
Tritin Limited, which supplies machinery and blades to the food processing industry,
has relocated its office facilities to its factory site in Orton Southgate, Peterborough,
to bring all departments under one roof.
The company set up the factory and test kitchen facilities in Peterborough in 2000
to take advantage of the city’s central location and its proximity to companies
within the food processing industry.
VFM Services
VFM Services (Volume Fraud Management), which provides fraud prevention services
for insurance and finance companies, has relocated the majority of its workforce
to Peterborough following a period of growth and expansion.
VFM Services was established in 2000 by managing director Bill Jackson who, while
working at Peterborough-based travel giant Thomas Cook, developed a new process
for dealing with claims for lost or stolen travellers cheques. The process was created
to help telephone operators discourage people from making inappropriate or false
claims.
Following the success of the process, VFM was created to provide similar services
and training for insurance and finance companies
The majority of VFM’s 75 staff have been relocated to Peterborough which has a highly-skilled
workforce essential for the company. A number of large, established companies within
VFM’s target market are based in Peterborough.
Webroster
Webroster Limited supplies and supports a fully internet-based work management tool
– Webroster.net – to manage rostering and timesheet processes. A number of companies
within healthcare, security, cleaning vehicle and teacher supply use Webroster to
roster and manage internal shift patterns and other projects more efficiently and
effectively.
Established in 2002, the company is continuing to build on its success and decided
to relocate the business to Peterborough to improve accessibility for clients and
staff by taking advantage of the city’s excellent transport connections.
The company plans to increase the sales team as well as expand its services.