Cardiff’s office market has expanded materially over the last fifteen years — Capital Quarter, Central Square, Callaghan Square and Cardiff Bay have brought significant new Grade A floor space alongside the historic stock around the Senedd and John Street. Apex is a Bristol-headquartered independent commercial broker (FCA FRN 724952) placing combined office policies, public and employer’s liability, business interruption and the rest of the line-up that a modern Cardiff office business actually needs. Call 0117 325 0027 or read on.
Cardiff’s office market has several distinct districts. Central Square, immediately south of Cardiff Central station, is the headline new development of the last decade — anchored by BBC Wales’s headquarters and now home to a layer of professional-services and financial-services tenants. Capital Quarter, off Tyndall Street, has added a sequence of modern office buildings hosting Public Health Wales, Cardiff & Vale College, Network Rail and a range of corporate occupiers. Callaghan Square and John Street host the central professional-services stack. Cardiff Bay — Mermaid Quay, Pierhead Street and the Roald Dahl Plass area — provides waterfront offices around the Senedd, with the political and policy-services occupier profile that surrounds it.
The professional-services occupier base is the largest by employment — solicitors, accountants, surveyors, recruitment, management consultancies, marketing agencies and a strong financial-services layer. Cardiff hosts the head offices of Admiral Group, Confused.com (Penarth Road area), Principality Building Society and a range of insurance, claims-management and challenger-financial-services firms. The Welsh Government’s office occupancy (Cathays Park, Cardiff Bay, multiple satellite sites) generates a wider supplier ecosystem of policy consultancies, training providers and advisory firms.
The smaller-business and creative-industries office layer occupies older buildings around Cathays, Roath, the Womanby Street area and Tramshed Tech, with a meaningful co-working and serviced-office presence. The Cardiff University precinct at Cathays Park brings a research-and-consultancy office layer that links back to the wider tech and innovation ecosystem.
Cardiff office exposures cover the standard set with several city-specific overlays. Flood risk in parts of Cardiff Bay and the lower-lying eastern districts matters for ground-floor offices. The 20mph default urban speed limit (Wales-wide from September 2023) has changed staff commuting and motor exposure patterns. Welsh-language documentation requirements for any firm holding Welsh Government contracts are a routine consideration. Public-transport mode share has been increasing and the city’s car-parking economics have changed accordingly.
Apex’s typical Cardiff office client sits between 5 and 80 staff at a single Cardiff office, with the cover requirement scaling with headcount, premises value and any specific advisory or professional exposure.
The core office line-up usually starts with a combined office policy — building cover where the firm owns or has an interest in the property, contents, computer equipment, business interruption, money, employer’s liability, public liability and basic cyber. The combined product suits most office-based businesses because the underwriting takes a whole-business view.
Public liability at £5m or £10m is the working position. Employer’s liability at £10m statutory minimum is compulsory wherever there are PAYE staff.
Business interruption for Cardiff office firms is most often driven by denial of access — a fire-alarm event, a serious incident in the building, a flood event in Cardiff Bay or the lower-lying districts, or a building-systems failure. Indemnity period should reflect a realistic worst case (usually 12 to 24 months). Communicable-disease exclusions in modern wordings are now standard.
Money cover protects cash and electronic-transfer exposures. Computer and office contents cover is straightforward. Cyber is now standard on most combined office policies at a basic level; for firms with material data exposures, a standalone cyber policy is the better choice. For Cardiff firms holding Welsh Government contracts, the contractual cyber and data-protection requirements often need a specifically-built cover position.
Key cover protects against lock-replacement costs. Business legal protection is useful for contract disputes, debt recovery and employment matters. Motor cover comes in where directors or staff use their own vehicles for business. Travel cover matters where staff commute across the M4 corridor or visit clients across Wales and the South West.
For Cardiff office firms in professional services (law, accountancy, surveying, consultancy, financial services), professional indemnity is a separate and necessary cover — the office policy does not pick up advice-related claims.
More detail on our office proposition: /commercial/office/
Cardiff is roughly 55 to 70 minutes from our Queen Charlotte Street office in Bristol along the M4 over the Prince of Wales Bridge. For Cardiff office firms that prefer in-person meetings — renewal reviews, claims discussions, lease-and-insurance reviews when moving premises — we will travel for the meetings that matter, and Teams or phone is fine for the rest. We do not run a high-volume call-centre model; you deal with a named broker who knows the file.
We work with office managers, finance leads and directors on the renewal cycle and on the insurance pieces that come up around premises moves, headcount growth, public-sector contract bidding and the start-and-end of co-working arrangements. We will be straight about the gaps.
Apex does not have offices outside Bristol. We serve Cardiff office firms directly from Queen Charlotte Street.
Call 0117 325 0027 or email the team. Tell us about your premises, staff numbers, computer and equipment values, and whether you give professional advice or hold public-sector contracts. We will come back with options and clear commentary on the gaps.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited, FCA FRN 724952, Companies House 07014570. Trading address: QCS, 53 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol BS1 4HQ. Independent commercial insurance brokers serving the South West of England and South Wales.
Apex Insurance Brokers serves UK professional services firms and commercial businesses. Call 0117 325 0027, email hello@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk, or request a quotation.
Get a quote