The Challenge
Element Materials Technology was growing. A testing, inspection, and certification company headquartered in London with more than 9,000 employees worldwide — including 3,600 already spread across North America — the company’s back-office functions (IT, sales, legal, finance, HR) were growing scattered as well. A consolidated shared-services hub was needed for the region.
Element started its site search in 2022 with a blank slate: Every North American city was technically in play.
The Solution
The winner: Southwest Ohio. Element signed a 10-year lease with an extension option at Landings II in Blue Ash, retrofitting more than 21,000 square feet of office space into a new back-office support center. The $1.4 million project added 65 new full-time jobs and retained 65 more that relocated from Element’s existing lab in nearby Fairfield.
Key Factors in Choosing Ohio Included:
Cost of living, a commutable metro area, skilled local workforce, and the concentration of major corporate headquarters nearby
Element’s existing nearby lab, giving the company a built-in workforce to help staff the new facility.
A direct London-to-Cincinnati flight, added at CVG Airport in early 2023, that Element’s global executives used within months to fly in for their annual conference
Ohio’s strong business environment, including favorable tax incentives
A walkable, multi-tenant campus near Summit Park with restaurants and green space built in
The Results
Jobs Created: 65
Total Investment: $1,414,000
Total Payroll: $5,636,000
Economic Impact: Element’s new Cincinnati hub added $5.6 million in new payroll on top of the 65 jobs already anchored at its Fairfield lab. The announcement proved Cincinnati could land international back-office investment, not just manufacturing—beating out a major Midwest metro in the process.
Strategic Advantage: For Element, Ohio wasn’t just cheaper than the competition. The company’s North American growth has come largely through acquisition, which required integrating new back-office systems and people quickly. Choosing a commutable metro with deep corporate talent nearby shortened that ramp-up, with the added convenience of a direct London-to-CVG route already in place for the company’s global executives. And Landings II was already built to scale, with capacity for the expanded workforce in place from day one.
A new central location for functional support will bolster our 3,600+ strong workforce in America and free up space to expand customer operations at our existing location. With our rich history in the region and strong support from the State of Ohio, the decision to select Cincinnati as the destination for our North American functional support center made strategic sense.
— Rick Sluiters, EVP Americas, Element Materials Technology
