More than 3,000 workers are anticipated to relocate to Blackpool as the new Civil Service Hub springs to life at the Talbot Gateway. The thousands of public servants will be working in a state-of-the-art seven-storey building, which is planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. The site (shown in the featured photograph) will include a new town centre square with cycle and pedestrian routes and is within walking distance of the new tram interchange at Blackpool North Station.
The interchange forms part of phase two of Talbot Gateway along with a new 144-bedroom Holiday Inn hotel, which will open in time for Easter next year, creating 50 new full-time jobs to the town.
It is hoped that the new offices will generate significant new footfall to the area, boosting trade to local businesses, retailers, restaurants, cafes and leisure facilities, alongside a wealth of new job opportunities for local people, along with excellent sustainable transport connectivity through train, bus and tram.
Councillor Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said, ‘The new Civil Service hub is a major piece in our plan to develop the area around Blackpool North train station, bringing thousands of professional workers into the town centre who will spend money in local businesses, in turn creating new jobs and economic growth which makes Blackpool better for us all.
It’s great to see the speed of this development and the build is progressing every single day with dozens of workers on site. We will now start to see the building really rise from the ground over the next few months, which will show real progress.
Alongside the new development at the Holiday Inn, our future plans for the Multiversity, the improvements to our early evening economy with the first phase of Abingdon Street Market recently opening and The Backlot Cinema and Diner to follow this year, this will be a really exciting time for the town.’
At the time of the initial announcement of this initiative, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey said: ‘Moving more than 3,000 Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) staff into this state of the art sustainable building in Talbot Gateway will drive footfall in the town centre and support Blackpool’s economic growth as the country builds back better from the pandemic.;
The featured headline photograph shows partners from Blackpool Council, Muse, Vinci Construction and Mayo Civils at the new regional home for the Civil Service in Blackpool.
Below is an impression of the highly-sustainable, purpose-built offices which are being built as part of the strategic plan to centralise civil service jobs in the heart of Blackpool. The DWP has signed a 25-year lease to occupy the building.
