At a meeting with staff in Ariel House on 8th March 2023, Gary Jones, Customer Delivery Director, gave the clear impression that the building was going to be closed and a new one found locally.
To say that Ariel House needs a lick of paint is a massive understatement. It needs a complete makeover and what’s clear is that TSB, which owns the building, is not prepared to make that investment and so staff have to work in squalid conditions until the building is sold and a new one found. The only positive thing is that most staff who are based in Ariel House now work from home and are only requited to visit the office twice a month. Many of those staff will say, that’s twice too many.
TSB’s Property Team has said: “we want to ensure our work spaces are fit for purpose, it’s also important they they’re an enjoyable place for colleagues to spend time”. Ariel House is not an enjoyable place to spend any time. The Team go on to say: “we are starting to explore the options for our Ariel House office, including a potential sale resulting in an office relocation, or a refurbishment of our current space”. In the meantime, those staff in the office have to endure third world conditions until the bank decides what to do with the building.
Since Mr Jones came in March there’s been no attempt to spend any money on the building. The reality is that TSB has decided to sell the building, local developers are buying up all the office buildings in the area and turning them into flats, and that’s what will happen to Ariel House.
TSB should stop prevaricating and tell the truth now rather than staff having to wait until later in the year to find out what’s happening. On the current timescales, staff won’t be moving to their new building until well into 2024. That’s unacceptable. Perhaps Mr Jones should work in Ariel House for a few weeks. If that happened, a new building would be found in a matter of weeks and a transition plan would be in place a few weeks after that.
And when it comes to the location of the new building, TSB must consult with staff locally before it signs any new lease. What may be local to the Property Team, may be completely inaccessible to the majority of staff based in Ariel House.
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