Q5 moves Houston office to the Ion District

Q5, a London-headquartered organizational change consultancy, has relocated its Houston office to the Ion District, a midtown innovation district and technology park.

The firm's Houston team will move to the district’s anchor building, The Ion, a retrofitted former Sears store that opened two years ago. The 266,000-square-foot, six-level building has co-working and office spaces, business incubators and accelerators, classrooms, a prototyping lab, investor studio, and restaurants. Tenants include Chevron Technology Ventures and Microsoft.

The Ion District is a collaboration between Rice University and the City of Houston. It is home to Greentown Labs Houston, the largest climate technology and sustainable energy incubator in North America.

Q5 says its new office in The Ion will be a strategic hub to connect with clients and partners in the region and help them drive innovation and growth.

“It’s very exciting to grow Q5’s presence in Houston. In truth, we’ve been operating in the city for a few years, but working remotely or at client sites. Opening an office at The Ion provides a fun, modern, and uplifting place for our colleagues to work in, as we continue to embrace hybrid working. I’m hugely proud of everyone who has made Q5 such fabulous place to work in Houston,” said Oliver Purnell, founder of Q5.

The Houston office offers Q5’s full range of services, including custom solutions in organizational design, transformation, performance improvement, and human capital. The office is led by Claire Markwardt, who joined Q5 last year as North American head.

“Selecting The Ion as our home base in midtown Houston allows us to participate in the transformation of a very special corridor. And it provides opportunities for us to give back to the business community – which is squarely part of our mission,” Markwardt said. “We look forward to sharing our organizational expertise with others at The Ion as well as exploring and innovating with our partners and clients in the greater Houston area to deliver value and results.”

Founded in 2009, Q5 helps clients develop organizational strategy, design operating models, develop leaders, improve their working culture, and deliver effective change. The firm has more than 300 people across offices in London, Leeds, Cardiff, Riyadh, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, New York, and Houston.