Hutchison 3G UK has abandoned plans to acquire a 40,000 sq ft (3,716 sq m) call centre in South Wales that was built by BT but never occupied.
The telecoms giants decision to walk away from the building in Nantgarw, a few miles north of Cardiff, is being blamed on the continuing global slowdown in the telecoms sector.
Speculation in the South Wales market now centres on internet mobile phone seller Phone4You as a possible 400-job replacement for Hutchison 3G.
Hutchison had been considering renting the call centre from an unnamed third party investor that was interested in acquiring the building from BT, probably at a figure close to £6m.
Insiders said that this deal had also been put on the back-burner. An occupier could expect to pay £13.50 per sq ft (£145 per sq m) for the property, while a substantial grant would also be on the table from the Welsh Assembly.
Neither Hutchison nor its adviser, GVA Grimley, would comment.
One Cardiff agent said, “Originally there were some problems with the building itself, but now that this has been solved it would seem Hutchisons decision has been taken for purely business reasons.”
EGi News 21/03/02
