Ecclesiastical Insurance finishes building new HQ at Gloucester Business Park

Construction work on the new headquarters for Ecclesiastical Insurance at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth has finished.

The significant milestone sees the completion of the construction phase and formal handing over of the premises to the specialist insurance and financial services company by site owners Arlington.

Ecclesiastical, which has been based in Gloucester since the 1970s has strong links to the city and as part of an ongoing commitment to remaining in the Gloucester area secured planning permission for the new offices in 2018. It was a long, hard road – around a decade ago the insurance company was planning on building a new headquarters at Gloucester Docks, but the 2007/8 financial crash finally put an end to its city centre ambitions.

The new office will provide the business a modern and flexible working environment with 500 parking spaces for employees and visitors and will accommodate all of the firm’s Gloucester-based teams.

Initial construction work began in May 2019 with Kier Construction appointed as lead contractor. Work on the distinctive steel frame was started in July 2019 and now one year on the site is complete, with the final touches including external block paving and landscaping completed at the end of June.

Following the formal handover of the site internal fit-out will begin on-site at the end of July 2020, with the building expected to be complete by the end of the year.

Caroline Taplin, group HR director at Ecclesiastical and project sponsor, said: “Despite the lockdown due to Covid-19 we have managed to make fantastic progress on the new head office building and it is wonderful that the building is now officially ours. While there is a still lot of work to be done internally to get the building ready, we’re excited about creating a modern and spacious environment for our colleagues to thrive in.

“Physical space will continue to play a crucial role in how we work going forward and with the move to a brand new office, we have a great opportunity to design our space to support how we want to work in the future.”

James Raven, chief executive officer at Arlington, said: “The new building is a true flagship development, and one which we are all very proud of. We are very much looking forward to welcoming Ecclesiastical to Gloucester Business Park and continuing this partnership for many years to come”.

Andy Bolas, operations director at Kier, added: “It has been a pleasure working with Ecclesiastical and I hope they will enjoy their new modern and spacious working environment.

“Many thanks to the team, who have worked tirelessly and in line with the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) guidance throughout COVID-19 to hand this project back to Arlington Properties.”