The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has confirmed is moving into new offices in the prestigious Marischal Square building in Aberdeen.
Details of the regulator’s new multi-million pound lease for its office space have been published in its annual accounts.
The NSTA disclosed the £7.4 million lease, which covers a period of 15 years.
This is the equivalent to just under £500,000 per year, with a date of entry 2 May 2022.
As the UK’s offshore oil and gas regulator, it maintains its headquarters in Aberdeen, alongside an office in Bloomsbury, London.
The new lease will see the organisation move from its current location in the AB1 Building, at 48 Huntly Street.
A spokesperson for the NSTA said it expects to make the jump in late summer or early autumn.
The NSTA is largely funded by a levy on the oil and gas sector, alongside licensing fees and some limited grant funding from government.
In 2021/22, it collected just over £30m in levy payments and £2.5m in fees and charges, according to the annual report.
Where this levy funding is unspent it is returned to licence holders, with just under £4m returned via such repayments last year.
Shell starts moves to city centre
It comes after energy giant Shell made a high-profile move to the nearby Silver Fin building on Aberdeen’s Union Street last October from its previous HQ in Tullos.
Shell’s North Sea boss has said the company hopes to complete its move to new offices by the end of the year, amid plans for an urban garden and parking refurbishment.
Once its fit-out is complete, Shell will occupy six floors at the flagship Union Street location, adjacent to the Capitol Building which also hosts North Sea oil and gas rival Harbour Energy.
Described as the biggest commercial property deal outside of London at the time, the supermajor’s return was announced with much fanfare last September, and praised as a boon for those working to bring businesses and footfall back to the city centre thoroughfare.
In an update on LinkedIn, Shell senior vice president for UK upstream Simon Roddy said the question of whether the company had moved yet is “probably the most frequent question I am asked by friends and colleagues in Aberdeen and beyond”.
“I think it speaks to how significant this move is – both for Shell and the city.”
The move marks a return for the company, which first established an office on Union Street when it set up shop in the city in 1965.
However, since 1973 it has been based at the industrial estate in Tullos, off Wellington Road.
The future of this site is “subject to a future decision”, a company spokesperson said last year.
Mr Roddy said the company’s new lease officially began in April 2022, and that one floor is already operational for a staff of “early adopters.”
“We are preparing the rest of the building for the full move, expected by the end of the year,” he added.
Its plans include the creation of an “urban garden” and “significant refurbishment” of the Chapel Street car park.
More than 1,000 staff are expected to work at the new base when complete – though flexible working schedules mean they are unlikely to all use the premises at the same time.
Mr Roddy said he had recently joined representatives from the building’s landlord – the British Airways Pension Fund – and Scottish workplace design firm Space Solutions to meet the project team and see the progress being made.
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