Car financing company MotoNovo Finance is relocating its Cardiff HQ to a nearby office building. MotoNovo, which employs 600 and is part of South African-owned Aldermore Group, is moving to the adjacent Two Central Square office building where it will occupy 28,000 sq ft.
It is vacating around 70,000 sq ft of space at the One Central Square office building in the centre of Cardiff. Some 40,000 sq ft of space in Two Central Square was brought to market in 2023 by law firm Hugh James, which has a long-term lease on 100,000 sq ft in the building, which is also occupied by Cardiff University’s school of journalism.
After subletting space to financial services firm RBC Brewin Dolphin in 2023, the deal with MotoNovo brings its marketed space to full occupancy. Hugh James appointed Cardiff-based property advisory firms Cooke & Arkwright and Emanuel Jones, as joint marketing agents.
The terms of the sublet have not been disclosed. Hugh James' rent is £25 per sq ft. MotoNovo’s exit from One Central Square provides space for professional services firm PwC to expand its operation in the city. It will relocate from its current One Kingsway offices to its news HQ, where it has agreed to take 40,000 sq ft of space. PwC, which is expected to create several hundred new jobs over the next few years at One Central Square, will move into its new home later this year or early next.
MotoNovo, which is taking the fourth floor and part of the third, will complete its relocation to Two Central Square at the end of next month. Like Hugh James, it will operate a hybrid working model.
Hugh James managing partner, Alun Jones, said: “We are delighted to welcome MotoNovo Finance to our fantastic headquarters at Two Central Square.
“We’re proud of our modern, flexible workspaces, which allow us to balance remote work with the invaluable collaboration that comes from being together in an office environment, and we look forward to welcoming our new neighbours at MotoNovo Finance to their new home.”
The property is owned by Central Square Cardiff (Luxembourg) Holding
Duncan McIntyre, group director for organisational effectiveness at Aldermore Group said:“We’re pleased to announce that we’ve relocated to our new office space in Cardiff, just across the road from our previous location. This move reinforces our long-term commitment to Cardiff as a key hub for our business, our colleagues, and our customers. Investing in this new space will enable us to foster even greater collaboration, innovation, and growth as we continue to build for the future.”
Hugh James, which celebrates its 65th anniversary this year, has a workforce of 700.
The Ƶ car finance market is facing a potential multi-billion-pound claims settlement. Last year the Court of Appeal ruled that car finance providers, where leading players include Lloyds, Investec, Close Brothers and MontoNovo, should have informed customers of how much commission car dealerships were making from selling loans, and compensating them where this did not happen. MotoNovo and Close Brothers will appeal the ruling via the Supreme Court, in April.
However, last month the Ƶ Treasury took the unusual step of intervening in the case saying that while it was important that customers get redress it also wants the motor sector to be able to continue “supporting millions of motorists to own their own vehicles.”
The Treasury cited figures from ratings agency Moody’s that consumer claims could top £30bn, to highlight the potential damage to the car financing sector.
In its accounts for its financial year to the end of June, 2024, in which it posted pre-tax profits of £253.1m, MotoNovo said the practice of discretionary commission arrangements ceased in January 2021. They added: “It should also be noted that not all agreements written by the period (May 2019 to January 2021) under review by the regulator included a discretionary commission arrangement.”
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