The Cadishead offices of broadband provider TalkTalk are to close entirely and move to Salford Quays by 2017, SalfordOnline.com can reveal.
The telecoms giant announced this morning it was taking up a 15-year let on 106,000sq ft of new office space at the Soapworks development near Exchange Quay.
It means 1,300 staff from branches at Siemens Road in Cadishead, and Birchwood near Warrington, will move to Salford Quays by 2017.
Around 700 people work at the Cadishead network engineering centre on the Northbank Industrial Estate.
This office will close entirely, with all staff and departments moving to Salford Quays, some 8 miles away.
Read: TalkTalk and Home Office agree huge Salford Quays Soapworks move
The Soapworks offices on Ordsall Lane, formerly a Colgate Palmolive factory, will become TalkTalk’s largest UK site.
In a press release TalkTalk’s Group HR Director Nigel Sullivan said the move away from Cadishead and Warrington represented “a major milestone”.
“As a technology company, it’s important that our working environment reflects our digital first culture.
“We want our staff to be truly proud of where they work because we believe a highly engaged team will deliver a better service for our customers.”
But local councillors expressed serious reservations over the loss of hundreds of staff from a key business site in Cadishead.
Cadishead Councillor Jimmy Hunt said: “I am not happy about the situation that is arising at TalkTalk and this has come as a complete shock.
“Quite a number of people who live locally work there and it is convenient for them to have employment locally – also those without transport will find it difficult to make the move.
“This could also have an impact on local businesses: TalkTalk’s Cadishead staff use cafes along Liverpool Road at lunchtime and in the evenings.”
A source at TalkTalk added that the firm now had two years to find new tenants or owners for their Northbank site.
Salford City Council however were adamant the move would benefit Salford.
A spokesman said: “It’s a matter for TalkTalk where they locate their business and staff but we are delighted to see that they are not only remaining in Salford but also bringing more jobs into the city and with potential to grow even more in their new location.
“Northbank is a buoyant, well managed industrial park with many excellent businesses and we have every confidence in the management company which owns it quickly finding replacement tenants and bringing new jobs to Cadishead. We will do all we can to help them with that because we want to see all areas of Salford thrive.”
The move is expected to take place once the Soapworks offices are fully operational in spring 2017.
