Quantity surveyor MDA is closing its central London office and moving the staff to its base in Croydon, Surrey.

The move from Portland House, Victoria, is almost complete, with the last of the 150 staff leaving today.

STG, the investment firm that owns 29.75% of MDA, is known to have felt that the Portland offices were unnecessarily expensive.

However, it is also understood that the MDA management agreed that a move was sensible. Director Neil Kenworthy said: “We have always wanted to be all under one roof. Logic said that when the lease ended with Land Securities we should vacate Portland House.”

Kenworthy added: “From a client point of view, the need to have a large London presence has completely changed.”