Bupa Health & Wellbeing staff currently operate out of around 140,000 sqft at the Anchorage and Harbour City sites within Salford Quays, but the relevant lease expires in 2015, and a relocation is being considered.
The Manchester Evening News reports that the company has targeted significant savings in terms of its spending on office space rents but remains committed to having a strong presence in the northwest of England, specifically in Greater Manchester.
Nevertheless, bosses are understood to have enlisted the services of several Greater Manchester office agents to gather more information on potential alternatives as its current leasehold commitments near expiry.
“Bupa has had a presence in Greater Manchester for over 20 years. The area has proved a first-class location for us and we are committed to maintaining and growing our operations here,” Roger White, director of Bupa Group Property, is quoted as saying.
“With the majority of our current lease arrangements in Salford expiring in 2015, we are looking at a range of options to provide the best work environment for our employees.”
In recent years, Salford Quays has been one of the most active areas in terms of office space construction in the northwest of England, with the MediaCityUK development having made rapid progress. The scheme is aimed at establishing the area as an internationally competitive media business hub, with the BBC and ITV among those moving staff to newly built locations.
As well as at Salford Quays, Bupa’s Health & Wellbeing operation employs hundreds of non-medical staff at offices in Staines, Bristol and Coventry.
Editor’s notes: Bupa chose to stay in Salford Quays and, in 2018, announced the opening of a new HQ named Bupa Place.
The 65,000-square-foot, 6-storey HQ is home to 2,000 employees and is the company’s biggest staffing centre in all 190 countries it operates in.
Bupa Place is now home to its contact centre, health services division, HR, sales, marketing, finance, property, and IT. The move represented the company’s commitment to Greater Manchester, where it has had a foothold since 1991.