Policy paper

Department for Business and Trade Strategic Asset Management Plan - Executive Summary

Published 30 October 2025

Overview

The Department for Business and Trade is the department for economic growth. We support UK businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. The Secretary of State’s priorities are:

• Industrial Strategy
• The Plan for Small Businesses
• Trade Strategy
• Make Work Pay

DBT is committed to managing its property estate efficiently, sustainably and in alignment with government priorities. This Strategic Asset Management Plan outlines how DBT will deliver value for money, support regional growth and provide high-quality workplaces for its staff across the UK and internationally.

Key Objectives

• Support Government Priorities: Align with the Government Property Strategy, Places for Growth and the Plan for London.
• Deliver Value for Money: Reduce the number of DBT office locations and improve space utilisation and efficiency.
• Enable Effective Working: promote modern, collaborative and secure workplaces that support hybrid working and ministerial functions.
• Promote Sustainability: Work with the Government Property Agency (GPA) to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental performance.

Our Estate

• DBT operates from offices across the UK and in over 100 countries via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
• UK office are managed by the GPA or HMRC under occupation agreements within shared government hubs.
• International Offices are managed under the 1HMG partnership.
• DBT has 19 Partner Organisations, most of whom manage their own estates and will be required to publish their own SAMP. DBT however offers sponsorship, oversight and property-related support to all its Partner Organisations. 

Regional and London Plans

• DBT has plans to consolidate its Central London estate into its HQ at the Old Admiralty Building and a new premises at 50 Broadway by 2026/27.
• Working with the GPA, we are looking at options to increase capacity in London and other hub locations in-line with operational requirements and our office attendance policies. In London, we are considering adding substantial additional space in Canary Wharf, in order to accommodate our 60% in-office attendance ambitions.
• Some smaller regional offices will be consolidated and focused in our seven Places for Growth hub locations: Cardiff, Birmingham, Darlington, Belfast, Edinburgh, Greater Manchester and London.
• Moves to new GPA hubs in Manchester (First St.) and Darlington (Brunswick St.) are planned by 2026 and 2028 respectively. Significant space expansion in our Birmingham hub is planned by autumn 2026.

Efficiency and Savings

• DBT aims to reduce its estate from 23 to 10 buildings by 2028. This will offer substantial cost and space saving efficiencies across the estate.
• Office space will be right-sized to match workforce plans and support collaboration, modern ways of working and cross-government networking opportunities.

Workforce and Places for Growth

• DBT is increasing its presence outside London with over 500 roles added in our PfG hubs since 2023. We currently have over 1600 roles outside of London.
• The department aims for at least 35% of its roles to be based outside London by 2030.

Sustainability and Net Zero

• DBT benefits from GPA’s investment in new sustainable buildings and associated carbon reduction.
• The department will report against the updated Greening Government Commitments from April 2025.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• DBT is working internally and with GPA to improve data on office attendance, space utilisation and improved interoperability. 
• Staff satisfaction and workplace experience will be regularly monitored through employee surveys and feedback tools.