Back in the days when Fisons was a major international company, it was also a substantial employer in and around Ipswich.

It began its rise in Victorian times, trading in fertiliser for the agricultural community, and in the early 1960s a new headquarters was built, in Princes Street, designed by architect Birkin Haward.

The building was officially known as Harvest House, or simply Fisons to those who worked there, and it was close to Portman Road where Fisons later became shirt sponsor for the football club.

Fisons was eventually acquired by chemical giant Rhone-Poulenc, after which the HQ building had various tenants and also operated for a time as a serviced office centre.

Now the building has been transformed, to become a futuristic four-storey state-of-the-art business centre known as Connexions 159.

Some parts of the original are still there, including the staircase which has been refurbished and updated, with the £9m project – undertaken by two East Anglian investors and commercial developers, Malcolm Hobbs and Joe Read –involving the creation of a new exterior evelope around the shell of what was there before.

The property was bought by Reads Development Ltd and E Hobbs Ltd in 2011 and, after a couple of years of design and planning works, the transformation of the building began early in 2015.

It included a complete strip- back to the skeleton frame of the bulding, with extra steelwork added to create a new front elevation and an extra floor, and providing extra strength and solidity to the old frame.

Now the project has reached its final stages and is ready for occupation.

With a £2m refurbishment of Ipswich railway station nearing completion and work on other office schemes nearby having begun or at the planning stage, Mr Hobbs it was a good time to be investing in the town.

“We were a bit bold to start this 18 months before anyone else,” he said. “It is coming to fruition while some other projects are only getting started. This is a top quality office development, of the type and standard you are more likely to find in London.”

He said the location was ideal for professionals, with good transport links and, only being two minutes walk from the railway station, for those who needed to travel to London.

“With places like Chelmsford and Cambridge over-heated for offices, this is a great time to be investing in Ipswich. People want to have good communications with London, for business, he added.

“There is a great focus on the town. We have had a lot of support from David Elesmere and Ipswich Borough Council, and MP Ben Gummer is promoting the Ipswich Vision and the train service.

“Princes Street is becoming the professional area of the town, with the new Archant offices here, the councils and the crown court.

“And it is in walking distance of the town centre, and the Waterfront.”

The new-look building features four open plan office floors, with lifts and stairs, and there are also balconies and a roof terrace offering great views across the town.

High insulation figures have been aided by double thickness walls and the building is BREEAM rated for sustanability and has an EPC B rating.

Agents Savills and Reader Commercial have already interest from potential tenants,

Mr Hobbs added: “We are very pleased with the building.

“I think it looks really stunning. People passing by stop and look at it. It is such an attractive and impressive building.

“It would make a great headquarters building for a London or regional company or someone new to the town.”