Pensions giant in £75m office move

S COTLAND’S largest pensions firm has announced a multi- milli on pound e xpansion pl an which includes relocating part of its head office.

Standard Life Investments is moving into a £75million office block being developed at the corner of St Andrew Square in Edinburgh.

The firm will occupy the entire building from 2017 with room for more than 1,000 staff.

The fund manager, which looks after nearly £250billion of assets, has been based in Edinburgh since it was founded in 1825 and will remain headquartered at its main building in George Street.

It is also expanding across the globe with new international offices opening in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Munich, Tokyo, Zurich, Stockholm, Brussels, Milan and Madrid.

Chief executive Keith Skeoch said: ‘The new premises in Edinburgh are just across the road from our existing HQ and will provide our people with the right high quality office environment to foster continued success as we expand our global asset management capability.’

Expansion during the year has included the acquisition in July of Ignis Asset Management. The business is also expanding its London office plus US and Hong Kong hubs.

The new building i n St Andrew Square will be a striking modern complex that will include a replica facade of the 1960s f ormer Scottish Provident headquarters.

Construction work begins early next year and will provide 105,000 sq ft of grade A offices, retail and leisure use in what Keith Dobson, director of Savills, says is the only garden square development in Britain.

The building should be complete at the end of 2016.

Earlier this year, Standard Life warned it could leave Scotl and rather than risk the economic chaos that could result from independence.