Pictured above: Charles Fish of Southreef, Karl Hilton MD of Crytek UK, Alan Hardy of Paragon and Jonathan Bishop of Heb

Crytek, one of the world's biggest video gaming companies, has moved its UK headquarters into Nottingham city centre.

The German-owned firm, developers of interactive computer games, moved into its 17,500 sq ft space at South Reef in Canal Street. This is the first commercial letting of Southreef.

Karl Hilton, managing director of Crytek UK, said: "We had been at a business park, but wanted to be in a central office location. We now have the benefits of being in a city centre location, being close to transport links and the vibrant city centre life.

"We employ between 85 to 90 people in Nottingham. We have a young workforce who live around the city and the move was the best thing for us to do. We also talk to several local universities about recruiting from their courses.

"Our office is situated near the tram and train station, which is great because transport links to London are important for us. We are also close to the East Midlands Airport."

Nottingham is one of the largest offices in the Crytek group. Other offices are in Budapest, Sofia, Kiev and Seoul. Crytek was founded in Germany in 1999 by the Yerli brothers and has its head office in Frankfurt.

Karl added: "This is the kind of office size and specification you need these days to make triple A, cutting edge technology, videogames. We are currently working on a number of exciting projects from the Nottingham studio.

"The East Midlands has become a hub for the video gaming industry. The three main UK sites are London, the East Midlands and Scotland. Nottingham was a really attractive proposition for us. There is a real buzz in the city of Nottingham and we will continue to benefit from this.

"When we decided to move, we didn't know much about the Nottingham property market. We got to know an awful lot from Jonathan Bishop at heb who offered excellent advice on office space in Nottingham and the types of deals that were available."

Jonathan said: "We considered all available opportunities and Southreef provided the ideal accommodation for my clients. This transaction represents the largest City office transaction so far this year and is obviously pleasing for the City. The landlord took a very pragmatic approach and has provided an outstanding specification"

Director of Southreef Charles Fish said: "We are thrilled Crytek has chosen Southreef as it's UK Headquarters. Southreef is the perfect mixed use development combining commercial, residential and leisure under one roof in Nottingham City Centre, with efficient transport links just minutes away provided by the tram, road and rail links and Nottingham airport."

Paragon Interiors has fitted out the Crytek offices.

Alan Hardy, managing director of Paragon said: "This was a great team effort from everyone involved in the project and is attributable to getting a good understanding of what Crytek wanted and needed in the first place. We worked together to find the best fit for Crytek ahead of them choosing Southreef by gaining a full understanding of their sq ft requirements. Following that, we space-planned a number of sites before determining together that the best solution would be Southreef."