Office move will make us fit for the 21st century, says city council leader
Moving to shared offices at Shire Hall will help Gloucester CityCouncil become anorganisation fit for the demands of the 21st century. That’s the view of council leader Paul James, as the organisation gets ready to leave its home of more than 30 years and make the short hop to Shire Hall. Based at HerbertWarehouse in the Docks since the late 1980s, the old building is no longer fit for the demands of the technological age. And with ever-mounting pressure being forced by central government cuts, the chance to share what Cllr James calls the ‘public sector estate’ is something of a no-brainer. “The new space is open plan and it will allow us to change our work practices for the better,” he said. “We will be on the fifth floor on the bridge over Longsmith Street and Quay Street. “We are also moving our customer services to premises on Westgate Street, where much of our face-to-face interaction will takes place. “That will bring more people into the centre of
Gloucester and I am sure that the traders will benefit from having 200 or so staff on their doorstep.” The new offices will be across one floor, and open plan to allow for easier communications, both among city council staff and their county counterparts.
Council Leader Paul James
And Cllr James believes that the new layout, coupled with advances in technology, will make things run much more smoothly for both councils. “We already share a lot of functions with the county council, such as communications, HR and audit, so there is a logic in being in the same building,” he said. “It will make it easier for some of our functions, where we need to liaise with departments within the county council. “It can take a long time to walk through Herbert Warehouse and speak to staff, so this will make it much easier.
HerbertWarehouse
94 | February 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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