Royal London Asset Management has instructed advisers to determine its future occupancy in Greater Manchester, a move aimed at finding a new 200,000 sq ft base for the firm.
The £84.5bn fund and asset manager has appointed Lambert Smith Hampton to search for out-of-town offices and at the same time invited developers to assess options to redevelop its existing Cheshire site.
The company is looking to increase the number of its staff in the region from 900 to 1,350.
Royal London currently occupies 100,000 sq ft of offices in Wilmslow and has earmarked a site to the east of its Alderley Road campus for a new purpose-built 100,000 sq ft office building, alongside a small housing development.
A redevelopment of the company’s Cheshire site would require the removal of planning restrictions on green belt land that are currently under consultation as part of Cheshire East Council’s local plan.
Royal London’s decision to instruct LSH has been prompted by the council not having acted to remove the restrictions thus far.
Royal London said it was not looking to reduce the size of any of its existing offices in the City of London, Edinburgh, Bath, Glasgow and Dublin.
Outside Manchester city centre, the Salford Quays office market flourished in 2015, achieving a total take-up of 554,000 sq ft, according to CBRE.
Take-up in south Manchester totalled 602,000 sq ft.
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