HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has formally signed an agreement to lease 14 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London for 25 years. The 240,000 square feet. office space will accommodate around 3,800 HMRC employees from late 2020.
Westfield Avenue is the ninth lease that HMRC has signed out of the 13 regional centres announced as part of its transformation to be a tax authority fit for the future. HMRC is investing in the best of modern technology and basing its people in modern offices, 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 long-established presence in London and this regional centre in Stratford marks the next step in HMRC’s transformation into a modern, digitally-advanced tax authority. It 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 building in Westfield Avenue and to have made a commitment to our new location in Stratford. As part of the process we will see around 3,800 staff come together in state-of-the-art facilities, and make HMRC an important contributor to the economy and communities in and around Stratford.”
The move is part of the wider Government Hubs Programme, which is transforming how the Government uses property.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said:
“We are investing in multi-departmental hubs across the UK so that even more civil servants will be able to work in modern, flexible office space. Hubs will operate in London and around the country, empowering civil servants to work in smarter ways to deliver better public services from every corner of the UK.”
14 Westfield Avenue will be a new commercial space located in the heart of Stratford, next to Westfield Stratford City and a short distance from Stratford tube and railway stations. The 12 storey building is developed by Westfield Europe Development limited. HMRC will be located on the top eight floors.
Stratford will also be home to a new customer laboratory to help HMRC test new services with customers, for example, by observing how they interact with the tax authority online. The department has worked closely with colleagues in customer compliance to ensure that Stratford will be a state-of-the-art intelligence centre, with all the security specification that involves.
Peter Miller, Chief Operating Officer of Westfield Europe said:
“Westfield is pleased to announce that HMRC has selected the Westfield office development in Stratford to open a new and modern regional centre. Stratford is an established office destination with unrivalled amenities including superior transport connectivity which will be enhanced with the opening of Crossrail in 2019. It is also home to the UK’s number one retail and leisure destination, Westfield Stratford City. There is expanding residential development in the area and the proposed Cultural and Education District will open new sites for the London College of Fashion and University College of the Arts, London, UCL East as well as spaces from Victoria and Albert Museum and Sadler’s Wells. Westfield has started construction on the new office development, with HRMC teams expected to start moving in from 2020.”
Richard Norton, director of tenant representation at JLL, who advised HMRC, said: “JLL advised HMRC on suitable East London locations before selecting Westfield’s development. The rigorous process included a broad range of criteria as well as cost efficiency considerations. The excellent building will provide a modern workspace to facilitate the coming together of a number of teams and is bolstered by outstanding transport connectivity. This is a further endorsement of Stratford as a burgeoning commercial centre and reinforces the wide ranging appeal of East London.”
