Greener Government estate as First Street Hub tops out

Government is celebrating a sharp reduction in energy consumption and emissions across the public estate.

The latest figures from the government’s annual State of the Estate report show significant progress is being made to make the public estate more sustainable and efficient.

The major efficiency drive has seen more than £163M in energy cost savings secured and a significant fall in direct emissions from government buildings.

To mark the report’s publication, the Manchester First Street Hub recently celebrated its ‘topping-out’ ceremony. The ceremony marked the beginning of the countdown to the completion of this new UK Government Hub in the heart of Manchester city centre. The 12,000sq ft building is scheduled to be ready for fit-out by the end of 2024 and open its doors in late 2025.

Once completed, the Manchester First Street Hub will accommodate approximately 2,600 civil servants from several key government departments and support the relocation of over 700 civil service roles under the Places for Growth programme.

Lead developer Ask Real Estate and its joint venture partner, Richardson, secured a full pre-let of the Grade A BREEAM Excellent office building to the GPA, which then signed a lease with PIC, the building’s owners, in 2022.

This latest development forms part of the Government Hubs Programme supporting economic growth across the UK. The programme is rationalising the government’s estate in towns and cities across the UK, playing a pivotal role in delivering modern, customer-focused and varied workspaces for civil servants. The design recognises that different types of work require different spaces to enable collaboration, creativity and community regardless of how people choose to work.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart, said: “We are committed to creating more modern and productive work environments where civil servants can be inspired and take pride in delivering the best possible service to the taxpayer.

“The new Manchester First Street Hub puts us in an even stronger position to attract talent from across the region into the civil service and better support the thousands of hard-working civil servants currently based in Manchester.”

The First Street Hub is in the heart of Manchester and a few minutes’ walk from Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations. It has been designed to be class-leading, meeting inclusive and accessible design standards.

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