Client story

New Global HQ for Diageo

Premium drinks company consolidates its London offices into new single HQ to offer more efficient, cutting-edge workspace.

Location

16 Great Marlborough Street, Soho W1

Size

105,000 sq ft

Ambition

Relocating a global brand’s HQ is always a complex and high-profile task. Premium drinks company, Diageo PLC, wanted to consolidate its London-based operations and Global HQ under one roof, to create a more effective and desirable place to work for its 900-strong London team.

This was a highly confidential project, which required us to consider staff, customer and competitor sensitivities and work to a detailed brief to deliver the right solution for a major global brand.

The challenge was to find a building that met our client’s exacting requirements in an under-supplied market, with strong competition for space from other occupiers.

A very high level of professional behavior was demonstrated throughout the project. The team spent significant time understanding Diageo's business drivers and the wider business. JLL responded quickly to any changes in the objectives throughout the project and very strong levels of collaboration were shown.

Peter Short, European Head of Property
How we worked together

We worked extremely closely with our client to find the right fit. Our London tenant representation team, led a three-year search of central London’s office market.

Our team had to identify an off-market opportunity still occupied by an existing tenant to meet the brief, while keeping the details confidential.

We needed to work quickly. So, our PDS team worked closely with the owner and his professional team to appraise and agree a specification and design for the refurbishment of the building, obtain planning permission for an additional floor, and plan the most efficient and sustainable way for the parties to work together and undertake the major refurbishment and tenants extensive fitting out works onsite simultaneously - for everyone’s benefit.

Together, we looked at more than 80 buildings and undertook presentations on over 40, eventually securing 16 Great Marlborough Street, Soho W1, which is owned by Lazari Investments. The move will enable Diageo to reduce its current combined 200,000 sq ft footprint to a more efficient 105,000 sq ft. It also puts Diageo in a location that is convenient for its customers.

Diageo will move from its current headquarter office in Park Royal, NW10 to its new Soho base in Spring 2021, following a major refurbishment and fit-out project, which we are leading. In keeping with the company’s ambition to become one of the most inclusive employers in the world, Diageo’s employees will be involved in the design of their new workspace, creating a modern, hi-tech work environment that offers meeting spaces and breakout areas to encourage teams to collaborate.

The new HQ also offers an immersive customer experience, with the chance to learn more about the brand and how its iconic drinks are created. The public will also be able to purchase Diageo’s famous brands.

Resolution

Our strategy of offering a multi-team approach paid off. We worked across multiple occupier business lines including transaction management, financial modelling and scenario planning, business location consulting, technical due diligence, project management, fit-out procurement, cost management, and planning.

We have also helped drive significant value – achieving very attractive terms and kept the deal off market and out of the press.

The result? Our project management team are delivering an innovative workplace which is fit for a global HQ of a premium brand.

Andrew Barnes, Head of Central London tenant representation at JLL, said: "Identifying a new HQ for a premium global brand like Diageo required the team to utilise the full depth of our knowledge and understanding of all the facets of the capital's office market - no stone in London was left unturned with a challenging brief. The search process utilised the multi-disciplined JLL occupier team throughout to make this project a huge success for the client and JLL and get the transaction over the line.”