The Bank of England is accelerating the expansion of its Leeds operation as part of a wider drive to cut costs, reduce headcount and overhaul its London estate.
Under new plans approved by the Bank’s court of directors, half of all external recruitment will now be based in Leeds, as governors push to meet a long-standing commitment to station 500 staff in the city by 2027 – roughly one in ten of the Bank’s total workforce.
Minutes from the court show that executive directors have been instructed to allocate 50 per cent of new hires to the northern hub in order to “further progress” the regional expansion, even as the institution pursues an ambitious cost-saving programme.
The move comes amid plans to slim down the Bank’s overall headcount and deliver operating cost savings of 8 per cent in the next financial year, in an effort to limit the growth of levies charged to the financial services industry.
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