Helical

A London property company, founded in 1919 as a steel business, that now builds and manages modern office buildings in London and Manchester.

About Helical

Helical plc is a property investor and developer that is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It describes its focus as offices in Central London and Manchester. It buys older buildings or sites, redevelops them into modern workspace, and then manages the finished buildings for the businesses that rent them. Its projects have included The Bower and One Bartholomew in the EC1 area of London, and Trinity and Fourways House in Manchester. Its pitch is quality: offices with distinctive architectural detail, attractive public space around them, good amenities and flexible leases for tenants.

The company's history is unusual. It was set up on 3 July 1919 as The Helical Bar and Engineering Company, making and selling reinforcing steel for construction. Mike Slade joined the board in 1984, the steel business was sold in 1986, and the company became a property developer and investor. Its first big sale that year was an office scheme at 48 Chiswell Street. It was known as Helical Bar until it changed its name to Helical plc in 2016, the same year Gerald Kaye became chief executive and narrowed its focus from many UK sectors to offices in London and Manchester. We did not find a formal list of values, so we have not invented one; the company's own words centre on design quality and occupiers' needs.

Helical's head office is in London, at 5 Hanover Square according to its stock listings. The company's projects are in London and Manchester. It is a small business by headcount: Wikipedia gives its employees as 25, and the company's own history page describes about 30 directors, property executives and finance and support staff. Several leaders have worked there for a long time: Gerald Kaye joined in 1994, Tim Murphy the same year, and Matthew Bonning-Snook and John Inwood in 1995.

That long service says something about the culture. The company says its executive team has over 100 years of combined service and that its people have over 300 years of combined experience. That is the company's own claim. In a team this small, each person is likely to see a project from the early idea right through to the day tenants move in, rather than doing one narrow task.

The sort of jobs available in a business like this include development managers, who steer a building project from start to finish, asset managers, who look after tenants and income, finance and accounting staff, and property and legal experts. Roles in the project teams of outside architects, engineers and agents also feed into companies like Helical. Subjects such as geography, economics, business, maths, architecture and law all lead here, as does a surveying qualification from RICS. The company website is the place to check for vacancies.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Redeveloping older buildings and sites into modern offices.', 'title': 'Office development'}
• {'desc': 'Managing finished buildings, tenants and leases.', 'title': 'Asset management'}
• {'desc': 'Creating shared spaces and facilities around office buildings.', 'title': 'Public space and amenities'}

Key facts

• Incorporated 3 July 1919 as The Helical Bar and Engineering Company; became a property company after selling the steel business in 1986
• Renamed Helical plc in July 2016; Gerald Kaye chief executive since 2016
• Projects include The Bower and One Bartholomew (London) and Trinity and Fourways House (Manchester)
• About 25 employees (Wikipedia); the company describes about 30 directors, property executives and support staff

Website: www.helical.co.uk