International law firm Osborne Clarke has been linked with a possible move from its Bristol office, where it employs more than 600 people, to a flagship new development in the city.
Construction work has recently started on Halo, pictured right, a speculative 116,000 sq ft office scheme on the former Avon Fire and Rescue HQ site and the latest phase of the Finzels Reach new city quarter. 
Property Week today reported that Osborne Clarke is “weighing up” relocating its showpiece Temple Back office, pictured below, to 70,000 sq ft at Halo, which is described by developer Cubex as setting new standards of sustainability, wellbeing and digital connectivity for offices in Bristol.
Osborne Clarke and its property agents declined to comment on its plans but did confirm that the firm is reviewing its accommodation in Bristol.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “We remain committed to the city and hope to make a decision in early 2020.”
While Osborne Clarke is an international firm with 24 offices across the globe employing more than 1,000 people its roots are in Bristol, where it was founded in 1748.
September marked 50 years since two law firms in Bristol – Osborne Ward and Clarke Gwynn & Press – merged and created the firm named Osborne Clarke.
The firm moved to Temple Back from Queen Charlotte Street in 2002. At the time it employed around 470 people in Bristol.
Relocating from Temple Back again would be the latest in a string of major law firm office moves in Bristol over recent years. Bristol is increasingly being regarded as the UK’s second city for legal work, with national firms opening offices and city-based firms expanding.
A move to Halo would also position Osborne Clarke at the heart of Bristol’s emerging Finzels Reach creative, media and tech quarter. 
Channel 4 has recently opened its new Bristol Creative Hub in a 3,200 sq ft office in the historic Fermentation Buildings alongside a number of design and media agencies.
The area is also becoming a social hotspot with a host of independent bars, restaurants and leisure operators choosing the emerging city quarter for their new premises.
Planning consent was granted in September to transform the former Avon Fire and Rescue headquarters site into around 300 homes, cutting-edge sustainable offices to support Bristol’s growing economy and £2.4m of improvements to the area around the site.
These include new landscaping, traffic management, pedestrian and cycle routes which will help make the area more attractive area and foster a strong sense of community.
Cubex has awarded the demolition contracts to Bedminster-based family firm Wring Group. Work being undertaken includes bat surveys, testing for ground pollution and unexploded World War II ordnance, removal of asbestos and identifying any archaeological remains discovered during the work.
Expected to take around six months to complete, it has been planned to minimise any disturbance to neighbouring occupiers.
Excavation work will also be starting next year to create the basement level for the Halo office building, to accommodate space for cycle and car parking, parcel deliveries, electric car and bike charge points, showers and changing rooms.
Work on the superstructure will then follow, with construction work set to complete at the end of 2021.
The leading-edge new Halo office building, which is being built speculatively, will provide space for around 1,100 staff. It is designed to set new standards of sustainability, wellbeing and digital connectivity for offices in Bristol, according to Cubex, following the successful approach taken by the developer with Aurora, in the first phase of Finzels Reach.
Cubex executive director Gavin Bridge said: “We’ve been working closely with Bristol City Council over the past few weeks, since planning consent was granted, to tie up the last few details on the Section 106 agreement.
“As part of our agreement, we will be putting in new protected cycle lanes, planting trees, widening pavements, and installing a new zebra crossing on Counterslip near to St Philips Bridge. We will also be contributing over £1m to fund further improvements in the local area and I hope much of this will be spent in Castle Park.
“We have a track record of getting on with development. I’m therefore very pleased that we’ve been able to get planning consent within 13 months of buying the site and are starting construction work just after this agreement has been signed, demonstrating our commitment to making regeneration happen in Bristol.”
Last year national law firm Simmons & Simmons decamped from its 16,000 sq ft office at Linear Park, Temple Quay, to 27,000 sq ft in the new Aurora building at Finzels Reach – opposite Halo – while South West law firm Foot Anstey expanded into a larger office at 2 Glass Wharf, Temple Quay, six years after opening its Bristol office with just 10 employees – a number that has now soared to 130.
Meanwhile, top three Bristol firm TLT conducted a major refurbishment of its space at One Redcliff Street, opening a new 15th floor – an additional 10,000 sq ft storey which has been added to the 1960s building – meaning the firm now occupies 90,000 sq ft in total.
