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HMRC has announced that it will now keep its Bradford office open until 2027, having previously said it planned to close the site in 2020 or 2021.
In November 2015, HMRC had announced that it planned to close the Centenary Court site in five or six years time, with its Bradford staff moving to the new Leeds Regional Centre at 7 and 8 Wellington Place.
The government body has now decided to keep the site open as a “transitional site” until 2027, to help accommodate the larger workforce that is now there.
Colin Casse, HMRC’s locations programme director, said: “While we remain committed to the overall strategy of moving to regional centres, we always knew that in a programme of this size and duration our plans would need to remain flexible to help us meet new challenges.
“We’ve always said we want as many people as possible to stay with us. This change will allow people working in Bradford, and nearby offices like Shipley, to remain working for HMRC longer.”
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: “I am delighted to see this u-turn from Government on a decision which we have been challenging them on for years.
“Bradford is a bigger city than Liverpool, Newcastle and Bristol and has a large, young workforce. We’ll now be lobbying for the government to make this decision permanent.”
