She is the highest paid council worker with a salary of £186,000.

And she could have all the trappings that go with it.

Her own panelled office, a large polished desk and a door to keep out unwanted visitors.

But Bristol City Council's chief executive Jan Ormondroyd has turned her back on all of that.

Rather than following her predecessors into an office suite on the second floor of the Council House at College Green, she has moved upstairs.

And into a third-floor, no-frills open-plan office along with her colleagues.

Eight of them, earning up to six-figure salaries, now sit within almost touching distance of each other in a refurbished area where partition walls have been removed and purple carpet tiles laid down.

It is the idea of Mrs Ormondroyd who wanted to bring all the council's top executives together.

Mrs Ormondroyd said: "I've been asked why on earth did I want to give up my own really nice office with my own big room and a big desk.

"My answer is that if we're going to work together in a joined-up way to run quality council services, then it has got to start from the top."

The new management suite has cost almost £122,000.

Mrs Ormondroyd said: "It sounds a lot of money but in the grand scheme of things, we've managed to free up office space for other people to move into."

The open-plan office runs either side of a corridor on the Park Street end of the Council House.

There are three small meeting rooms with a table and six chairs, two large meeting rooms with 12 chairs and a "break-out" area, where staff can meet informally.

Some of the furniture has come from other offices.

Mrs Ormondroyd shares the new suite with deputy chief executive Jon House, who earns up to £140,000 a year; Annie Hudson, who is in charge of the Children, Young People and Skills department and earns up to £127,000 a year; and six other strategic directors, who earn up to £109,000 a year.

These include David Bishop – City Development; Graham Sims – Neighbourhoods; Cathy Morgan – Health and Social Care; Carew Reynell – Resources (acting); Hugh Annett – Director of Public Health and David Trussler – Business Transformation.

Together their salaries come to more than £1 million.

Mrs Ormondroyd said: "You could hardly call this the lap of luxury – it's standard office accommodation and what most people would expect to find in a modern office."

She said the new suite improved productivity because admin staff found it easier to communicate and the new arrangement meant that it was easier to deal with issues such as cover for sickness and time off.

In addition, when staff from other departments visited the suite, it was good for morale to see the council's top executives at work and not hidden away in their own private rooms.

Under Freedom of Information legislation, the council has revealed a breakdown of set-up costs for the new suite.

They include £14,947.81 for new carpeting, a total of £23,445.29 on building, construction and decorating, and the removal of partitioning, £15,364.

Other costs include £6,120 for desks, £5,635 for furniture and £5,950 for storage cupboards and cabinets.