Deloitte will relocate its Adelaide HQ to Walker Corporation’s One Festival Tower

A global professional firm will take up four entire floors of the One Festival Tower development – as it embarks on a huge recruitment drive for 1000 staff.

Global professional services firm Deloitte will relocate its Adelaide headquarters to the Festival Tower office development as it supercharges a recruitment drive targeting up to 1000 new staff.

The firm will occupy four floors, or about 7000sq m, at One Festival Tower, joining Flinders University as the second major tenant signed up for the 29-storey building currently under construction between Parliament House and the Adelaide Casino.

The move follows last year’s launch of Deloitte’s Centre for Innovation and Technology, which came with the promise of 500 new jobs in Adelaide over two years.

With many of those positions filled, and on the back of ongoing growth within the new division and in the firm’s consulting practice, it now expects to add up to 1000 more staff over the next five years, increasing its total workforce to 1500.

Deloitte SA managing partner Hendri Mentz with graduate Samantha Santos atop the One Festival Tower building currently under construction. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Deloitte Adelaide managing partner Hendri Mentz said the move to One Festival Tower would support the firm’s growth plans.

“We are proud to have had more than 140 graduates join us in the past 12 months, with a further 130 joining us by March 2023,” he said.

“This builds on the recent expansion of our consulting practice, and the exceptional growth of Deloitte’s Adelaide-based Centre for Innovation and Technology, which develops large-scale technology and audit solutions for clients nationwide.”

Developer Walker Corporation is on track to complete construction of One Festival Tower by the end of 2023.

Flinders University will open a city campus in the 40,000sq m building in 2024 after signing up for 11,500sq m of space across eight floors.

Deloitte SA managing partner Hendri Mentz with graduate Samantha Santos at Festival Plaza. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Walker chief executive David Gallant said talks were also continuing with “some of South Australia’s most exciting and well-known retailers” to operate restaurants and shops within the development.

“Deloitte’s presence will be the impetus for many other blue-chip organisations looking to position themselves in the true heart of Adelaide,” he said.

“Festival Tower is bringing premium quality to Adelaide’s commercial office space market that has never been seen before, and that is creating strong demand in our leasing inquiries.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas said Deloitte was helping to reverse the brain-drain with its ambitious growth plans, and creating “good paying jobs to keep our brightest minds here in Adelaide”.

“A thousand more jobs created for young South Australians is proof that big business sees Adelaide as the future for investment.”

Deloitte will move into One Festival Tower in 2024.