Royal London outgrowing its Wilmslow site

Mutual life, pensions and investment company, Royal London, is outgrowing its current Wilmslow site and seeking alternative accommodation in the region.

A statement from the company reads: “Following a period of rapid growth and with plans for future expansion, Royal London is looking at location options for the business.”

Royal London owns a site to the east of the campus which it has earmarked for office expansion, however the use of the plot for commercial purposes is yet to be confirmed due to the ongoing examination into Cheshire East’s local plan.

In March 2015 Royal London announced it wanted to increase staff numbers at its Wilmslow site from 900 to 1,350. A statement from Jerry Toher, head of Royal London consumer division, said that in time the company planned to grow its number of employees by 50%.

Neil Kilshaw, head of procurement and facilities at Royal London, said: “At our Wilmslow site we have recognised for some time that space is a real issue. With an ageing property we are restricted in both maintaining existing and creating new working environments, without undertaking a major refurbishment. We’ve already relocated our some of our people to Alderley House on the campus as we have run out of space in the main Royal London House office. Taking into consideration our planned growth over the next few years, it’s clear we’re going to need more space soon.

“One of the options open to Royal London would be to develop new purpose-built offices on the adjoining land that we own to the east of the current site. However, delivery of this option will require Cheshire East Council to remove planning restrictions on the land as a matter of urgency.

“As uncertainty remains around the leading location option, Royal London is also looking at other development sites near to Wilmslow.”

Royal London has appointed Lambert Smith Hampton to advise on alternative location options, if Cheshire East Council is unable to remove planning restrictions limiting expansion.