Newport set to compete with Bristol for London office jobs

Bradford and Newport are competing for London office jobs as the government relocates offices to other areas.

As reported on Wednesday, the government is in the process of announcing a dramatic office upheaval with 15,000 London office jobs to be relocated to other areas.

The initial article discussed Bradford’s bid to secure the London jobs but now Newport, in South Wales, has announced an interest in the relocation.

It was Robert Carew-Chaston, chartered surveyor for Hutchings & Thomas, who suggested Newport as a possible candidate for relocation.

One of the possible reasons could be that the city has accommodated relocation initiatives in the past.

For instance the Patent Office, the Office for National Statistics and the Prison Service have all recently relocated some of their offices to the city.

Another reason might be that office space can be found at £16 per square foot in Newport, which is a much lower price than can be found within London.

If this is the case then other cities, such as Cardiff and Bristol, with similar office space prices may also be possible places to relocate to.

As of yet it is unclear whether government officials are interested in Bradford, Newport or any other city; as no news about possible locations has been released.

However Bradford Council are actively promoting the city for the relocation and are therefore the strong competition to secure the government jobs.

Regardless of who achieves the relocation contract,  government offices in London will possibly become vacant within the near future.