Apple will establish a new UK headquarters at Battersea Power Station, in a coup for the Malaysian company behind the huge building project by the river Thames.
The maker of the iPhone and iPad will lease 500,000 square feet in the former coal-fired power station, which has stood empty for decades. It will move 1,400 employees to its new site from eight offices around the capital in 2021, giving a boost to the area and to a city grappling with its future role following the vote to leave the EU.Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said it was “a further sign that London is open to the biggest brands in the world and the leading city for trade and investment”. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, said it showed that “companies are continuing to invest in Britain’s future”.
Apple’s European headquarters are in Ireland, but it is the latest global technology company to announce a new London building, following Facebook’s announcement late last year of a move to Fitzrovia and Google’s plans to build new offices at King’s Cross.
A consortium of three Malaysian companies — Sime Darby, SP Setia and the state-run Employees’ Provident Fund — is redeveloping the power station and 42 acres around it to include offices, stores and thousands of homes.
But the £8bn development and local area, which is due to be connected to the London Underground from 2020, have struggled with a downturn in the market for the luxury apartments that are the mainstay of the development plans.
Apple will take 40 per cent of the space in the grade II listed 1930s power station, which has been derelict for the past 30 years. Its offices will be in the former boiler house, spread across six floors.
The company said the move was a “great opportunity to have its entire team working and collaborating in one location while supporting the renovation of a neighbourhood rich with history”.
Neil Prime, from the property consultancy JLL, said the offices would “be a pull for other creative companies, people who want to be associated with the Apple brand. The area will certainly benefit.”
Before the financial crisis, large office moves were generally made by banks and other financial services companies. But, in recent years technology groups have taken over and pioneered regeneration in parts of London.
Mr Prime said Google’s move to King’s Cross — where it is moving into an existing building ahead of construction of its new headquarters — had helped to establish a once down-at-heel area as a good office location.
“[Apple’s move] will do a lot for an area that is not renowned for large-scale office employment,” he said.
Apple has not yet published its plans for the interior of the power station, but its office facilities will be one way it hopes to attract staff.
Google’s interim building in King’s Cross will include sleep pods, a running track and free massages for staff.
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