OFFICE MEZZANINE FLOOR MOVE DANCE

Office mezzanine floor project for Europe's biggest dance wear retailer who have been providing quality apparel since 2007.

Manchester

50
Happy Employees
600
Hours Worked
277
Mezzanine Square Metres
12
Number of Weeks
9
Number of Rooms
Move Dance Logo

THE CHALLENGE

Move Dance are an independent UK based company situated in Manchester and are the largest dance wear retailer in Europe. They have been passionately providing dancers, teachers and gymnasts with quality dance apparel since 2007.

They now serve over 100 countries worldwide and with that growth comes the need to move to a larger premises. Around 50% of the items they sell are own brand products that they manufacture themselves, so the new premises needed to have the facilities to produce their own products and stock the other products that they sell too.

They promote all of their products in house too, so they needed a design and build company to factor in photo studio facilities when designing their new space. Move Dance wanted something that was ‘a really nice environment for our staff and light and airy.’

The new premises they identified at Airport City in Manchester only had a small office space within, so they needed an office mezzanine floor solution to help extend the existing first floor office space. Whilst below this new office space they required both a breakout area for all their staff and a product sorting area out in the warehouse.

They didn’t want ‘just a box in a warehouse’ for their new office space so we worked together with Move Dance to design and build something that was sleek and modern and would help inspire their staff. They really wanted an environment that fit with their culture and way of working.

‘For us, we’re really making a big push in terms of the culture of our business. That’s both in terms of how we expect people to behave, but also the environment that we provide for people and I really feel that this has been a black and white evolution for us in terms of going from where we were to where we are now.’ – John Cormack, Director, Move Dance.

THE SOLUTION

Move Dance required a design and build specialist to come in, look at their requirements and provide a solution to their workspace needs.

‘I’m a buyer by trade to a certain extent, so I initially evaluated a long list of design and build contractors and then shortlisted them to three. I engaged them to produce some information on what they might build, how it was going to be delivered and how we were going to pay for it etc, along with all the other aspects I thought were important in terms of selecting somebody to do this work for us and Nexus came out on top.’

From that moment on, we got to work designing and ultimately building a workspace that Move Dance could be proud of. ‘We used to struggle really, when people used to turn up at our business in terms of new employees or potential hires. They used to look at our business and think hmm is that a place I really want to work? And now that isn’t a problem. People turn up and you can see from the look in their eyes when they come through the door, they’re like wow, yeah this is a cool place and yeah I’d like to work here’.

We created a large open plan office space to house all their employees on top of the mezzanine floor. Included within the design is a tea point island, complete with stylish metal lighting hanging from the ceiling above.

‘I can’t really fault the process from start to finish, you can see that they’ve done this many times before. It’s a good process in terms of consistency of delivery for them.’

Island at Move Dance
Move Dance Island

‘The new facilities are really helping us to build and retain staff and helping us to recruit those great people in to work here at Move Dance.’

The scatter style carpet really opens up the room to make it feel spacious and the darker colour palette used, compliments the black trim that we utilised on the windows and glass partitions.

Above the office space we created two light tunnels within the suspended ceiling design. These really open up the space even more, provide an enormous amount of natural light into the office and are a really unique addition to the facilities.

The walls of the open plan office are adorned with three different coloured Move Dance branded wall art pieces which add a splash of colour to the surroundings. Rounding out the facilities on top of the office mezzanine floor are three meeting rooms created through the installation of solid and glass partitioning.

Open Plan Office For Move Dance
Light Box In Ceiling

THE SOLUTION

We created an open staircase leading down to the breakout area below, which really enhances the feeling that the facilities are all as one. Going downstairs, the large breakout/kitchen area is kitted out with benches for Move Dance’s employees to relax on and enjoy their lunch.

Every Thursday at 11am, Move Dance have a ‘bring your own food in event’ where everyone stops working for a while and congregates together in the breakout area. So this new breakout area below the mezzanine floor is ideal for such occasions.

The area is lit up by panel lighting within the suspended ceiling, along with spotlights hanging from the ceiling. There is space for a chill out area with sofas and a games console too. Also on the ground floor we have created a gym area with lockers that is to be kitted out by Move Dance themselves.

Move Dance promote all their products in house, so they needed a space for their new photo studio, which we created on the ground floor.

Out in the warehouse underneath the mezzanine floor we have created a packing and sorting area for Move Dance’s products. It’s well lit with the lighting we have installed within the suspended ceiling. The area is finished off with a ping pong table for those quick breaks in between packing.

We provided all the office and breakout furniture and installed WC areas on the ground floor. It was a full turn key project carried out by Nexus including all electrical and plumbing aspects too.

‘Working with Move Dance has been a real pleasure and we are delighted we have played a small part in the continuous progression of this fantastic company. Working with John and Robyn to determine their requirements for the new space, we collectively came up with a design that provided functionality but also an inspirational space for the staff to work from.

My favourite part of the project was the light tunnels which was a first time install for us. We are now looking at implementing these into future projects as they are a great way of introducing light into a space that lacks natural light sources. – David Newsome, Sales Director, Nexus Workspace

Move Dance now have a modern and vibrant office within a warehouse that is in the ideal location for the import and export of their products, right on the doorstep of Manchester Airport.

‘Ultimately it’s about honesty and transparency, these guys work to win, win. They want you to have a great experience of working with Nexus and they want to deliver what you’re asking for.’

Meeting Room at Move Dance
Move Dance Breakout Area

WHY MOVE DANCE CHOSE NEXUS

‘The guys at Nexus struck me from day one, meeting David who is just an incredibly honest guy, transparent, not trying to hide anything from me, not trying to sell me anything that wasn’t true and they weren’t trying to pull the wool over my eyes in any way and I really trusted him from day one.’

‘I think that really comes through in the culture of the organisation, everyone you meet, wants to do the best for the customer. The team that they had, there are a certain number of in house staff. Obviously in this job you expect some elements to be contracted out and that’s just how the industry works but ultimately you want some Nexus personnel on site managing those trades and I really feel that Nexus had a good handle on that.’

‘Ultimately I felt they could deliver what they were talking about. The timescales were quite tight and they really managed to deliver everything on time. It’s very refreshing to have worked with someone that when they set a timescale out, they meet it. I was very impressed with the delivery of the project.’John Cormack, Director, Move Dance

Watch The Video
Move Dance Office Partitioning
Meeting Room Partitioning

GET A QUICK QUOTE

THE RESULTS

Move Dance required brand new office facilities that would inspire their employees and also help to acquire and keep those employees too. They needed far more space than the current office facilities in their new warehouse were providing and with the implementation of the office mezzanine floor project, they now have what they needed.

‘We’ve really got an environment that’s inspiring for our teams and our staff. Obviously we’ve got all the things you need like meeting rooms and space and a great breakout area for all the team. But ultimately it’s just providing an environment that really fits with our culture.’ – John Cormack, Director, Move Dance.

We would like to wish John and everyone at Move Dance all the best in the future and we hope the new facilities can help take their business to another level. If your business is looking to move or expand your current facilities we can help. Get in touch today and we’ll arrange to visit your premises, discuss your requirements and carry out a site survey.

ABOUT AIRPORT CITY

Airport City in Manchester is a new development comprising of five million square feet of offices, advanced manufacturing and logistics facilities on the doorstep of Manchester Airport. As ‘one of the most exciting business destinations in development today’ it’s the ideal location for any business that looks to work within the UK, Europe and the world.

“They only ever promised something that they know they could have delivered and that was the case. Ultimately they delivered what we needed, to the tight timescale that we had to move into the place. All in all things happened as I expected, so excellent, good job.”

John CormackDirector, Move Dance

Leave a Reply