PwC celebrates launch of Bradford Assurance Centre

Big Four firm PwC has formally opened its new Bradford office, with a ceremony attended by the business community and local politicians. The office will create approximately 225 jobs in the coming years.

As PwC continues a nationwide reshuffle of its resources to ensure its UK firm is well-positioned to help clients in a period of uncertainty, March saw the firm set a date to install an initial selection of staff at a new hub in Bradford. According to the Big Four giant, it had already recruited 60 staff for the Bradford presence.

The Assurance Centre has now been officially launched for operations, following a ceremony on the 23rd of May. The new 9,000 square foot office in Godwin Street, Bradford, will be staffed by more than 80 recruits from the local area going forward. This figure is projected to rise to 225 in the next few years, however.

More than 120 guests attended the launch event at the centre, including Bradford South MP Judith Cummins, representatives from Bradford Council, Leeds City Region LEP, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Bradford Enterprise Partnership, all of whom PwC stated were integral to its move to the city.

According to PwC, the centre will help it "continue to provide quality and exceptional client service in changing times”, while helping develop skills and boost employability in Bradford, irrespective of background. Bradford is one of the largest cities in the UK, and therefore is a key component to the Government’s Northern Powerhouse project. Helping to support inclusive growth by investing in Bradford will also help PwC to meet its Purpose and Social Mobility agenda.

Will Richardson, PwC’s Leeds Office Senior Partner, said of the launch, “Our new PwC Assurance Centre is one of our key priorities in delivering a best in class proposition as one of the world’s leading professional services firms. Not only will it offer our people the opportunity to work more flexibly and help reduce the travel required, they will also gain great experience working with a breadth of nationally based clients from SMEs to large corporations.”