'Symbolic moment' as ghd moves 120 staff into new Leeds offices at Wellington Place

The firm’s Yorkshire staff were previously based at Bridgewater Place, with the local team including digital, IT, accounts and admin workers. The company, whose name stands for ‘Good Hair Day’, is the first to move into 11 and 12 Wellington Place, with Lloyds Banking Group and consultancy Arup among the other companies due to arrive.

Jeroen Temmerman, chief executive officer of ghd, told The Yorkshire Post that the opening of the new offices was a “symbolic moment” for the company given its foundations in Leeds.

He said: "The business was started here 20 years ago and now we are becoming one of the leading beauty-tech businesses in the world. We are in Europe already and are expanding in the US and Asia and just entered into China as well a couple of years ago.

"It is a very exciting story and it all started here.

"It is a symbolic moment that we have this fantastic building here and a very big talent pool working in this office.”

Mr Temmerman, who joined ghd in 2018 after previously working for L’Oréal, said he was impressed with the evolution of Leeds in recent years.

"The development of Leeds as a city in these last few years is impressive and at ghd we are extremely proud to be in the centre of Leeds. We are very proud to tap into the big talent that comes out of the universities in Leeds.

"We think there is a big digital acceleration happening in Leeds and it is fantastic our digital teams are here.

"From here we guide the global organisation. The customer service side is supporting the UK business but the finance and digital community are serving the global acceleration of ghd so it is the global functions sitting here.”

The new Wellington Place offices use an all-electric reversible air source heat pump system and air-cooled chillers to reduce carbon emissions, while windows are triple-glazed and the building has 7,500 square feet of solar panels.

Run entirely on renewable electricity, the building is the first outside London to achieve a NABERS Designed Reviewed Target Rating of Five Stars or above.

Mr Temmerman said the sustainability benefits and the campus feeling of the wider Wellington Place business district are part of what had attracted the firm to the new offices, along with the way it is set up for the post-Covid working environment.

"In the new way of working people come to the office to collaborate, to connect and to generate creativity.

"We really motivate people to come into the office to work on those values and the office is designed like that.”

Paul Pavia, head of development at MEPC, the developer and asset manager behind Wellington Place, said: “ghd is an iconic international brand and one of the most celebrated British business success stories of recent times. We’re incredibly proud to welcome ghd to Wellington Place, a globally recognised name with roots very much here in Leeds.

“ghd’s move is not only a significant indicator of confidence in the Leeds office market, but also further evidences the flight to quality that we continue to witness, with organisations prioritising securing the best space available to support employee wellbeing and social value.

“Wellington Place is home to a thriving community, and we look forward to supporting ghd in what is sure to be an exciting next chapter for the business.”