Four-year-old law firm plans £7m office

Asons Solicitors have announced plans to build a 40,000 sq ft £7m office in Clarence Street in Bolton town centre.

The new office designed by architects Bradshaw Gass & Hope will accommodate 479 employees, creating 300 jobs when the building is finished in 2015.

Asons said there will be an "executive networking hall, a gourmet restaurant for business clients as well as glass projection technology that will transform one of the glass walls into an animated masterpiece." There will also be a "grown up playground for employees, an idea taken from the Google ethos".

Imran Akram, chief executive, said: "I've been to London, New York and Dubai; and Bolton really lacks that big commercial feel, the lights, the modern design, the fancy glass walls – I wanted to bring a bit of that to Bolton, hoping that other businesses with big ideas will follow suit. I think it'll brighten up the town centre nicely."

Upon completion, the building will also serve as the hub of operations for Asons, where satellite offices will then be developed in Singapore, London, Dubai, New York and Pakistan.

Founded only four years ago by brothers Imran and Kamran Akram, Asons Solicitors has grown from a three-man outfit in a converted terrace in Chorley New Road, to a law firm of over 270 staff, currently based at 120 Bark Street over three floors.