To ask, if you work in the Civil Service/ BBC etc in London and the SE and are asked to move North will you?

[Flumpaphone]

Ok, I know this might be a bit niche.

Following on from the recent announcements of Treasury and Department of International Trade jobs moving to Darlington and BBC jobs going to Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow, I was wondering if people currently in those jobs (or anyone else who might be asked to move out of London) will/would move?

If you would move - why?
If you wouldn't move - why?

My reason for asking is that I'm in the North and I'm trying to work out if all these announcements are genuinely a good thing for the economy or if the only real beneficiaries will be LNER and the regional Premier Inns for a couple of nights a week.

I’m confident that they can find talented graduates longer term to fill the roles, both Durham and Newcastle are in very easy commuting distance and there will be a lot of local and none local graduates happy to stay in their University towns

ComtesseDeSpair, I am particularly keen for you to stay where you are.

[quote Loveitloveitloveit]@ComtesseDeSpair did it not occur to you that perhaps there are some fabulously talented people in the North, who perhaps haven’t been able to relocate to London?[/quote]
Or equally have chosen not to relocate to London because we value our quality of life outside the Capital.

@Sometimes123

ComtesseDeSpair, I am particularly keen for you to stay where you are.

@Hopeislost

Presumably if you move out of London you no longer get London weighting? That would be a big factor, as it's a substantial pay cut!

But the cost of living is much lower outside of London. So it's not really a pay cut.

@ComtesseDeSpair

We think it’s going to be quite detrimental if they insist on a quota for our department, where the majority of us are solicitors, economists, accountants and other specialists. Particularly at trainee level to lower SCS grades, there just isn’t the same talent pool outside of London, the most talented and ambitious young people aren’t living in and don’t want to relocate to Darlington!

I won’t be moving, my friends, family and life are in London. I live here because I love it, not just for work opportunities.

As one who has recruited for the private sector, I have to disagree. The most talented and ambitious young people go where their career development will prosper.

@Sometimes123

ComtesseDeSpair, I am particularly keen for you to stay where you are.

Why do people have to be nasty on here? I like to hear opinions from people from all over, not just one particular view. Nothing that bad was said.

The problem with moving is you restrict future career opportunities both within and outside the civil services. If you are based in London you can get a job in any dept but if outside London you could be close to only 1 or 2 depts. You will also be restricted to a smaller local jobs market.

I wouldn't have done because of the work I used to do which was all Parliamentary - and possibly the perception that there would be lesser work outside London, with lesser pay. It depends what you do in the Civil Service, but those with established expertise will probably not be persuaded to move.

It will fail unless they build in career progression those new offices - if they don't the usual system of "move to London" will occur after a few years.Government departments have tried to regionalise before away from London, and yet the boomerang effect is strong!

@Hopeislost

Presumably if you move out of London you no longer get London weighting? That would be a big factor, as it's a substantial pay cut!

The London weighting for the Civil Service is really very small compared to in the private sector (£1k-£3k is role dependent) and, certainly for a move to the North, would be more than compensated for by the reduction in cost of living.

It's annoying in Manchester because house prices have been slammed by people relocating. It's made previously normal affordable areas like mine go through the roof.

I’m a Londoner who couldn’t wait to leave, nearly 30 years ago! I’ve worked in a professional capacity in the Leeds offices of a few national and international organisations for more more than 25 years. In this time, 2 or 3 people a year have chosen to relocate to Leeds or Manchester/Warrington. Relocating south to north is not a punishment!

@ComtesseDeSpair

We think it’s going to be quite detrimental if they insist on a quota for our department, where the majority of us are solicitors, economists, accountants and other specialists. Particularly at trainee level to lower SCS grades, there just isn’t the same talent pool outside of London, the most talented and ambitious young people aren’t living in and don’t want to relocate to Darlington!

I won’t be moving, my friends, family and life are in London. I live here because I love it, not just for work opportunities.

Good god- life is not centred only in London, there are talented solicitors etc in other places you know.

My dept is moving to Leeds and having checked house prices I would be no better off than where I currently am, 45 min train ride south of London. Not worth giving up being close to family and friends for.

It's 30 years too late for me. I would have moved then, but uprooting ourselves now would be too much.

@ZenNudist

It's annoying in Manchester because house prices have been slammed by people relocating. It's made previously normal affordable areas like mine go through the roof.

Was just about to say the same, when the BBC moved into Salford all the house prices in the surrounding/commutable areas sky-rocketed

Just been looking at the housing stock

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89803732

Plus an outstanding state high school less than half a mile away

If I was in London I would a wavering over the agoraphobia and the open spaces

Our Dept is setting up a base in Manchester. I don't think anyone I know is planning to relocate but we are advertising new teams as being based in Manchester.

I think there will be new jobs outside of London, but for parliamentary and bill work the jobs are always be based in London.

I do think Covid has changed things though. Previously Ministers would not have held meeting virtually ( and tbh we didn't have the tech) but now they happily sit on Teams and receive briefings.

GreenlandTheMovie. My comment was not meant to be nasty, however I found the comments that I responded to as highly offensive, elitist and ignorant. I wanted to make the poster know that I was not willing to tolerate such discriminatory statements in regard to the skills sets of people living in a particular area of the UK. I think that the poster maybe suprised by the talent pool in this particular area, however I'm saddened deeply by outdated opinions regarding perceived lack of talent in the North, etc. My opinion that this particular poster should stay where she is is probably mutually beneficial for all, as I don't imagine she would enjoy living elsewhere.

There are also targets in many depts for a percentage of SCS to be based outside of London so that will help to drive the change as they will want their teams around them. As for people having more opportunities in London - because more depts are based there, if there is no recruitment in London as all depts are reducing their London headcount that will no longer be the case.

Nope. I am from the SE, all my family and friends and DP’s family are here. I wouldn’t want to leave that network. I live in the Home Counties rather than London and would prefer to just wfh most of the time and commute to London less frequently.

@Sometimes123

GreenlandTheMovie. My comment was not meant to be nasty, however I found the comments that I responded to as highly offensive, elitist and ignorant. I wanted to make the poster know that I was not willing to tolerate such discriminatory statements in regard to the skills sets of people living in a particular area of the UK. I think that the poster maybe suprised by the talent pool in this particular area, however I'm saddened deeply by outdated opinions regarding perceived lack of talent in the North, etc. My opinion that this particular poster should stay where she is is probably mutually beneficial for all, as I don't imagine she would enjoy living elsewhere.

Agreed !