Admiral to expand into a major new office site
MOTOR insurance to loans group Admiral is expanding after confirming a major new office site in Cardiff.
The FTSE 100 firm has struck one of the biggest office-letting deals this year in Wales by signing up to nearly 70,000 sq ft at the new No 3 Capital Quarter grade A office scheme, part of the wider Capital Quarter development in the centre of Cardiff.
Capital Quarter is being driven by Cardiff-based property development firm JR Smart.
Admiral said at this stage it was too early to give an exact number of staff who will be based in its new office location, as well as any percentage who would be new recruits.
However, it will be home to hundreds of staff members when Admiral completes the fitout. Staff are scheduled to move in next May.
Admiral has taken a 10-year lease on the remaining 65,000 sq ft at No 3 Capital Quarter at an annual rent of £22.50 per sq ft.
No 3 Capital Quarter is the latest speculatively built office building at the 10-acre Capital Quarter development fronting Tyndall Street. It has brought to market 77,931 sq ft of office space.
It was completed by JR Smart in August this year, with construction of the adjacent 97,000 sq ft No 4 office building due to be completed next March.
The rest of the building, some 12,000 sq ft, has already been leased to consumer champion organisation Which?.
Admiral employs 7,200 people in south Wales at offices in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. It was recently named as one of the best places to work in the world, as it this year celebrates 25 years in business.
In Cardiff, it currently has a total workforce of just under 4,000. Its other office locations in the city include its group HQ, Ty Admiral, and Brunel House.
Huw Llewellyn, estates director of Admiral, said: “We’re continuing to grow as a business as we develop our product offering and No 3 Capital Quarter gives us a great option with good accessibility to our head office
“We were considering our options with our existing landlords in Cardiff and the terms we negotiated with JR Smart were competitive and have allowed us to continue to expand in the local market.
“The design of the office lends itself to creating an exciting environment for our fantastic staff and our unique collaborative working culture.
“This further underpins our commitment to Cardiff, alongside our other south Wales offices in Swansea and Newport.
“We’d like to thank JR Smart and their team for their approach to securing Admiral at No 3 Capital Quarter.”
A spokesman for JR Smart said: “We are enormously proud to have completed and delivered another high-quality office building with the fantastic support of our employees, subcontractors and professional team.”
Cardiff Quarter is being solely marketed by property consultancy firm Knight Frank.
Matt Phillips, head of the Cardiff office of Knight Frank, said: “Attracting such a prominent company is fantastic news for Capital Quarter, and rewards JR Smart’s wisdom and timing of speculatively constructing brand-new energy-efficient office buildings with first-class facilities and a central, accessible location.
“No 3 and No 4 Capital Quarter are the only grade A buildings being delivered in Cardiff before the end of 2019 and we are receiving a huge amount of interest for the vacant space in No 4 from a large number of different potential occupiers.
“The provision of its own car park and the ongoing landscaping of the Western Courtyard public space add to the attractions of Capital Quarter.”
Other tenants at Capital Quarter, at its No 1 and 2 Capital Quarter office schemes, include Network Rail, Opus Energy, the Home Office and the Development Bank of Wales.