The national operating ICT company Topicus, headquartered in Deventer, is going to add a large part of the Leeuwenbrug to its portfolio of office buildings. Namely the Leeuwenbrug phase II; the office colossus which has four to six floors and is located closest to the station.
Topicus is currently renovating the building to create space for six hundred employees. This will create the largest ICT location in the city and the number of workplaces in Deventer will increase by hundreds.
Topicus currently resides in various buildings including the former nursery school on the Singel, the office building on the corner of the Keizerstraat and further along the Singel in the former office of the Rabobank. All these buildings are owned by Topicus, which is the reason why Deventer is the permanent headquarters.
Kassa
“The Healthcare division will move into the Leeuwenbrug. Topicus will use the middle section of Leeuwenbrug II and the high tower, better known as De Kassa. A number of existing companies will remain in the middle section”, confirms Topicus director Henk Jan Knol.
The Leeuwenbrug fits perfectly in the overall picture of what Topicus has in mind for its office space in Deventer. It is in the city center and near the train station, rather than in a business park on the outskirts. Employees at Topicus prefer to use public transport and the city center is an attractive environment to work in. Topicus already uses the term - Silicon Valley on the IJssel.
One of the main reasons why Topicus chose Deventer as its headquarters is the central location. The city is easily accessible for higher educated employees from both Twente and the Randstad Universities. Another reason why Topicus decided on Deventer is that the director Henk Jan Knol comes from Holten, a village nearby Deventer.
Students
Knol predicts that from January, Topicus will have around 1,300 workplaces by the train station with the addition of Leeuwenbrug. This includes workspace for students and external parties. “We will rent office space at the Pikeursbaan until the beginning of 2019 and then relocate to the Leeuwenbrug office building when it is complete”. The net increase will be hundreds of extra work spaces in Deventer. With the arrival of Topicus, the Leeuwenbrug is becoming occupied more and more.