Barclays’ office requirement totals 880,000 sq ft in North and Scotland
Barclays Bank has launched three office requirements totalling 880,000 sq ft in the North of England and Scotland as it looks to consolidate its existing centres and accommodate 2,000 new IT jobs.
The largest requirement, at 600,000 sq ft, is for the North West, where the bank is focusing on out-of-town Manchester locations, as revealed by EG in May. It has now launched two fresh searches, for 180,000 sq ft in the North East, and for 100,000 sq ft in Glasgow, Scotland.
Barclays chief executive Jes Staley revealed plans in April to create 2,000 new jobs in the UK over the next three years. He said 750 new jobs had already been created in the bank’s operations and technology centres in Radbroke, Northampton and Glasgow, alongside a further 250 roles looking after customers and clients around the country.
Barclays Bank has launched three office requirements totalling 880,000 sq ft in the North of England and Scotland as it looks to consolidate its existing centres and accommodate 2,000 new IT jobs.
The largest requirement, at 600,000 sq ft, is for the North West, where the bank is focusing on out-of-town Manchester locations, as revealed by EG in May. It has now launched two fresh searches, for 180,000 sq ft in the North East, and for 100,000 sq ft in Glasgow, Scotland.
Barclays chief executive Jes Staley revealed plans in April to create 2,000 new jobs in the UK over the next three years. He said 750 new jobs had already been created in the bank’s operations and technology centres in Radbroke, Northampton and Glasgow, alongside a further 250 roles looking after customers and clients around the country.
Staley said the plan was “part of a conscious decision to shift the mix of our workforce in operations and technology away from contractors and other temporary staff, towards full-time Barclays employees. We’re doing this because we believe that technology must be a core competency of a global financial institution, and we intend to be a leader in the industry.”
Staley has also said he sees no reason currently to shift British jobs to Europe as a result of Brexit. This week, the bank confirmed a deal to set up a post-Brexit European hub at Green REIT’s One Molesworth Street in Dublin. The bank will occupy 37,000 sq ft on a 20-year lease at the new development, with an option, up to practical completion, to take a further 8,000 sq ft half floor.
The requirements will be a boost to the UK regional office markets. Office take-up in key regional cities reached just over 1.3m sq ft in Q2 2017 – close to the quarterly 10-year average – according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Scott Rutherford, partner and national head of offices at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “Political uncertainty has dampened occupier confidence in some cities and this has been reflected in a slowdown in enquiry levels in Q1 and Q2 2017.
“The regional markets have been working hard this year to deliver these results. We have seen a new resurgence of larger scale enquiries from both the professional and business service sectors, and also the finance sector, which is a significant improvement on what we have experienced in the last four quarters.”
However, Barclays’ plans will also see a consolidation of some of the bank’s existing offices. Major offices in the North of England include the 64-acre IT campus at Radbroke Hall in Knutsford, Cheshire. The estate, where 3,700 employees work, is owned by the bank.
In July, Barclays reported a 13% jump in pre-tax profits for the first half of the year but also said it was setting aside a further £700m of payment protection insurance claims.
CBRE is advising Barclays.
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