Acquisition of 185,000 sq ft new southern headquarters building for SSE to accommodate over 1,900 staff. Our clients acquired new 15 year lease at £33.00 per sq ft. We negotiated a tenant incentive package of over £25 million. This is the largest office transaction in the Thames Valley for over 10 years and the largest in Reading town centre for over 25 years.

Project Background 

• Extensive research brief developed into instructions to acquire 150-200,000 sq ft within short timescales. 
• Strategy had to be developed in order to maximise negotiating position in order to maximise value from transaction. 
• LSH worked hand-in-glove with SSE Property Team to fine tune and fulfil strategy.
• We were additionally tasked to then dispose of their existing Freehold office in Basingstoke.

Client Benefits 

• Sourced suitable quality, office building to allow SSE to relocate their substantial southern UK workforce into an efficient, flexible and modern central office hub. 
• Negotiated financial terms that were well in excess of client’s expectations. This transaction involved a very substantial incentive package. 
• Undertook GIS mapping analysis to understand the impact of move upon staff in terms of travel to work distances and times. 
• Undertook due diligence surveys of the new property. This led to Landlord being asked to undertake some major M&E improvement works. 
• LSH instructed to procure and project manage the client’s fit-out. · Our market profile enabled us to identify the best available solution, whilst maintaining our client’s confidentiality throughout the whole process. This was a very important element of the project as it enabled SSE to complete the acquisition without fuss and the unwanted attention of the media that than can create unwanted HR and business issues