Santander appoints Osborne and Co on £150m Milton Keynes tech hub

Santander has chosen Osborne and Co as its development partner for its new £150m 500,000 sq ft technology headquarters in Milton Keynes. The proposed facility will act as the bank’s UK technology hub and is expected to open in 2022, subject to planning. It is expected to accommodate more than 5,000 employees. Osborne and Co is the new vehicle for property projects in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, developed under the UK property business of Vanguard Real Estate, which comprises the partners of Osborne and Co and Jim Kelly, ex-principal of St Francis Group. The firm is working with Santander to finalise designs for the purpose-built campus. A planning application for the site will be submitted early in 2019, following a consultation period with the local authority and community groups. Nathan Bostock, chief executive of Santander UK, said: “We are excited to be sharing our proposals for this major investment in Milton Keynes, reflecting our long-term commitment to the local area. “We want a workplace that truly reflects our culture and our vision, which is based on innovation and harnessing new technology to make banking simpler and more personal for our customers. “Milton Keynes is already one of the UK’s leading technology hotspots, and with the new MK:U university on the horizon, we believe it is set to become an even greater magnet for technology talent. Our proposed new campus will give us a world-class home in Milton Keynes, which both our colleagues and the local community can take pride in.” Conor Osborne, director at Osborne and Co, said the bank’s new technology hub would “set a benchmark for large-scale developments in this country”. LOM Architecture & Design has been mandated on the development. To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette