Chesterton is striving to become the dominant agent for government relocation work after the Lyons review.
Its consulting arm Chesterton Strategic Services, led by Brian Thompson, has teamed up with public sector consultancy Governetz.
The alliance will enable Chesterton to tap into the contacts of Governetz, whose chairman David Werran spent 35 years in the civil service.
Werran was project director of the Health and Safety Directive’s relocation to Bootle in the 1980s and the twin relocation of part of the former Department of Employment to Runcorn and Sheffield 10 years ago.
Chancellor Gordon Brown confirmed in last month’s Budget that the government would implement the Lyons review recommendations.
A total of 20,000 public sector jobs will be moved out of Whitehall and into the regions in the first tranche alone, creating new requirements for a total of 2m-3m sq ft of space.
“This is a critical focal point for Chesterton’s attack on the public sector market,” said Thompson. “There is a whole range of spin-off opportunities.”
Thompson and Werran hope to create a one-stop shop by bringing on board Experian Business Strategies – which produced a review document on past relocations that supported the Lyons review – plus relocation management firm Team Relocations and human resources specialist DBM.
The duo said they were in discussions with inward investment agencies and local authorities on how they could promote themselves to government departments.
They are also working their existing central government contacts for advisory roles.
“There isn’t any central body of knowledge about relocation. You need a holistic approach,” Werran said.
Chesterton is also taking a senior civil servant on part-time secondment. The secondee is programme manager for a department included in the first tranche of relocations.
● It has emerged that John Ardley, Chesterton’s non-executive deputy chairman, left in February. Ardley was appointed last July as part of the senior management team.
