Leading renewable energy provider chooses Bruntwood SciTech’s Birmingham business district hub, Cornerblock

The UK’s largest dedicated property platform serving the nation’s innovation economy, Bruntwood SciTech – a joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General and Greater Manchester Pension Fund – has agreed a deal with renewable energy supplier Bryt Energy that will see the business relocate its UK headquarters to their Cornerblock building in central Birmingham.

Part of the Statkraft group, Bryt Energy provides British businesses with zero carbon, 100% renewable electricity, sourced solely from Solar, Wind and Hydro*. Through pioneering products and services, they empower businesses to create value from their electricity usage, optimise their consumption and challenge the way they interact with the electricity system.

Choosing Cornerblock, in part, for its strategic location at the heart of the prestigious Colmore Business District, the company will take up 12,500 sq ft of office space in the city centre innovation hub. Bryt also selected Cornerblock because, as a renewable energy provider, it has strict sustainability criteria for its office requirement, which included a requirement for renewable energy procurement, replacing gas boilers prior to 2030 and provision of environmental data. All of these align with Bruntwood SciTech’s plans for the building as part of its ambitious net zero targets. 

Bryt also selected Cornerblock because, as a renewable energy provider, it has diligent sustainability criteria for its office requirements, which was an important factor, aligning with Bruntwood SciTech’s plans for the building as part of its ambitious net zero targets.   

The works further cement Cornerblock’s status as a state-of-the-art workspace in the heart of Birmingham’s business district. Communal spaces were transformed to provide additional areas for businesses to collaborate and connect, alongside an impressive new welcome space, while the wellbeing offer was boosted with the introduction of a new weights studio and cardio gym, as well a new, secure bike store as part of efforts to offer improved healthy work-life balance opportunities for businesses and their employees.

Since work completed, Bruntwood SciTech has seen renewed interest in the building, with an additional 8,000 sq ft of workspace currently under offer or instructed since works completed, leaving just 11,000sq ft of space remaining. 

At Cornerblock, Bryt will be joining global, market-leading companies such as digital transformation experts Kainos, specialist cyber insurers Beazley, and global risk solutions provider Sedgwick. They will also be connected into Bruntwood SciTech’s thriving community of over 100 businesses located across its city-wide ecosystem in Birmingham, which includes six innovation hubs including the likes of Centre City - next door to New Street Station, Innovation Birmingham- the West Midlands’ largest single site digital and tech community - and Birmingham Health Innovation Campus – the region’s first dedicated health and technologies hub. They will also have access to Bruntwood SciTech’s nation-wide business community of 1,100 startups, scaleups and global businesses.

Rob Valentine, regional director for Birmingham, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “We are committed to providing Birmingham with innovation-led hubs for businesses to work together and grow. The fact Bryt Energy has chosen Cornerblock as its new home is testament to our recent refurbishment making it an attractive prospect for businesses. We look forward to seeing it reap the benefits of being able to collaborate and share knowledge with other like-minded companies as it connects into our ecosystem of science, technology, and innovation-led businesses both in the city, and across the whole of the UK.”

Ian Brothwell, managing director at Bryt Energy, said: “At Bryt Energy, we have always believed that acting sustainably is quite simply the right thing to do. That’s why we’re delighted that our move to Cornerblock will provide the next chapter of our story, with a modern and flexible working environment that aligns with our own commitment to sustainability and employee wellbeing. Without our incredible team, we wouldn’t be able to deliver on our purpose, and as we continue to grow, this space will help us towards our sustainability goals, whilst supporting our talented team as we help British businesses towards theirs.”

This move is just the latest step in Bruntwood SciTech’s efforts to foster innovation and economic prosperity in Birmingham. It recently started a £4.5million refurbishment of Centre City to transform the landmark building into a leading workspace hub in the heart of the city, with developments also ongoing at Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, where No.1 BHIC is due to complete later this summer, and the award-winning Enterprise Wharf at Innovation Birmingham.

This latest announcement also coincides exactly a year since it announced an additional £500 million investment into the science, tech and innovation sector and welcomed the UK’s largest local government pension fund, Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) into the joint venture to support long-term, patient capital playing a crucial role in the growth of the domestic innovation sector.

Over the past year Bruntwood SciTech has invested £314m across Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool, and is bringing to market 1.45m sq ft of state-of-the-art workspace for innovation-led businesses; for startups through to global HQs.

Bruntwood SciTech was advised by Avison Young, CBRE and Savills.