HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has formally signed an agreement to lease a building at 3 Glass Wharf for 25 years. It will move up to 1,250 civil servants from across HMRC into the offices between 2019 and 2021, including teams working on tax compliance and debt management.
HMRC announced in November 2015 that it will be opening 13 new regional centres around the UK. Bristol is the second site to be confirmed as part of its transformation plans to create a tax authority fit for the future. HMRC is investing in the best of modern technology and basing its people in state-of-the-art and more cost-effective buildings, as it creates better, more modern customer services and makes it harder for the dishonest minority to cheat the system.
Jon Thompson, Chief Executive of HMRC, said:
“HMRC has a large and long-established presence in the South West and the new regional centre in Bristol demonstrates our commitment to the region and its economy. It also marks the next step in HMRC’s transformation into a modern, digitally-advanced tax authority and will bring compliance teams together with sophisticated IT and data analytics, to increase our effectiveness in cracking down on tax cheats.
“We are delighted to have agreed terms for the 3 Glass Wharf building and to have made a commitment to our new location in Bristol. As part of the process we will see up to 1,250 staff come together in state-of-the-art facilities, and make HMRC an important contributor to the economy, and to communities in and around Bristol.”
Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said:
“This is great news for Bristol and the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone following hard on the heels of the recent announcement that University of Bristol is planning a new £300 million campus for the zone. A new regional centre for HMRC will bring many more jobs to Bristol and is another sign that the scale of ambition for the city is being recognised as we expect more organisations and businesses to be attracted to the city in the future.”
Three Glass Wharf will be a new commercial space located in Bristol City Centre, a short distance north west of Temple Meads railway station. The eight-floor building is developed by Salmon Harvester Properties and forward funded by Legal & General.
