Thursday 10 August 2017

HMRC Signs Largest Ever Office Deal In Wales


HMRC have made the record books in Wales, for agreeing the largest office deal ever seen in Wales.

HMRC will move to a new headquarters in the centre of Cardiff - at the heart of a new public sector hub that will employ 4,000.

HMRC, which currently has its main tax office in Wales in the Llanishen area of Cardiff, has signed up to a new 266,000 sq ft building in a major pre-let deal which marks the next phase of development at the Central Square regeneration scheme in the centre of the capital.

WalesOnline reports that it is scheduled for completed in late 2019, with HMRC moving into its new offices from 2020.




The 12 storey building will be known as 6 Central Square. It will be built by construction firm Robert McAlpine. However, there is the small matter of planning consent for the £100m project. A determination is expected next month.

The move will allow HMRC to sell its existing site in Llanishen for redevelopment, potentially for a housing led regeneration scheme. Some 3,600 HMRC staff (full-time equivalent) will be based in the HQ.

HMRC has agreed a 25-year lease for its new building at Central Square. It is understood there is no break clause and the rent - starting at around £16 a sq ft per annum - will be subject to rent reviews based on the then retail prices index measure of inflation every five years.

HMRC is also forward committing £20m to the fitout of the building.

Once completed the building's ownership with transfer to L&G's pension arm - for what is a prized investment asset, due to the strong covenant provided by a government organisation over 25-years with no break clause.

Minister for Government Resilience and Efficiency, Caroline Nokes, said:
This Government is committed to delivering the best quality public services in every corner of the UK, and today’s announcement is an important step towards that.

This new lease is great news for Cardiff, and will deliver a range of benefits to people in Cardiff, from improved public space and transport to better access to the Principality Stadium from the station.
Let us trust that the rent that HMRC pays is "reasonable" when compared to similar properties/locations. Let us also trust that the building remains fit for purpose for the expected 25 year rental period!


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11 comments:

  1. 4,000 public sector staff, all potential victims of the HMRC bullying culture which is enabled by HMRC Senior Management's encouragement, support and enabling of it. Repugnant and cowardly bastards. Only when individuals are serving time for the crimes they have committed within HMRC will the culture change. Until then, people should only consider working for them if they're REALLY desperate for a job, their health and career is at huge risk from these thugs, some of whom masquerade as Christians (yeah, unbelievably sanctimonious play acting isn't it). Shame on them!
    As others have said - hypocritical bullying scumbags.

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  2. Whoa there pilgrim, just a cotton picking minute, let's take a closer look at this afore ye spend all that "customer's" money!?

    Who owns the Llanishen site? Thought Mapely did as per Wales On Line 13 Nov 2015 - The freehold interest in the current HMRC office site at Llanishen is owned by Mapeley Estates, following a private finance initiative agreement ...????
    Surely that was why HMRC was paying for rent etc. on the site?

    Then there is the matter of £20m (currently) for fitting out, so the lease is bare building? This is (currently) £5000/head just to fit out! WTF they having 22" plasma screens, gold plated loo's, FFS?! Piss off to IKEA, just a mile or 2 down the road and save yourself a few million!

    Transport/parking infrastructure - all of a sudden 4.000 extra staff plus security, cleaners, deliveries etc. land upon the centre of Cardiff via train, bus, car, pedal, foot. Bloody trains have to queue now outside the station and Cardiff traffic is a nightmare for public and private transport.

    Who is actually paying for this "range of benefits to people in Cardiff" ? Oh, that's all right then, it is only the end user that has to worry then, come back in 5 years time and see how much the real cost has reached!

    Given the appalling track record of previous estate deals in this part of the public sector this needs a wee dig by an investigative journo' to establish VFM and whether basic business checks have been applied to such an amount of "customer expenditure".

    Oh, yes, as these Muppets no longer FTF with their "customer" base, why the need for an expensive central location - vanity? Is there a common purpose associated with the development that remains hidden?

    Answers on the back of a postage stamp please.

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  3. Answer. Univerities are the source of future HMRC starlets. Until they realise they can earn more in private sector.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. A recipe for high turnover and low performance. WTF are Senior 'Management' thinking? Never mind it'll be gongs all round for Excom again come New Year's Day.

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  4. Perhaps it is time to call upon the talents of Private Eye. Aficionados of the long running saga of HMRC and its components will recall the Eye Special based on the Mapeley deal complete with its toxic trail to offshore tax havens following the low value sale of HMC&E and IR estates that seemed to involve "paying" Mapeley extra funds to make the deal more profitable, allegedly, along with the suspicion that the poorly structured contract (viewed from the taxpayers perspective) intimated that a buy-back clause may have been included.
    So, a little bit of research reveals that Llanishen would appear to revert to public ownership in 2020 (where have I seen that date before?).
    Would the man on the Clapham omnibus begin to believe this has cost him and every other taxpayer a rather large amount of money?
    Think about it folks;
    Sold cheap, private sector boosted by extra funding, offshore something or other that HMG is so 'against', poor maintenance, disgusting conditions, crap furniture, high rent and then what? Buy it all back!
    FFS how much more of this crap has the taxpayer got to put up with?
    Over to you Private Eye - follow the money...

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  5. Agreed, follow the money. The move to regional centres will eventually remove the dodgy Mapeley / Salisbury problem. But how did it occur in the first place? Excom? Yet there seems to be no appetite to investigate the chain of command and hold them accountable under legislation. Albeit financial impropriety or statutory employment rights. On Monday HMRC will celebrate how wonderful they are on Channel 4. It's a disgrace they do not apply the same effort to address their failures and admit when they do things wrong. (More often than not). They may eventually get the staff engagement they so desperately crave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Channel 4 documentary on Monday will be pure propaganda. Only taxpayers who have little contact with the hopeless HMRC, and staff who have been totally brainwashed, will watch it and believe it at face value.
      The accountancy profession, small & medium business, a majority of staff, not to mention MPs, lawyers, mental health practitioners, GPs, union reps, friends & families of HMRC staff bullying victims/survivors will be able to give this 'fiction' progamme a little more educated critique.

      Delete
  6. Agreed, follow the money. The move to regional centres will eventually remove the dodgy Mapeley / Salisbury problem. But how did it occur in the first place? Excom? Yet there seems to be no appetite to investigate the chain of command and hold them accountable under legislation. Albeit financial impropriety or statutory employment rights. On Monday HMRC will celebrate how wonderful they are on Channel 4. It's a disgrace they do not apply the same effort to address their failures and admit when they do things wrong. (More often than not). They may eventually get the staff engagement they so desperately crave.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A vast number of conciencious HMRC employees do a fantastic job despite Senior Management, not because of them. I'm sure the TV program will show the figures are obtained at the coal face, albeit they are severely massaged by those that have no idea of real work.

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    Replies
    1. Channel 4 - Mon 14 Aug - 10pm - it will be interesting to see how this long awaited documentary turns out, though there will be no surprises. The publicity photo with two individuals trying to look 'hard' doesn't really do it justice. I would also be shocked if they mention the brutal bullying culture, which includes criminal & civil law breaking, and how senior management allows it to be covered up. There will also be no mention of how they operate a corrupt performance system which punishes hard work and talent (much needed in HMRC) but rewards those who play the (very pc/on message) 'game' and/or who are friends and/or sycophantic with the incompetent and ineffective 'management'.
      HMRC will be hoping the positive PR/spin off this long overdue programme but I am sure does of reality on social media will not be the publicity they are hoping for...

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    2. Where the fuck is the long awaited Tiger Aspect production "Meet The Taxman" ??? This was meant to be an in depth documentary on the workings of the HMRC.
      Dropped like a stone...wonder why ?? To close to the truth ???

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