The incident occurred at 1.30pm yesterday. An office worker fell to his death in front of staff inside one of Bristol’s biggest office buildings. The man, who is believed to have been in his 50’s, fell three storeys from the top floor at the Axa Centre, in Stoke Gifford, on to the floor of an atrium yesterday afternoon. Shocked workers at the centre, where 3,000 people work, were sent home by bosses after the incident.
Paramedics and police were called immediately but the man, who had not been named by police last night, was declared dead at the scene. It is not clear how the man fell from a balcony outside offices on the third floor of the building, which is the headquarters of the Axa insurance firm. Apparently the man was an employee of finance firm Capita, which manages life insurance policies for Axa. It is to believe he has been signed off from his job with stress and had only recently returned to work.
Workers at the centre said they heard a loud noise followed by “shrill screams”. Bosses immediately told staff to remain in their offices as they went to investigate. As the tragedy became apparent staff were told to keep away from the balconies and main escalators to shield them from the scene in the atrium below. The distinctive offices are built around a glass atrium which houses a canteen and shops.
One Axa employee, who asked not to be named, said she knew something serious was wrong when she heard shouts of alarm. From the second level of the building she heard a thudding sound just before 1.30pm, then a lot of screaming.
She added that two women who had seen the man fall over the balcony of the third floor and hit the bottom level. A confusing situation; people were shocked, in tears and did not really know what to do. Employees were initially told to carry on working and were sent an email telling them not to walk around the balconies, which were guarded by a police community support officer and senior staff.
Then a group email sent at 2.50pm announcing that the Axa Centre was to be closed for the rest of the day because of “an incident”. The worker said: “The email didn’t say exactly what had occurred, but from what people were saying everyone knew what had happened.”
By 3pm the 3,000 staff based at the centre (900 Capita employees and 2,100 Axa workers) were leaving the site, many in tears. Instructions were given to not speak to the press of the situation. Another worker added: “I don’t know who the man was. All I know is that a tragic incident has occurred and police are investigating.”
In March, Capita announced that it would be cutting 300 staff at its offices in Stoke Gifford. But staff yesterday said that there had been no more talk of redundancies recently. A party due to be held at @Bristol that night, to mark the splitting of Axa into two parts, Axa and Friends’ Life, was cancelled after the incident.
Capita spokeswoman Caroline Mooney said: “We are aware of a serious incident at our Bristol operations which resulted in the fatality of a member of Capita staff. “We wish to express the deepest sympathy to his family and colleagues.”
