GSK to quit London HQ as firm splits in two

GLAXOSMITHKLINE will leave its London headquarters as part of the break-up of its consumer and pharma divisions.

The drugs giant said it will build a £120m global campus for its consumer healthcare company in Weybridge, Surrey, which will house 1400 employees from 2024.

Staff at GSK’s pharma division will also move following the separation but it has not identified a location.

Its London HQ – GSK House in Brentford – will be put up for sale this month.

The announcement is the latest step towards the demerging of its consumer healthcare company next year which will leave Glaxosmithkline focused on vaccines and pharmaceuticals.

The consumer side is expected to have sales of more than £10bn a year from leading brands such as toothpaste Aquafresh, pain relief pill Advil and nicotine brand Nicorette. The consumer healthcare brands also include antacids Tums, skincare brand Chapstick and toothpaste Sensodyne. Activist investors Elliott Management and Bluebell Capital have challenged the split, arguing GSK should sell the consumer business rather than listing it as a new company.

They have questioned GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley’s ability to lead the science-focused firm given her background as the former head of the consumer goods business and as boss of skincare giant L’Oreal’s Chinese arm, arguing she should reapply for her own job. In July, Elliott criticised years of poor performance of GSK shares and urged it to hire nonexecutive directors with expertise in pharma and consumer healthcare.

And last week Gordon Singer, head of Elliott in London and son of founder Paul Singer, appeared at an investor meeting where he questioned Walmsley’s leadership in front of GSK’s chairman and 50 leading shareholders.

A GSK spokesman said the meeting was a routine part of its engagement with shareholders over the spin-off.

But major GSK investors have publicly backed Walmsley’s leadership, with Royal London, M&G and Jupiter Asset Management supporting her.

Support has also come from rival pharma firm AstraZeneca, with boss Pascal

Soriot saying in August she should stick to her guns. The new consumer healthcare company is yet to be named. Its chief executive said announcing the development of its headquarters was an ‘exciting new beginning’.

Brian McNamara said: ‘This investment in a new cutting-edge campus in the UK will bring together our first-in-class teams as we drive towards our ambitions as the world’s leading consumer healthcare company.’

Existing GSK shareholders will own shares in both the new GSK and the consumer healthcare business when the separation is complete.

GSK House cost £315m to build and was opened in 2002 by then-prime minister Tony Blair.

GSK shares fell 0.4pc, or 6.2p, to 1392.8p.