HM Revenue and Customs chief executive Jim Harra has officially opened the tax-collection agency’s new Bristol hub.
Eight-storey 3 Glass Wharf will be the base for 1,650 HMRC staff, as well as officials from other departments. Some HMRC and Cabinet Office workers moved into the building in the autumn.
Designed by architect Darling Associates, the building is part of a regeneration area near Bristol’s Temple Meads Station and is the second of HMRC’s 13 new regional hubs to open.
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Presiding over the official opening on last week, Harra said he was “incredibly proud” of the high-tech centre and pledged it would deliver local benefits and offer staff new ways of working.
“This building will be a great place to work and I look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on Bristol and its local economy,” Harra said.
“It will bring teams together so they have the opportunity to work differently and more effectively, making HMRC a tax and customs administration fit for the future.”
Work on 3 Glass Wharf started in 2016. It is part of HMRC’s 10-year transformation programme to become one of the most digitally-advanced tax authorities in the world.
HMRC’s new location in Belfast, Erskine House also saw staff moving in in January 2020. By 2022 regional centres will be opened in Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Stratford. HMRC also opened its first regional centre in Croydon in 2017.
HMRC’s 1 Ruskin Square base in Croydon was the department’s first hub to open, back in 2017.
The department expects to save more than £300m by 2025 as a result of its hubs programme – and make annual savings of about £90m by 2026.