What goes on this this XXL sized, offensive looking building of mystery?

I've known it all my life, and yet dont even know a single person that works there, or knows what it is.

In fact, i've never even seen a door to get into the thing.

What is it?

Originally posted by jackthedog
What goes on this this XXL sized, offensive looking building of mystery?

I've known it all my life, and yet dont even know a single person that works there, or knows what it is.

In fact, i've never even seen a door to get into the thing.

What is it?

The main entrance is at the bottom of Moorfoot.

All I know is its Goverment owned, and that Sheffield Cival Service bar is in there. I know this becuase my brother used to be a cival servant and him and his workmates used to go there for cheap booze.

Jubby

It has been occupied by a number of govt agency's since it was built. Each year they change the names of these depts.

The current occupier is DWP - Dept of Works and Pensions ex DSS

There are some employees that post on here, so maybe they can give more of an update what is in there and what goes on.

Originally posted by mikey
There are some employees that post on here, so maybe they can give more of an update what is in there and what goes on.

Though if they do, they will no doubt have to be killed.

I kind of believe that, such is the mystery surrounding the place.

I work for the DWP, but in Offices just off West Street. The Moorfoot Building (It's official office name) house's many departments. Two of the main Departments deal with Work Permits and Immingaration.

Sheffield is the location for the Head Offices of Jobcentre Plus. There are several buildaings whcih deal with different things. Porterbrook House located between Gordan Lamb and Abby National, just off Ecclesall Road deals with training. On West Street moving up it, you will find Steel City House on your Right onthe corner. Next you will get Mayfield Court on your Rightjust aftyer Takapona's, on the Left you will hit Rockingham House. You will find Kings Court next to the Spar Showroom on Hanover. This deals with testing.

DWP's partners (EDS) are also located in Sheffield. Their Office is located behind The Ward's Brewery Flats, they also rent a couple of floors in The Innovation Centre which is where i am located and is opposite Jessop's Hospital.

Roughly, EDS design and build the software we ask for to be implemented into Jobcentre's, so some Jobcentre Plus bods are located in thier buildings..ie, me

Oh yeah...as i'm not in Moorfoot, do i still have to be killed??

I think you're disclosing a bit too much information there.
Your probably at risk ;)

Is it a monument or something?

I know when West Bromwich Albion were contesting the refusal of a work permit for Artim Sakiri, the hearing was conducted in that very building.

A colleague of mine there 'rubber stamped' Eric Cantona's Work Permit he arrived here

So is it a place where foreign visitors go to acquire their
work-permits?

Seems pretty big just for that doesn't it :)

Well, something fairly important must go on in there to justify the size of it. But no-one seems to know what.

I have been in - I don't want to die just yet :thumbsup:

I did some computer software programming for them about 15 years ago.

They have more outlying building. One being on corner of London Road.

I worked there about 2 years ago for Employment Services (now called Jobcentre Plus..)
About 1000 people work in that building nowadays. DfES (Department for Education and Skills) occupies most of the building (1st-9th Floors) and DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) occupies the 10th floor.

This building is the education departments head office, so you can imagine they do boat loads there!! (yeah right!!)

It was muted a few years ago that they were going to replace it, but that idea died a death I think

I better shut up now, I think there's a sniper in the tree outside...

P.S Sheffield has about the most Head Office civil servants anywhere in the country outside london (Home Office = 1500 people, DWP = 3-4000, DfES = 2000, DTI = 1000)

If around 1,000 people work there, how come no-one ever sees anyone enter or leave the building?

Ther's something odd going on, isn't there?

It's even weirder when you get inside!!

Is it white and full of echoey corridors and Daleks come at you from behind pillars?

I think they had a similar one on Stargate

I've never seen anyone go in or out of that place. The entrance always looks very dark and almost abandoned. Most odd.

This is just too weird!

Everone is saying the same so there just has to be something going on in there.

I have been to the service area,it is manned by security people,cant say what i delivered but it would seem that the work they do is quite important.

As a civil servant who works in that building I can shed some light on the mystery..

The building is occupied by 3 departments, DfES, DWP and the Home Office.. there are around 1500 people in the building at the moment..

Yes, but none of these people have been seen? Ever!

Do you all start work at minight and finish round 4am?

Originally posted by tango2
I have been to the service area,it is manned by security people,cant say what i delivered but it would seem that the work they do is quite important.

Was it a pizza you were delivering by any chance, lol.

I've been in a couple of times through work. You call at reception and state who you want to see (I wanted the library), and the librarian came down to take me up - you are not allowed to wander freely. You go past security and into a lift with an automated voice telling you which floor you are on. Then you are faced with a stream of corridors. Most of it is open plan, but I didn't see many people behind desks.

The library was like any other library. Books, etc.

I heard that the building has its own gym and pub (although I've heard a rumour that the pub is closing).

One of the recognized tests to establish the occupation of a building is to stand outside it and yell "OK come out the games up".
Having tried this several times at the Manpower building without
success it's reasonable to assume that :
1)Nobody is inside
2)The occupants are hearing impaired
3)The workforce are indulging in an inter-office orgy and are oblivious to the external world.
A chap in a pub told me that a tunnel is believed to run beneath
the building and surface at Spearmint Rhino but I think he was
confusing it with Mary Queen of Scots -who would almost certainly have ojected to poledancing in any form.

I cant express how much I was hoping it was used as a UFO examination facility, or a government agent training compex or something really secretive and exciting.

Although there is still an air of mystery, it's looking more boring every minute.

PLEASE! Somebody tell me it's for something really exciting, like something out of Mission Impossible or 007.

I worked in that building (just admin and the like) on the 8th floor for 1 year up until june 2002. I was in the Adult Disadvantage Division (basically, encouraging disabled people into work.) When i started i was in the Department for Education and Employment, which then became the Department for Education and Skills, before our team was moved to the Department for Work and Pensions (requiring new stationery, etc every time!) The building also contains a lot of Work Permits (UK) peeps, a bar, gym, squash courts, library and a car park.

The primary purpose of the building is to waste taxpayers money (honestly, in the year i worked there i saw precisely bugger all achieved at massive cost.) One time, a minister told us we had to use Dreamweaver to create an intranet site for the department. It took over 6 months to procure the software, at massive extra cost to if we'd just bought it down dixons. By the time we got the software i was only to work there a further 2 weeks. I found out 2 months later that the whole intranet scheme had been scrapped (and people wonder where all the extra labour taxes are going!?!?!)

The entrance is at the bottom of moorfoot and you will see lots of people going in and out between 8-9.30am, 12-1.30pm and 4-6pm for obvious reasons.

And yes, the building is almost as ugly inside as out!

I once spoke to someone who worked there who told me his department had had 13 name changes during his time there! The people with the contract to put the signs up outside were on a real winner.

I can't remember them all (neither could he!), but some of the names included:

Manpower Services Commission
Training Agency
Skills Agency
TEED (I think it stood for Training, Enterprise and Employment Department??)


Only another nine names to go ...

And that was ten years ago, so there's probably another thirteen names to add since then

Training Access Point could be one (TAP for short).

OK - Now thinking about it, it isn't. I think its some Job centre training name.