Association finds recipe for success

The professional body that represents UK dietitians has found the recipe for future success by relocating to a new headquarters in Birmingham city centre.

Birmingham-based chartered surveyors Johnson Fellows helped the British Dietetic Association (BDA) secure offices at Interchange Place at Edmund Street in the Colmore Business District. 

The BDA has agreed a 10-year lease on 4,800 sq ft of office space on the third floor. It is relocating its headquarters from nearby Charles House, Great Charles Street. Agents JLL and Savills acted on behalf of the landlord.

Founded in 1936, the BDA is the professional association and trade union for dietitians in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the nation’s largest organisation of food and nutrition professionals with over 9,500 members. 

Charles Warrack, business space partner at Birmingham-based Johnson Fellows, said: “The British Dietetic Association is committed to Birmingham and was very keen to find great office space for its headquarters. Interchange Place has all the ingredients they require – it’s just a short walk from New Street and Snow Hill train stations and is right in the heart of the Colmore Business District. 

“They approached us 18 months ago with a view to fitting out their existing offices, but we carried out a review of their options and they realised that moving to offices in a better location made more sense.”

BDA chief executive Andy Burman said: “As our Association has developed and our staff team has grown, we came to need greater flexibility in our space and resources. After Johnson Fellows identified that this would not be possible at our office in Charles House, their excellent support allowed us to find a great space in Interchange Place. 

“Although we have only moved a few streets over, it allows us improved technical capabilities, gives us faster broadband speeds, offers much bigger training and meeting spaces for members to use, and accommodates our growing BDA team. We look forward to welcoming many of our members and partners to BDA courses, events and meetings over the coming months.”

Anthony Foster, building consultancy partner at Johnson Fellows, said: “We were pleased to get involved from cradle to grave, providing feasibility options and concept designs to seeing the works through to completion. Working with a great and proactive client has been a joy and the new office space is fantastic.”

Andrew Riach, national office agency at JLL, said: “Having invested heavily in Interchange Place to create one of Birmingham’s premier office buildings, Aberdeen Standard Investments is delighted to welcome BDA to the building. The organisation makes a great addition to an already strong tenant line up. With a number of existing occupiers recently committing to the building and further conversations on-going, we expect additional announcements soon.”

Pictured: Charles Warrack (Johnson Fellows) joins Sue Kellie (left) of the British Dietetic Association, and Vicki Burnett of landlord's agent JLL, at the organisation's new offices in Birmingham