Admiral plans new Cardiff HQ

South Wales based motor insurer Admiral Group has announced plans to move into a new headquarters in Cardiff city centre.

The new 220,000 sq ft office, the biggest pre-let office project ever seen in Cardiff, will be developed by Midlands-based property specialists Stoford.

It will allow Admiral to potentially increase the number of people it employs in the capital to more than 3000 in a single building.

The decision is still subject to satisfactory planning permission being granted by Cardiff City Council.

Head of facilities for Admiral Group, Huw Llewellyn said: “We started the process of looking for a new headquarters two years ago. The final decision was difficult to make because we narrowed it down to two very strong candidates in the Stoford and Rightacres/Rapport proposals. The Stoford development offers not only an excellent building and great location, but also an attractive financial deal.

“We also need to ensure our new headquarters allows us to sustain our growth and provides an excellent environment for our employees. Hopefully our staff will enjoy their new building as we will be consulting them throughout its development. I’m sure they will be happy with the location as it will have great accessibility for public transport and is close to all the shops, bars and restaurants in Cardiff city centre.”

The new building will extend to 11 storeys and will be a landmark in an area of the city centre that has gone through a lot of development recently.

It will comply with the environment BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standard for sustainability and energy efficiency and is expected to be fully completed by January 2014, ready for Admiral to move in.