BoE to move London staff to new hub in Leeds

LONDON: The Bank of England has followed the Treasury in announcing that it intends to move staff out of London with the creation of a new northern hub in Leeds.

Threadneedle Street said its expanded presence in one of the UK's main financial centres outside London was part of an ambitious plan to increase its staff presence across the UK significantly.

The plan coincided with an announcement that the Bank intends to close its cash centre in Leeds - where it stores and distributes notes - in 2023 and concentrate the production of cash at its plant in Debden in Essex. The northern hub will involve building on the Bank's existing network of 12 regional agents, who act as the "eyes and ears" of policymakers by keeping in touch with local developments.

It follows the announcement by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in last month's budget that the Treasury would create a new campus in Darlington and make Leeds the headquarters for the UK's new infrastructure bank. There was some surprise at the time that the Treasury chose one of the "red wall" seats won by the Conservatives in the 2019 general election rather than Leeds for its northern hub.

Andrew Bailey : "Our mission at the Bank is to promote the good of the people of the UK by maintaining monetary and financial stability and to deliver that for the whole country. "I made a commitment at my pre-appointment hearing before the Treasury select committee in March last year to look at how we can expand our staff presence across the UK beyond our existing agency network."