The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents celebrated the official opening of its first permanent headquarters on 20 October.
Lord Jordan of Bourneville, the safety charity’s president, cut the ribbon at 28 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, in a ceremony attended by RoSPA staff from across the UK. A tree was planted and a plaque unveiled to mark the occasion.
Guests included current and former members of RoSPA’s Board of Trustees, representatives of BNP Paribas and Montage Construction – the firms that helped RoSPA secure its new property and bring it up to required standards – and representatives of some of RoSPA’s partner organisations.
RoSPA says the move to the four-storey Grade II-listed building on the Calthorpe Estate has been one of the biggest developments in its 94-year history. After nine decades in a series of leased buildings in London and Birmingham, the Society is, for the first time, the owner of its headquarters building. This, says RoSPA, means the charity is now operating with far lower overheads, enabling it to plough valuable additional resources into its mission to save lives and reduce injuries.
Lord Jordan said: “The new RoSPA building in Birmingham will become a UK landmark and home for the campaign for a safer Britain.”
Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s chief executive, added: “It is impossible to overstate how important the move to Calthorpe Road is for RoSPA. Being able to exit an expensive leased building means we have reduced our overheads massively. The move has only come about because of the very hard work of trustees, staff and volunteers, carried out over many years, which has created this opportunity at a favourable time in the property cycle.”
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Why would a business choose to own their own property (become dependent on bank or tie in all their captal)surely it would be prudent to use the market to drive down leasing agreements year on year. This is a massive ego massage for someone which is short term and when that person is replaced the next ego will want to impose their personality by moving into a high profile developement and selling this property for a short term gain. Couldn’t they think of something that would benifit more people