The biggest office deal this year in the Jewellery Quarter district of Birmingham has just been signed.

Chord Developments have secured a ten-year lease deal with global insurance brokerage Willis Group Ltd. The insurance company has taken 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) including 12 car parking spaces on the ground floor at 40 St Paul’s Square (pictured). The company moves from 30 St Paul’s Square.

Will Monaghan, lease manager at Willis, said: “Willis has been established in the Jewellery Quarter for many years and we were keen to remain here. 40 St Paul’s Place fitted the bill as it is a landmark building in a convenient location and it offered the space we needed on one floor plate.”

The letting to Willis is Chord’s second following the launch of the office space in May this year. In August construction and fit-out company ISG took 3,314 sq ft of floor space in the building. 40 St Paul’s Square is part of the mixed-use St Paul’s Place scheme, comprises 25,400 sq ft/2,360 sq m of office space and 148 apartments. The building offers the biggest floor plates in the Jewellery Quarter.

40 St Paul’s Square boasts a full Grade A specification, including air conditioning and raised flooring in a renovated, period building overlooking a fully landscaped courtyard. The office space is over two floors and is accessed via a boutique hotel-style lobby, with marble and granite wall cladding.

Quotes rental prices for floorplates between 4,500 – 20,295 sq ft are from £18.50 per sq ft per annum. Floor space within the building amounts to a total of 35,973 sq ft.

Nick Williams, head of office agency at Savills, said: “Chord has scored two significant lettings in a matter of months. It’s a ringing endorsement of the product and the location. 40 St Paul’s Place offers a city centre-type specification, in a landmark building, but at two-thirds the rental costs of similar new Grade A stock.”

Birmingham City Council’s plan to develop the Jewellery Quarter into a hub for creative businesses has attracted significant amounts of private investment into the Quarter in recent years. The area of Birmingham is so-called as it used to house the numerous jewellery and coin manufacturers in the city.

Chord Developments are spending in excess of £35m on their St Paul’s Square development. Other office developments in the Jewellery Quarter include the St Georges development (93,528 sq ft) and the Birmingham Mint redevelopment that will offer 60,000 sq ft of floor space in the first phase.