Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, has recently completed the first phase of upgrades to its £18 million, 47,000 square ft, London headquarters, which included an upgraded staff restaurant and gym.

Chris Leach, ACS’s Chairman, commented: “Our headquarters is the largest and most significant building in the ACS group. Over five stories, covering more than 47,000 square feet, it houses our three main UK sales departments, as well as centralised teams including finance, IT, 24-hour flight operations, marketing, legal & compliance and human resources, along with other management and support departments. However, the office space is also hugely important to the whole group as it contains the ACS Training Centre. This is where every charter broker from our offices all around the world comes for a month of classroom training to add to the on-the-job instruction they receive in their own office, and where managers receive advanced management training. So, when the opportunity arose to buy the building, we decided it was the right time to purchase it, as it allowed us to invest in creating not just a good, but industry-leading workplace.

“First and foremost we wanted to make it a pleasant environment for the more than 200 people that work in the office along with all those visiting from our offices around the world, so we have made several significant upgrades and expansions. The initial major changes included revitalising the ground floor reception area, creating a new staff restaurant and games area, upgrading the gym, changing rooms, massage and exercise wing, creating an in-house film studio, redeveloping our Digital Transformation & IT department and building a large secure cycle park to safely store staff bikes, which complements our cycle-to-work scheme. Our expanded staff restaurant area, completed in November, has seating for more than 120 people and incorporates coffee shop style breakout areas and a games room. The professional catering team in the restaurant provides free breakfast and lunch options for us all every day. Our objective was to make coming into the building a pleasure and to make sure that our team have everything they need to thrive at work.

“The completion of some final projects in May signalled the end of the first phase of upgrades; the next phase is in planning and will include further enhancing the wing that houses our suite of meeting rooms and training centre. We will also be making other changes across the site, including incorporating more EV charging spaces to accommodate increased demand following the introduction of our electric car scheme.

“We appreciate that the office is somewhere that people spend a lot of their time, so it is essential we get the environment and culture just right. Whether it is throwing our famous Christmas and summer parties, investing in facilities, training or staff benefits, we will always continue to invest in our people because they are the key to our success.”