Barclays ‘searching for new Manchester base’
BARCLAYS has become the latest high street bank to fire up Manchester’s property market with the prospect of a large design-and-build regional headquarters in the city.
According to PropertyWeek.com it has instructed Arup to carry out a search for developers — codenamed Project Green — to propose options for up to two headquarters in the region.
It is understood to be part of Barclays’ plan to consolidate its operations in up to 250,000 sq ft.
Arup issued a confidential request for information in August, seen by Property Week, to a select group of developers, thought to include Ask Developments, Muse and the Co-operative Group.
The document describes the bank as “client green” and expects candidates to come up with proposals for two “state-of-the-art” office spaces in the North West, and one in Maharashtra state, India.
Parties approached are asked whether they would “entertain the transfer and takeover” of the bank’s existing leases, mirroring RBS’s 500,000 sq ft move to Spinningfields in 2005, when Bruntwood took over its liabilities.
The document shows Barclays wants new high-quality space within 24 months, but sources cautioned it was considering several options, and that no decision had been reached. Another source said the bank would likely pick only one office in Manchester, rather than two, and that relocations from London may be under consideration.
The relocation comes five years after Barclaycard pulled the plug on its own planned 83,000 sq ft move to Spinningfields. It is thought Barclays now occupies around 125,000 sq ft of offices in Greater Manchester, including 35,000 sq ft at Spinningfields, in addition to offices in Salford’s Exchange Quay and several other city centre locations.
The document states that each location should “contain office space sufficient to allow flexing between occupancy of 1,000 to 4,000 people”.
Among candidates for the Manchester office are Ask Developments’ First Street, Spinningfields, Argent and Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund’s 1 St Peter’s Square, and the Co-operative Group’s NoMa scheme.
All parties declined to comment.
