Nestlé to quit Croydon for Gatwick

06-Jan-2012 - Last updated on 06-Jan-2012 at 14:48 GMT

"An ideal location," is how the firm's UK ceo described its new Gatwick office

After years of speculation, confectionery giant Nestlé has finally confirmed its intention to move its UK head quarters from Croydon, south London to a site near Gatwick airport by the end of this year.

After a fruitless search for new accommodation in Croydon, Nestlé UK is to quit its home of 47 years for No.1 City Place, in a newly-built business park in Crawley, near to Gatwick Airport.

According to a Nestlé statement: “The company has been seeking a new head office in Croydon for several years. However, it has proved very difficult either to redevelop the company’s current offices, or to identify an alternative location that meets its needs.”

Ideal location

Paul Grimwood, Nestlé UK & Ireland chairman and ceo, said: “This move represents an exciting new chapter for Nestlé in the UK. We are investing across the UK to establish our next generation of world class facilities. Our new head office will provide a modern, efficient and attractive workplace for our people, in an ideal location.”

The firm’s 840 office-based employees will be relocated by the end of this year.

Last May, the firm was tipped as a major occupier of the proposed Ruskin Square (Croydon Gateway) development, a £500M project intended to transform a disused nine-acre space in the centre of Croydon.

Crawley is also home to William Reed Business Media, publisher of FoodManufacture.co.uk and sister title Food Manufacture magazine.