Global digital agency, Dept is affirming its leading position in the UK by growing a strong presence in the North. Dept has signed a 10-year lease on the 9th floor of the iconic Bridgewater House just three months following the acquisition of Manchester-based design agency e3creative, announced in January 2019, which will unite their northern team under one roof. With over a century of Mancunian heritage, Bridgewater House is a former packing and shipping warehouse and a main landmark in the city that recently undergone a £1m refurbishment transforming the building into one of Manchester’s most modern and sought after locations for offices spaces.
Located just two minutes from Manchester’s Oxford Road station, Bridgewater House will act as the agency’s main UK hub. The 17,143 sq ft space is now being outfitted to match Dept’s energetic and collaborative culture with an interior design emulating Dept’s flagship European offices.
Dept CEO Dimi Albers said: “As well as having offices in capital cities, Dept has, unconsciously, found talent outside of the capital’s to build our presence. For example, In the Netherlands, we have a large office Rotterdam, in the US we’re in Boston and in Germany, we have a large office in Hamburg. We haven’t done this on purpose, rather it’s been a natural progression born out of the similarities that we’ve found in the people we’ve chosen to work with and bring into the Dept family,”
“Maybe there is something in the working ethic and moral code of the people we’ve met that’s defined by these post-industrial cities, but a pattern is definitely forming and for us in the UK, our home is Manchester. ”
Managing Director UK, Jasper van de Luijtgaarden, adds: “It was important to us that we found a property that is loved and appreciated by the city, and somewhere where our teams could be proud to work within. Manchester is working for us; the listing of us as the 5th leading digital agency in the North of England recognises that. We’re very proud to be one of the driving forces in the city’s growth and development as a leading digital hub in the UK.”
It’s been a commendable month for Dept, as the Manchester team was ranked 5th in The Prolific North Top 50; a definitive listing of the North’s leading digital agencies compiled through extensive research and third-party verifications. In April, Dept also received three honorees and one nomination for The Webby Awards, the world’s leading international award in the digital sector. For the 23rd edition of the award show, Dept is in the running for their work “Unravel van Gogh” and has been honoured for cases with clients Samsung and Philips Hue.
