Leeds Regional Centre formally opens

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Leeds Regional Centre and UK Government hub has been formally opened by Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary.

The state-of-the-art building at 7&8 Wellington Place, in the heart of Leeds city centre, will be home to around 7,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) civil servants, including more than 4,000 from HMRC and Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

Joining them at the 378,000 sqm office are workers from 14 other departments including NHS Digital, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Transport.

Spread across seven floors, the modern and inclusive working environment enables collaborative working, set amongst photography of renowned Leeds and Yorkshire landmarks, taken by staff.

Civil servants began moving into the new regional hub on 10 March 2021. It was the sixth HMRC regional centre in the UK to open.

The formal opening took place on 4 July 2022 as Angela MacDonald, who was born in Hull and grew up in the Leeds area, unveiled a plaque to an audience of local dignitaries and colleagues.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, said:

“I am delighted to mark the opening of our Leeds Regional Centre and UK Government hub at Wellington Place.

“Leeds is a vibrant and diverse city, full of life and culture, with great transport connections, and it’s an exciting time to be improving our presence in here.

“This development is an important part of HMRC’s transformation into a modern and digitally-advanced tax authority and cements our position as an important contributor to the economy and communities in and around Yorkshire.

“The inclusive and flexible working environment has brought our people together and will create greater opportunities for collaboration to make it easier to deliver great services to our customers.”

Carl Vincent, Chief Financial Officer at NHS Digital, said:

“The move to Wellington Place is hugely important to the delivery of national data and technology services for the NHS.

“It has allowed us to bring all our teams in Leeds into a single, modern and flexible facility that is essential for us to deliver high quality technology that improves lives, such as the NHS App, the NHS COVID Pass and the online national booking service for Covid vaccinations.”

Leeds Regional Centre is part of a transformation programme that is delivering modern, inclusive, flexible environments with improved technology, enabling HMRC become one of the most digitally advanced tax authorities in the world.

HMRC also has a transitional site in Bradford, which is home to around 1,150 FTE HMRC employees.

Notes to Editors

1. HMRC’s locations strategy, announced in 2015, is key to enabling its wider transformation. It also supports the UK Government’s Places for Growth Programme to promote growth and jobs, by creating opportunities and career paths in towns and cities across the UK.
2. HMRC’s vision is to be a trusted, modern tax and customs department. HMRC’s Locations Strategy is supporting this by delivering and maintaining modern inclusive, flexible environments, improved technology enabling HMRC to work differently, in a smarter way. It will be based in a network of regional centres serving every country and region of the UK. HMRC opened its first regional centre in Croydon in 2017.
3. Moving to regional centres will save around £300 million cumulatively up to financial year 2025 to 2026 and will deliver annual cash savings of £74 million in financial year 2025 to 2026.
4. HMRC’s other regional centre locations are Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Croydon, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Stratford.
5. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on Twitter @HMRCpressoffice