Saving the NHS £2m by reducing the office footprint

The property was occupied predominantly by Birmingham & Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (BSCCG) and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), plus a small presence from South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT), a small number of NHSPS staff and a large meeting room suite.  It was established that BSCCG and UHB wished to remain on site but were willing to look at a consolidation exercise including more effective use of meeting space. 

The existing lease was protected under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954, which provided flexibility but only guaranteed a new lease on the full demise across both floors.

The NHSPS National Office Programme carried out a full options appraisal ahead of the lease renewal date, looking at renewal on a reduced footprint and both a full or partial relocation.  All options underwent a thorough financial analysis through the Evaluation & Analytics team and it was determined that renewal on a reduced footprint was the best way forward in both financial and operational terms. 

Despite initial opposition from the landlord, the  Lease Events team were able to secure new terms on a reduced footprint across the 3rd floor and part ground floor, with no rental uplift plus a rent-free package. This space requirement reduced further as SWFT decided they would prefer to relocate, necessitating further negotiations on lease terms.

The Construction team re-planned the space and managed to consolidate the remaining occupiers onto a single floor only including new meeting space. With some prudent value engineering the contract was managed within budget. The Lease Events team secured a revised deal to accommodate this, and oversaw the lease completion to allow occupiers to move into the new and improved space.