Great British Railways - Competition for new location of GBR Headquarters

[Worldwide]

The Manchester NR office is moving to Victoria if I’m not mistaken.

Yes it’s been mentioned previously as they actually own the offices above Victoria so Itll save them money

 

[Purple Orange]

Must be part of the 'New Victoria' plan, which will includes new office blocks too.

Sorry by Victoria, I meant Manchester Victoria.

 

[redengine]

Tamworth would be a sensible location – has fast trains in four directions.

 

[Worldwide]

£5 here too.

They have specified it must be outside of London.

Must be part of the 'New Victoria' plan, which will includes new office blocks too.

Where they likely to put these office blocks as they’re building hotels around the Victoria site.

 

[Bald Rick]

It’s worth pointing out that NRs HQ is currently *not* in MK. That just happens to be the largest office location.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The Manchester Victoria station offices are being looked at to replace 'Square One' (in the way of HS2). They have been empty for 10 years or so and in poor state, so would need extensive refurbishment. NR did have staff there for while as an overflow to SQ1.

 

[Trackman]

Sorry by Victoria, I meant Manchester Victoria.

That's what I meant, some confusion somewhere, see below.

Where they likely to put these office blocks as they’re building hotels around the Victoria site.

Manchester Victoria.
From the construction enquirer (a couple of months ago):

Urban regeneration specialist Muse has struck a deal with investor Morgan Capital to bring forward the second and final phase of the £190m New Victoria scheme in the heart of Manchester city centre.It paves the way for a 150,000 sq ft eight-storey office building delivered at the 2.5-acre site on Corporation Street.
During the first lockdown, Muse announced a £130m deal with Pension Insurance Corporation to fund and operate the 450,000 sq ft residential phase of the scheme, which once complete in 2024, will deliver 520 homes across two 20 and 25-storey buildings.
Vinci Construction started this residential element last autumn.
New Victoria benefits from being in an unparalleled location, close to the city’s premier retail and leisure amenities, adjacent to Manchester Victoria Station – the city’s second largest public transportation hub that has benefitted from a major programme of regeneration in recent years.
David Burkinshaw, development director at Muse, said: “Hot on the heels of the £130m deal with PIC to deliver the residential phase, we’re proud to sign with Morgan Capital, who will deliver and own the commercial phase.
“This deal also represents another ringing endorsement of what we’ve achieved at New Victoria and in Manchester.”

---

The Manchester Victoria station offices are being looked at to replace 'Square One' (in the way of HS2). They have been empty for 10 years or so and in poor state, so would need extensive refurbishment. NR did have staff there for while as an overflow to SQ1.

Would they all fit in?
There was is a authorised video tour on you-tube, the offices did look in a bad shape.

 

[BrianW]

They have specified it must be outside of London.

Welwyn, Watford or Ware then?- all well north of London.

 

[Horizon22]

If Milton Keynes isn't an option for whatever reason (despite being purpose built for a main site but this is the current government we're talking about...), I'd suggest Crewe or Birmingham. The former has railway heritage and will be on the HS2 route and is critically in the North (which is seemingly important), the latter is also on the HS2 route, the second biggest city and well connected to most of the country.

Ideally though there would be sizable 'regional hubs' for the five planned GBR regions and it wouldn't be too centralised.

 

[Bald Rick]

If Milton Keynes isn't an option for whatever reason (despite being purpose built for a main site but this is the current government we're talking about...), I'd suggest Crewe or Birmingham. The former has railway heritage and will be on the HS2 route and is critically in the North (which is seemingly important), the latter is also on the HS2 route, the second biggest city and well connected to most of the country.

Ideally though there would be sizable 'regional hubs' for the five planned GBR regions and it wouldn't be too centralised.

1) Milton Keynes isn’t HQ now
2) there are already 5 regional hubs: London, Birmingham, York, Glasgow, Swindon. They’ve been the same (with a couple of fluctuations) for the last few decades...

 

[Horizon22]

1) Milton Keynes isn’t HQ now
2) there are already 5 regional hubs: London, Birmingham, York, Glasgow, Swindon. They’ve been the same (with a couple of fluctuations) for the last few decades...

I'm aware of the hubs, more suggesting they don't go building new ones for the sake of it. 'If it ain't broken don't fix it' comes to mind...

 

[stj]

May as well just leave it where it is,they move these jobs out of London but the jobs dont go to the locals.

 

[Bald Rick]

I'm aware of the hubs, more suggesting they don't go building new ones for the sake of it. 'If it ain't broken don't fix it' comes to mind...

I can’t imagine there will be any shortage of office space to rent for the next decade!

 

[Class 170101]

Having been involved in a small Civil Service move (about 30 staff) many decades ago this is important. It was a relocation from Westminster to one of three places. Gloucester, Ely and IIRC Wolverhampton.

Ely never stood a chance, Wolverhampton was OK by some, but Gloucester won through.

In the end the move happened, but about 5 years later the unit was shut down.

How many staff actually moved and how many moved to other roles staying near to where they were?

When NR moved their Planning Teams to MK the quality of work, due to lack of experienced people, nosedived almost overnight, they need to stay where they are, another upheaval won't be welcome, including by operators.

 

[6Gman]

If Milton Keynes isn't an option for whatever reason (despite being purpose built for a main site but this is the current government we're talking about...), I'd suggest Crewe or Birmingham. The former has railway heritage and will be on the HS2 route and is critically in the North (which is seemingly important), the latter is also on the HS2 route, the second biggest city and well connected to most of the country.

Ideally though there would be sizable 'regional hubs' for the five planned GBR regions and it wouldn't be too centralised.

Rail House, Crewe (walking time to HS2 a few minutes) is so little used these days that there was talk of converting it to flats.

Just saying.

 

[Andrew1395]

Rail House, Crewe (walking time to HS2 a few minutes) is so little used these days that there was talk of converting it to flats.

Just saying.

Isn’t it condemned due to failed utilities since the pandemic and staff moved out? I think it was bought by a property speculator as you say to convert it to flats as planning permission to convert offices to homes is no longer required. Hence their recent heartbreak when they told tenants that they could not come back after the lockdown. Might be just hearsay from aggrieved former colleagues.

 

[WesternBiker]

I would assume that all the general back office staff would be based at this HQ (to benefit from lower salaries) with maybe a senior director.

However the majority of the key and strategic staff would still work at a location in London still, as that is where the majority of the expertise in the UK is based. There is no way of moving everyone from London for GBR.

I agree with that: unless the greater adoption of video-conferencing allows them to break the mould, past relocations (of which there are more than one might think) have tended to relocate relatively junior staff.

The following article gives some interesting insight as to where people are now. It's from 2020, but as an overall guide it still works.

Institute for Government - Location of the Civil Service

This explainer sets out where civil servants are currently located, including the types of roles and grades currently represented in different parts of the UK, and how this has changed over time.

There are around 456,000 people employed in the civil service, across the UK and overseas. Of these, 91,660 are based in London – an increase of more than 13,000 since 2017. The capital remains the region with by far the most civil servants, now by a margin of almost 36,000.

This suggests it's time for more to move to the West Midlands / East Midlands regions. (East Anglia actually has the lowest proportion of Civil Service jobs per capita - but the "levelling up" agenda - and location of "Red Wall" seats - suggests further north to me.)

I'd plump for Derby, Sheffield or Manchester.

 

[BrianW]

I agree with that: unless the greater adoption of video-conferencing allows them to break the mould, past relocations (of which there are more than one might think) have tended to relocate relatively junior staff.

The following article gives some interesting insight as to where people are now. It's from 2020, but as an overall guide it still works.

Institute for Government - Location of the Civil Service

This suggests it's time for more to move to the West Midlands / East Midlands regions. (East Anglia actually has the lowest proportion of Civil Service jobs per capita - but the "levelling up" agenda - and location of "Red Wall" seats - suggests further north to me.)

I'd plump for Derby, Sheffield or Manchester.

From textual analysis of PM's Party Conference speech it'll be Stoke ... as in Stoke Poges, not Stoke-on-Trent

20 mins in ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_CYJaYhBo

 

[lordbusiness]

It just gets better and better....

Wherever it ends up it will be:

Over budget.
Late.
Not quite what was intended in the first place.

 

[work-traveller]

The Manchester Victoria station offices are being looked at to replace 'Square One' (in the way of HS2). They have been empty for 10 years or so and in poor state, so would need extensive refurbishment. NR did have staff there for while as an overflow to SQ1.

I used to go to meetings on the top floor in 2013-2014. It would indeed need gutting, plus I'm not sure it would actually have enough accommodation for Network Rail.

 

[greyman42]

York has a brand new empty office block just over the road from the station.

 

[JKF]

I reckon they’ll go for Ventnor, justifying an extension to there.

 

[Carlisle]

I reckon they’ll go for Ventnor, justifying an extension to there.

Or Haltwhistle as it’s centre of the UK mainland .

 

[mike57]

York has to be a good location, all the other major centres are have good connections and reasonable journey times with everywhere except Crewe. However the cynic in me says that York would not have the political impact of somewhere a bit further North, so Darlington would start to look good, it has almost the same railway connectivity as York, and has a strong association with railways.

 

[CW2]

Rail House in Crewe is a 1960s eyesore, and would need some serious investment to bring it (back) up to a usable state. Demolition would be my preferred option. The Annexe building (2-storey building facing onto Nantwich Road, linked to the main building by a footbridge) has already been converted into residential accommodation.

Assuming Phase 2B of HS2 goes ahead, there's a case for expanding Crewe station to have platforms on the Independent Lines, so a new station entrance where Rail House currently stands would be ideal, with a new office building above. Maybe cover over the Independent Lines with a ramp, to create better access / egress, and car parking too.

I've no idea what the current plans are for Crewe station in the long term, merely speculating as to what is possible ...

 

[AlastairFraser]

1) Milton Keynes isn’t HQ now
2) there are already 5 regional hubs: London, Birmingham, York, Glasgow, Swindon. They’ve been the same (with a couple of fluctuations) for the last few decades...

Glasgow won't have a GBR hub as Scotland won't be part of GBR as I understand.

 

[BrianW]

Glasgow won't have a GBR hub as Scotland won't be part of GBR as I understand.

So, rather like Highways England > National Highways?

 

[Sm5]

Putting GBRailways HQ in Scotland might be a political interesting one for the SNP to digest.

 

[SargeNpton]

Glasgow won't have a GBR hub as Scotland won't be part of GBR as I understand.

Isn't Network Rail still the owner of the railway infrastructure in Scotland? If so then that will still be encompassed by GBR unless the infrastructure is to be devolved to Transport Scotland.

 

[Carlisle]

Isn't Network Rail still the owner of the railway infrastructure in Scotland? If so then that will still be encompassed by GBR

Yes that’s what I was thinking too.