GE Capital is set to launch a 250,000 sq ft (23,225 sq m) office requirement in the Thames Valley.
The technology and services company, worth more than $500bn, is drawing up plans to buy or lease more than 250,000 sq ft (23,225 sq m) as part of a rationalisation and co-location programme.
The US giant’s corporate adviser, Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, is listing options for a number of GE Capital and subsidiary offices in the South East. A member of GE Capital’s international board is directing the operation.
The news follows last week’s decision by oil giant ExxonMobil to consolidate its central London and Leatherhead offices into a single 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m) site in the Thames Valley.
CWHB’s head of office and industrial agency, Adrian Hill, said: “I am involved in a review of GE’s mid- to long- term property requirements. This is currently at a relatively early stage.”
London and the South East are home to the European HQs of subsidiaries including GE European Equipment Finance, GE Structured Finance Group, GE Equity, GE Insurance and broadcaster CNBC Europe.
The move could also incorporate GE Aircraft Engines’ site at Sovereign Court, Sipson Road in West Drayton, near Heathrow, and GE Capital Rail’s office at Linden House, 153-155 Mason’s Hill in Bromley, Kent.
Another source said: “No move is expected from GE until 2006. The extent of any rationalisation and co-location is not yet known, and there will be plenty of discussion before a requirement is launched.”
GE Capital has already been in contact with a select number of developers with space in the Thames Valley.
CWHB’s Marketwatch Thames Valley report for the fourth quarter of 2003 saw availability fall for the second quarter running, after 10 consecutive increases in supply.
Grade A office supply fell by 6% to 6.3m sq ft (585,270 sq m), while active demand was up by 9.4%.
Meanwhile, CB Richard Ellis figures showed that the 4.3m sq ft (399,470 sq m) annual take-up was 41% below the long-term average.
However, James Brounger, head of national office agency, said: “The ongoing recovery in US economic activity, accompanied by a revival in corporate expenditure on IT, should fuel a rebound in sentiment among ICT firms.”
References: EGi News 19/01/04
