Google strikes £700-million deal to build new British office
18 Jan 2013
Google has completed a £700-million deal to build a new British headquarters at Kings Cross in London.
In one of the biggest commercial property deals in the UK, the US technology giant would build a 1 million sq ft building to house its British operation.
The new headquarters, built on a 2.4-acre site and designed by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, would see workers relocate from Google's offices in Victoria and Holborn.
The news of the deal, first broken by The Sunday Telegraph, comes as a major coup for the site's owner King's Cross Central, as also for the wider economy as Google signaled a major vote of confidence in Britain.
Matt Brittin, Google's vice president for Northern and Central Europe, said it was a big investment by the company, which was committing further to the UK, where computing and the web were invented. He added it was good news for Google.
The building would be seven- to 11-storey high, and construction was expected to start later this year, with completion scheduled for 2016. Property group Argent would be the developer for the building the site for which had been secured through a 999-year lease.