Tesco banks space at Quorum Business Park

  Supermarket giant Tesco’s burgeoning banking arm has signed for 103,000 sq ft of office space at Grantside Development’s Quorum Business Park, outside Newcastle-upon-Tyne.   Tesco Bank will use the site as a customer service centre at which it hopes to create 1,000 jobs after it moves in during 2010.   It has signed for a 15-year term and, although further details of the deal are undisclosed, Grantside is openly quoting rents of £14.95 per sq ft and £16.95 per sq ft, with five years rent-free available.   Quorum sits within one of North Tyneside’s former enterprise zones, and is currently the scene of the country’s largest speculative development programme, with 450,000 sq ft of new office stock under construction.   Fergus Trim, development director with Quorum Development Partners, said: “We have been investing heavily in the infrastructure and amenities at Quorum and are pleased this is now enticing in major occupiers of the size and quality of Tesco.   “When we relaunched Quorum earlier this year on the back of the new £180m phase of development, a major focus was targeting major PLCs from outside the region.”   Tesco Bank chief executive Benny Higgins said: “Newcastle is the ideal home for our new insurance customer service centre.   “The North East of England has strong experience in customer services and the financial sector, with a well qualified and enthusiastic workforce.   “The city is a great fit for our business and as it develops we will be investing even more in the region over the coming years.”   daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com