Nestlé sets 2014 deadline with Croydon Council to find new HQ site

The food giant employs around 1,000 people at its St. George’s House HQ – around one seventh of its UK workforce – and has always declined to comment on rumours of a possible move away from the borough.
However, in a statement released to FoodManufacture.co.uk Nestlé said it had been “forced into reviewing other options outside Croydon”, although it had “no concrete plans to relocate in the short term.”
Deteriorating environment
The statement continued: "Nestlé has been based in Croydon since 1965 and over recent years it has become increasingly clear that our current offices and the deteriorating environment around them do not provide a suitable base for our business or our employees in the medium term.
"This coupled with increasing maintenance costs has meant that with Croydon Council we have been reviewing our options to build a new head office in the area.
“Unfortunately the council to date has not been able to identify potential alternative locations that are cost-effective.”
Council response
Croydon Council acknowledged that Nestlé's existing HQ was not “fit for purpose” but said it was also aware of the potential impact on the local economy and jobs were the company to move away from the area.
But she stressed: “Within the constraints of Croydon’s dense urban centre we are doing everything we can to identify a building opportunity that will meet both its [Nestlé’s] specification and deadline of 2014.”