Beal Homes moving to £4.5m new head office as sales soar

ON THE MOVE: Beal Homes chief executive Richard Beal, left, with Wykeland Group managing director Dominic Gibbons. Picture by R&R Studio

Fast-growing Beal Homes has revealed plans for a showpiece new head office at Bridgehead business park featuring industry-leading customer experience facilities.

The family-owned housebuilder plans to move just 100 yards across the road from its existing home to a new £4.5m building next to the Porsche Centre.

A planning application has been submitted to East Riding Council for the 19,000 sq ft, two-storey building.

Beal is working with Wykeland, owner and developer of Bridgehead, on the scheme. The two businesses are also joint venture partners in the regeneration of Hull’s Fruit Market urban village.

The planned investment comes just a few years after Beal relocated to then new-built offices at the business park close to the Humber Bridge – a move that accelerated the growth of the regional housebuilder.

The business moved to Bridgehead in 2014 to occupy a purpose-designed head office, including a customer selections studio – now rebranded as the design lounge – where homebuyers personalise their new home to fit their lifestyle and tastes.

Since then, the company has driven growth in house sales from just over 100 completions a year to around 300, with turnover trebling in that time.

Now, Beal has once more outgrown its home and plans to invest in the new head office which is more than twice the size of its existing building.

Almost half of the floorspace will be devoted to an expanded design lounge and areas dedicated to customer service, including to host launch events for new developments. With its own entrance, this will be a seven-day sales outlet, open during the day and evening to suit customers’ busy lifestyles.

The 1.1-acre site will also feature a show garden, reflecting the further development of a recently-launched Beal service helping buyers to make the most of their outdoor space with advice from a landscape design expert.

NEW HOME: A computer generated image of the planned £4.5m Beal Homes head office at Bridgehead business park. Image by Vector Design Concepts/The Harris Partnership

Chief executive Richard Beal said: “We’re very excited to put forward these plans and delighted to be working with Wykeland to deliver them. This is a major statement of our confidence in the future of the business and the housing market in Hull, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire where we operate.

“This building will be both the headquarters of our business and a highly-visible shop window and showroom for the quality of our homes and the outstanding customer experience we’re known for.

“The facilities will enable us to enhance even further the customer journey, including the experience our buyers enjoy as they work with our expert designers to customise their new home.

“It will also offer a superb working environment for our excellent team. Post-Covid, people will care even more about the quality of their workplace and that will be a key issue in retaining and recruiting talented staff.”

Pending planning approval, construction is expected to begin early next year with the new head office due to open in the first quarter of 2022.

Beal plans to make its current head office on the opposite side of Boothferry Road available for sale or to let, opening up the opportunity for another business to relocate to Bridgehead.

Wykeland managing director Dominic Gibbons said: “These plans will bring another landmark building to Bridgehead, in keeping with the high quality of design seen across the business park.

“Beal was the first company to make its home at Bridgehead and that move has been instrumental in the growth of the business. Now Beal plans to invest again, to literally build on that success.

“Pending planning approval, this development will also create an excellent opportunity for another company to join one of the region’s leading locations for business investment, by occupying the offices Beal will vacate.”

Beal and Wykeland are working with The Harris Partnership on the design of the new building and intend to re-engage Hull-based Chameleon Business Interiors to deliver the interior design and fit-out. Chameleon carried out the same work at Beal’s existing head office.