Scottish Widows to leave Dalkeith Road office after nearly 45 years

Around 2,200 workers will move from the office to other offices in the city as part of the relocation

Scottish Widows are to leave their office on Dalkeith Road

Scottish Widows are set to leave their Sir Basil Spence-designed office on Dalkeith Road after nearly 45 years.

Around 2,200 workers for the financial services company will leave the office for the last time later this year as part of a reduction in the amount of unused office space rented by parent company Lloyds Banking Group.

The company added there will be no job losses as part of the relocation.

The office is one of the largest in Edinburgh and sits in the shadow of the Salisbury Crags

Scottish Widow said the decision was made to “reduce the levels of unused space” as part of a regular review of their “property footprint”.

The building, which is A-listed and is considered to be a major architectural achievement for Sir Basil Spence, has been home to Scottish Widows since 1976 when it opened.

Employees will be moved across Lloyds’ Port Hamilton and Citymark offices in the Capital, and will help reduce the 3,200 unused desks in the company’s property portfolio.

Philip Grant, director of operations, Scottish Widows, said: “We’re sorry to be leaving Dalkeith Road, which has been home to Scottish Widows colleagues since 1976. Our history is deeply rooted in Edinburgh and after 200 years we remain as committed as ever to the city’s prosperity.

“As we continue to develop more agile working practices, we have fewer colleagues based full-time in our offices and as a result we are becoming less reliant on office space.

“We want to make the best of the sites we have in the city centre and are investing in better workplaces for colleagues by upgrading facilities, reducing the amount of unused space and improving the way we work for the future.”

The Port Hamilton office, on Morrison Street in the centre of Edinburgh, recently saw an investment of £10 million and Lloyds said there are also plans to upgrade the Citymark office in Fountainbridge.

The company added that employees will benefit from “excellent transport links” at the new offices.

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Joy Yates

Editorial Director