In March 2020, the Bishop Woodford House buildings, home to the Diocesan Office and the Retreat and Conference Centre were closed for all but essential staff access.
In July 2020, The Retreat and Conference Centre was closed permanently and the building and part of the site was subsequently rented to a third party. Reduced access to the Diocesan Office was permitted for Ely Diocesan Board of Finance (EDBF) staff only.
At Bishop’s Council in May 2021 a draft paper was presented for consideration by Members of Council which set out the operational requirements for the Ely Diocesan Board of Finance (EDBF). Bishop’s Council subsequently approved the work to seek and secure a new site to develop a Diocesan Office, and throughout late 2021 and 2022 this work progressed.
In May 2023 it was announced that a new office site had been secured (on the Lancaster Way Business Park) and, following a competitive tender process, a builder (MJS Projects) was selected, with construction work commencing in June 2023. Construction work for the new office is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024, and this phase will be followed by the commissioning of the building, it is anticipated that the site will be available in summer of 2024.
Until then, EDBF colleagues and staff will continue to have access to a designated area of the Bishop Woodford House buildings on Barton Road, Ely. The remainder of the old site has now been occupied by a third party.
Further Information
Further information on the project is available on the Q&A pages below.
Interested parties are invited to direct questions to the Project Team via email (officelocation@elydiocese.org).
