Novartis to exit Surrey HQ
Swiss pharma giant Novartis is to relocate its UK head office from Frimley Business Park in Surrey to Stanhope, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo’s White City Place development in west London.
The firm is to initially occupy 54,000 sq ft at the WestWorks building, W12, from March, but has an option to expand by a further 11,000 sq ft and will fully occupy the space by January 2020.
It is understood to have agreed to take the space, which will accommodate around 600 employees, for more than 10 years.
Swiss pharma giant Novartis is to relocate its UK head office from Frimley Business Park in Surrey to Stanhope, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo’s White City Place development in west London.
The firm is to initially occupy 54,000 sq ft at the WestWorks building, W12, from March, but has an option to expand by a further 11,000 sq ft and will fully occupy the space by January 2020.
It is understood to have agreed to take the space, which will accommodate around 600 employees, for more than 10 years.
Rents at White City Place have previously been quoted at between £55 and £65 per sq ft.
Novartis joins fellow life sciences firms Autolus and Synthace at White City Place and the move will put the company next door to Imperial College’s new White City Campus.
David Camp, chief executive at Stanhope, said: “The addition of Novartis to WestWorks shows the growth of science and innovation within White City, the best new neighbourhood in London. With the transformation of White City Place and the development of Imperial College’s new campus, White City has confirmed itself as the destination of choice for emerging and advanced life sciences companies.”
Novartis UK country president Haseeb Ahmad, added: “The nature of healthcare and medicine is changing and as we pivot towards becoming a focused medicines company, powered by digital and data, we want to be closer to our customers and partners, and become better networked in the healthcare and life science ecosystem.
“White City is quickly becoming one of the UK’s life sciences and technology districts, and the ethos of the WestWorks campus complements how we work to deliver on our strategy to reimagine medicine.”
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