GSK announces plans for new headquarters in London

GSK plc (LSE/NYSE:GSK) has announced its plans to move to its global headquarters to a new building in central London in 2024.

The company is currently based in Brentford, a suburban town in West London.

GSK isn’t the only Big Pharma company to announce a headquarters change. In late November, Sanofi (Nasdaq:SNY) moved its home base to Paris’s 17th arrondissement neighborhood.

The company terms its new six-storied headquarters as the ‘Earnshaw.’

Approximately 3,000 employees will be based at the site. It will have offices for the company’s C-suite. It will also have space for the company’s R&D team, and employees focused on the supply chain, operations, corporate functions and HIV-focused ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture with Pfizer and Shionogi.

The headquarters will be a hybrid working environment.

Construction of the Earnshaw building is slated for completion in 2023.

GSK spun out its consumer division, which it branded Haleon (LON:HLN).

The new site is near GSK’s global R&D hub in Stevenage, which is north of London.

The new site will be close to the King’s Cross rail hub and London’s Knowledge Quarter, a consortium of organizations located near University College London.

The new building will be near the Francis Crick Institute and King’s College London.

The predecessor of GSK, Plough Court Pharmacy, was established in central London in 1715.

In the construction phase of the project, GSK is prioritizing sustainability. It aims to receive a BREEAM Outstanding rating, which indicates compliance with the Building Research Establishment’s criteria concerning construction, energy, water, pollution, transportation and other dimensions.

The company expects the new headquarters Building to help it meet sustainability targets. By 2030, GSK hopes to have a net zero impact on the climate and a net positive impact on nature.

GSK is in the process of selling its existing global headquarters. It plans to provide a progress update on the sale in the future.

GlaxoSmithKline officially rebranded as GSK in May.