Sheffield city centre: Law firm Knights takes city's best office to attract 30 new staff

A Sheffield law firm is moving into Sheffield’s most prestigious office as part of a recruitment drive.

Knights is moving 70 staff from Commercial Street, near Ponds Forge sports centre, into 1 St Paul’s Place on the Peace Gardens, in July.

The firm says it will provide state-of-the-art facilities and technology, with capacity for 100.

Paul Trudgill, partner at Knights, said it would provide a ‘solid platform’ for growth in the city.

He added: “We are investing in our people as we grow across the city and the wider South Yorkshire region, which will enable us to deliver our wide array of services across both our business and private wealth offerings as we recruit more ambitious professionals to join us.”

1 St Paul’s Place replaced the famous ‘egg box’ Town Hall extension and ‘wedding cake’ registry office in the mid-2000s.

The original ‘Heart of the City’ development includes 2 and 3 St Paul’s Place, a Mercure Hotel, the ‘cheesegrater’ car park and St Paul’s Tower flats.

Office occupiers include the Department for Education, law firm DLA Piper and Barclays.

News of Knights’ move will be welcomed by Sheffield Property Association. Only this week it reported a drop of up to £36m in annual spending in the city centre due to working from home since the pandemic.

And it recommended bosses ‘reward attendance’ with perks including nice offices and team food orders.