We have for some time been considering our future accommodation requirements. It’s been obvious since the pandemic that the headquarters office in central London is too big for our routine needs. In that context, the board has considered a range of options for our future approach. Many hours have been spent over the past three years looking at a whole range of possible solutions.
We don’t own our Wimpole Street building but do have a long-term lease. That lease has value given the long-term remaining on it, but it also contains some restrictions on building use. The landlord, the Howard de Walden estate, has made the board an offer to give up the lease.
Best interests
We reached the conclusion that the BDA’s best interest is served by us selling the lease and vacating our HQ. The decision may cause concern and raise questions for members who use the building as well as for those who value our Association’s long history rooted in a physical presence. It will be a challenging process for the Association, leaving our home of more than 60 years. However, we do not believe it is the best use of members’ funds to maintain a building that is not fit for our needs.
Whilst we do not need a building the size of 64 Wimpole Street, we will of course need physical space in order to function well as an organisation. We have already started to consider those needs, initially on a short-term and then longer-term basis, and to source potential accommodation.
Maintaining services
We are considering the position of the library and museum in particular, as well the impact on our 2025 face-to-face event portfolio. We know by experience that we can provide the vast majority of our services remotely and can therefore take some time to make sure we get our future needs right.
Many of the building’s facilities do not allow members and staff the level of experience we have ambitions to deliver; we intend to use this milestone in our history as an opportunity to improve how we support staff and members.
We will be making sure that elected members and their committees have good quality facilities for face-to-face meetings at the start of the new governance period. As we embark on a new year of representing our members, we will be in a period of change, reflection and optimism about our future.