Work on the Newport city centre Admiral building is almost complete, and staff from the insurance giant's Langstone base are looking forward to moving in next month.

Admiral head of property Huw Llewellyn said: "The construction of the building, Admiral House, is coming along great.

"We’ve accelerated the build programme and we will be beginning to install furniture this week.

"All of the IT and office procurement has been completed. BT has installed the fibre into the building and Newport City Council has been the cornerstone in helping us with all the approvals and permissions to get the ducting and containment completed in plenty of time for our IT connections.

"SDC, the main contractor, and Scarborough Developments have also been outstanding in meeting our strict timelines."

Mr Llewellyn said the existing 500 staff employed in Langstone will be moved in by the end of May. The staff are claims handlers and inbound sales agents.

Admiral chose the city centre site in Queensway, opposite the railway station, to make it easier for staff to get to and from work.

The building, on the site of the former Cambrian Centre, will form part of a redevelopment of the whole site, which will include retails units when complete.

A spokesman for Scarborough Developments, which is the developer for the whole scheme, said Phase 2 of the scheme is starting to be marketed from this month and they are already in discussion with a few prospective tenants.

He said building work would not start until an occupier or occupiers had been signed up.