Reorganisation of 2 Marsham Street - Home Office

Efficiency in the Home

Our major reorganisation programme for the UK Government's Home Office is saving the taxpayer millions through better use of space.

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Reorganisation of 2 Marsham Street - Home Office Project summary

Client

Home Office

Key partners

Bouygues Energies & Services, McBains Cooper Design Ltd

Services provided

Project and programme management, Cost consultancy, Consult

Sectors

Public buildings and estates

Locations

UK and Europe, UK - London and south-east England

Project timeline

Start date
March 2013
End date
February 2015
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Project story

The reorganisation of the Home Office's headquarters in London including the co-location of another central government department, aligned and showcased the government's Civil Service Reform programme.

The ambition was to deliver a major reorganisation in preparation of the co-location of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), providing a cross-departmental office for several thousand employees and annual savings of £24m for taxpayers though efficient use of space.

We were appointed to manage the entire programme. The reorganisation was considerably complex with relocations aligned with an organisation restructure in a live environment.

As programme and project managers we determined a new accommodation and space model that involved a complete review of the existing infrastructure. It included security and IT platforms, the reconfiguration of all floors and the relocation of over 6,000 employees through a change programme.

The successful delivery has provided a workplace over three inter-connected buildings, with the Home Office consolidating into two buildings and freeing up the other for the DCLG. Furthermore, to address our client's drive for greater efficiency and effectiveness, we included the adoption of shared working principles at an average employee to desk ratio of 10:6.8 and a reduction in desk size.

Marsham Street Reorganisation Building Entrance - Mace Group

Project stats

35% reduction of accommodation costs per person
6,000 employees relocated
£24m saved each year

Points of note

Communication and engagement

We obtained consent for the new workplace model through a communication and change management plan designed to allow two-way discussion; engaging senior management and employee representation through many channels of dialogue.

Example workplaces piloted

Part of the engagement identified the need to test the proposed workplace model through a pilot workplace. The pilot presented three separate reconfigurations of a section of one floor, offered tangible examples of what the reconfigured spaces could look like and highlighted how it differed from existing spaces. A number of guided ‘walk-through’ sessions were executed to help staff appreciate the modifications and provide an opportunity for them to ask questions and learn more about the planned changes. Staff were able to feedback on each of the pilot reconfigurations and vote for their preference.

“Mace gripped the programme very well, identified the challenges and risks, thought through the whole range of requirements for delivery thoroughly and then executed both the programme and project management with excellent professional skill. Overall it was a very successful programme delivered in demanding circumstances. ”