Diageo to move Norwalk HQ to NYC

Liquor giant Diageo designated New York City for its North American headquarters, with plans to move from Norwalk at the start of next year while maintaining a smaller satellite office in southwestern Connecticut.

Diageo has its main U.S. office at 801 Main Ave. in The Towers complex it shares with GE Capital and where FactSet Research plans to move its own headquarters by the start of next year. The company did not identify immediately any specific municipality it is eyeing for its Fairfield County office going forward, and how many Connecticut workers will become New York City commuters in a year’s time.

Diageo had more than 400 employees in Norwalk at last report, with the office overseeing operations in the United States and Canada that total 2,600 workers. The company is based in London, with brands

including Captain Morgan rum, Casamigos tequila, Guinness beer and Johnnie Walker whiskey to name a few.

“With both Diageo Norwalk and New York office leases due to expire, we have taken the opportunity to review our future workplace locations,” stated Deirdre Mahlan, president of Diageo North America, in an email forwarded by a company spokesperson. “We are committed to continuing to operate in Connecticut. Our Fairfield County office will house a number of teams, including our innovation center of excellence.”

The news breaks the day after new Gov. Ned Lamont took office, replacing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. More than 15 years ago, the state of Connecticut awarded Diageo an incentive package to move its corporate offices to Norwalk from Stamford, but the company failed to maintain a workforce of 700 employees to qualify for the full incentive package.

The office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio did not immediately publish on Thursday any notice of Diageo’s plans, on the same day the mayor touted a “booming economy” in the city during his annual “state of the city” address.

The loss of Diageo represents Norwalk’s biggest corporate defection since Norden Systems closed its former military radar plant in 2012, with the city having held onto several more in the past few years, including Xerox, FactSet and Reed Exhibitions which all relocated within the city limits.

Priceline parent Booking Holdings has expanded in Norwalk with its Kayak subsidiary based in nearby Stamford. General Electric has maintained its GE Capital headquarters in Norwalk where it moved corporate staff not relocating to Boston in its own 2016 headquarters exodus from Fairfield. And in nearby Wilton, General Mills is expanding the home office of Blue Buffalo Pet Products after acquiring the pet food maker last April for $8 billion.

Only this fall, the Reed’s maker of ginger beer and Virgil’s root beer moved its own main office to Norwalk from Los Angeles after hiring two former Diageo managers to become senior executives, with Reed’s CEO citing the city’s proximity to beverage industry talent, with Nestle Waters having its North American headquarters in Stamford.

Diageo indicated the New York City expansion is being driven in part by its own search for an expanded pool of executive and managerial candidates.