Beneficial Bank, a subsidiary of US-based Beneficial Corporation, is looking for over 5,574sq m (60,000sq ft) of purpose-built offices to accomodate 700 staff.
According to Peter Carroll, Beneficial’s vice president: “We are experiencing extraordinary growth and we need to double the size of our back office”. The bank is looking to consolidate operations like marketing, IT, the call centre, the affinity card operation, and financial products, in one building.
Beneficial currently accomodates 350 back office staff in a total of 2,787 sq m (30,000sq ft) in several buildings at Arlington’s Birmingham Business Park. This includes a lease assignment on 1,579.3 sq m (17,000sq ft) in Lakeview House, which the company took two years ago at £139.93 per sq m (£13.00 per sq ft).
An additional 60 staff work at the bank’s 1,625.75sq m (17,500sq ft) headquarters in Beneficial House (formerly Burlington House) in Easthampstead Road, Bracknell.
Carroll said expansion at Birmingham Business Park had been provisionally ruled out because land there was “too expensive”. He also dismissed speculation that the bank is in advanced negotiations with the Welsh Development Agency to locate the centre in Wales.
However, he did say that property management firm Work Place Solutions has begun to investigate possible locations in the UK and Ireland, including the Midlands, for the new office building.
The firm needs to decide on the new location by the end of next March and will appoint agents nearer the time.
EGi News 30/08/96
