Tallest building now fully let as law firm DWF moves in staff

DWF, which is already based in the 32-storey Bridgewater Place, bought its troubled rival Cobbetts out of administration in a pre-pack deal last month.

In Leeds, Cobbetts had around 190 staff based in No 1 Whitehall Riverside.

These staff are now joining the 230-strong team at DWF’s office in Bridgewater Place.

Yesterday, James Haddleton, executive partner at DWF’s Leeds office, confirmed that 50 Cobbetts staff had started to move into Bridgewater Place, and the rest would follow soon.

Jeff Pearey, lead director for the North East region at Jones Lang Lasalle, the letting agent for Bridgewater Place, said the building’s offices had been fully let for a number of years, until Operon, one of the tenants, went into liquidation.

He added: “The Operon lease was never formally disclaimed, until we took a surrender of it to do the deal with DWF.

“This successfully concludes long running discussions with DWF, over a number of years, where we have been working with them to satisfy their longer term accommodation requirements within the building. “This transaction is a great result for all parties and secures DWF among a high-quality occupier line-up within Bridgewater Place.”

Mr Pearey also revealed that his client, CPPI Bridgewater Place, had confirmed that a gym operator would soon be occupying the building’s ground-floor restaurant unit.