Government Digital Service moving to new £2.8m-a-year digs

GDS - home of the G-Cloud and Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework - signs 10-year lease on Whitechapel base

The Government Digital Service (GDS) - home of G-Cloud - is set to move into a new east London office for an initial annual rent of £2.8m.

GDS - which includes the Digital Marketplace (G-Cloud, Digital Outcomes and Specialists and Crown Hosting frameworks), GOV.UK, Verify, Performance Platform and the Public Services Network - is currently based on Holborn, but will soon move to the new site (pictured) in Whitechapel, east London.

GDS will take the top two floors of The White Chapel Building, according to owner Derwent London. The initial rent for the near-55,000 sq ft location will be £2.8m a year, or £52 per sq ft.

The GDS will join architects Perkins+Will; law firm Reddie and Grose; insurance company Shipowners' Club and Unruly Media in the building, which is now 75 per cent full.

Ben Gummer, minister for the Cabinet Office, said: "After visiting the GDS team myself in recent weeks it is even more important to me that the brilliant people who work there get a brilliant place in which to work. With more money and improved offices, GDS can accelerate their efforts to transform and improve public services right across the UK."

Derwent London acquired The White Chapel Building at the end of last year and it is due to open in Q4 this year after "light refurbishment" - although no specific date for GDS' move was made public.

The building owner claims the office's location is ideally positioned to "become a hub for the next wave of innovation" due to local investment, planning, and infrastructure such as Crossrail.