The National Cyber Security Centre picked its London HQ building not because it was the best or most cost-efficient location – but because the agency "prioritised image over cost", a Parliamentary committee has said.
NCSC's HQ in the English capital's Nova South development, a glitzy commercial building near Westminster, was procured in breach of GCHQ's own rules on leasing commercial buildings.
Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said in a report that NCSC "ignored warnings" over the cost and suitability of its new base when it set itself in mandarin-friendly Victoria. Rather than picking "a 'tech hub' such as Shoreditch", as recommended by their own consultants, NCSC's founders threw their teddies out of the pram until they got an HQ in the altogether more refined location of Westminster.
"Moreover, as the change in location criterion was driven by the need for the NCSC to be ..
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