RNIB and Guide Dogs look for new home after London HQ sale

The Royal National Institute of Blind People is selling its London headquarters, which it shares with the charity Guide Dogs.

The property in Judd Street, London, is to be sold after the RNIB “accepted a strong commercial offer” from property developers Montrose Land and Ashby Capital for its remaining 90-year lease.

Both charities will continue to work in the property for the next two years before moving to different locations in the capital.

RNIB chief executive Matt Stringer said the sale is because the Judd Street property has more space than it requires, which made it “an unrealised asset that can be put to better use for our customers”.

He said: “As part of our ongoing plans to transform RNIB to meet the 21st Century needs of blind and partially sighted people, we have been assessing our office space to ensure it best meets our needs and we are using our resources as effectively as possible.”

He added that the sale of the lease “will fund our future strategy and allow us to develop a more modern, fully-accessible central London office that better meets the needs of our customers and staff”.

Guide Dogs chief executive Tom Wright said: “We’re committed to having a central London hub as part of our strategy to support more people in London with our services.

“We’ll soon begin looking for a new space which meets the needs of our staff, volunteers, dogs in training and is fully accessible for the people we support.”

The RNIB has been resident in the Judd Street property since 2000. It was previously occupied by the Salvation Army.

Last August the RNIB recruited Vision Foundation chair Anna Tylor as its new chair to replace Eleanor Southwood.

Also last year RNIB was the subject following a damning Charity Commission report into safeguarding concerns.

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