Nationwide says office-based staff can work anywhere in UK, plans to shut 3

Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, said it will allow its 13,000 office-based employees to work anywhere in the UK.

The reduced need for physical space means Nationwide will shut three offices it leases in Swindon, although it will retain its headquarters and major administration centres.

The member-owned organisation said the move followed a recent survey of its employees that asked them where they wanted to work in future. Just 6% said they wanted to work in an office five days a week and more than half (57%) wanted to work from home fulltime. More than a third (36%) preferred a combination of home and office work. 

“The last year has taught many of us that ‘how’ we do our jobs is much more important than ‘where’ we do them from,” said chief executive Joe Garner. “We have listened and learned, and we are now deciding to move forward, not back. We are putting our employees in control of where they work from, inviting them to ‘locate for their day’ depending on what they need to achieve.”

Nationwide said it would continue to invest in some of its office space “to foster social contact, collaboration and creativity”.

Its headquarters, Nationwide House, and major administration centres in Northampton, Bournemouth and the recently opened Post Building in London, are unaffected by the changes, it said, adding that a new tech hub at Ramsbury House, also in Swindon, will enable it to retain a strong footprint in its hometown.