THE dream of developing a historic Maldon building into the flagship office for a business has been fulfilled.
Currently based in South Woodham Ferrers, Pocknells accountants has been working on renovations at the former Maldon Police Station at the junction of Maldon High Street and West Square.
The office is now complete, with building work converting the site into modern offices whilst keeping many of the original police station features.
Pictures show the final product after a year of renovations.
The building is now officially open after a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Maldon representatives including Maldon MP Sir John Whittingdale and council chairman Kevin Lagan.
Prison doors and the original cells used by the station remain intact and have been transformed into meeting rooms.
There is also a satirical suspect height chart installed and a timeline wall display features some memories from the site’s history.
A partner of the accountancy business, John Holliday said he has had his eye on the building for many years and is “pleased” with the outcome of the renovations.
Clients have been reassured there are also some non-cell meeting rooms available.
John Holliday, partner of Pocknells, said: “Being local I’ve always loved the building and dreamt of it being our flagship office. I had been trying to acquire the property for a number of years.
“I’ve always thought that it would be fun to have police cells as meeting rooms and I’m pleased to say we finally have them (don't worry we do have non-cell meeting rooms for people who don't want to experience our cells).
“The design and the fit-out have changed from our original plans but we are really pleased with the results, and we would like to thank the construction team at Wait Edwards (all local Maldon tradesmen) for helping us to achieve this.
“It's really exciting to have a building to allow our team to grow and since moving in we have added four people to our team.
“We hope we have done our clients, team and local community proud and look forward to working with the people and businesses of Maldon and the surrounding areas in the future.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here