Multi-national firm’s move to new £5m building on edge of Warwick is on track

A multi-national group is on track to move into its new £5 million headquarters early next year.

Swiss-owned Geberit is Europe’s largest manufacturer of sanitary ware, with a global presence through its subsidiaries. After being based on Tournament Fields on the outskirts of Warwick for the past seven years, it will now be relocating across the road to new purpose-built offices and showroom.

Managing director Mark Larden said: “We are all very excited about the new building, which we can see from our windows rising up opposite; on track to be opened in January or February next year.

“Everyone is very positive about the move and is excited about the new showroom, which will be state of the art.

“We wanted to stay on Tournament Fields as it’s well-placed for motorways and rail links and well suited to our expansion plans, so this is ideal for us.”

The new premises were secured for Geberit by Leamington-based commercial property consultants ehB Commercial.

Simon Hain, a director of ehB Commercial, said: “We’ve gone full circle really as it was us who found their current headquarters, Geberit House – which we are imminently about to bring to the market – and now their new one.”

Mr Hain said the new headquarters would be a 22,500 sq ft two-storey building – twice the size of Geberit’s current offices.

Geberit recently acquired Twyford, the 150-year-old Staffordshire manufacturer of bathroom fittings, whose staff will be among the 70 employees moving to the new building next year.

Tech firm moves UK base under one roof

INTERNATIONAL technology company Semcon has relocated its UK headquarters from Kineton to Warwick.

The Swedish giant, which was based at Kineton, has moved its 115-strong UK team to a new purpose-built facility on Tournament Fields. Semcon is a global company providing engineering services and product information to help companies develop products in such industries as automotive, life science, telecommunications and energy.

The group has 45 sites on three continents with more than 3,000 employees. Its services include product development, product information, quality, training and methodology development.

Torsten Sundin, Country Manager at Semcon Product Information UK, said: “We had outgrown the facility at Kineton, where we were separated across several buildings. At our new location we are all under one roof, which means greater advantages for our staff in terms of shorter communication paths and a greater opportunity to easily work together.”

The new site will house Semcon’s workshop technical authors, graphic illustrators and animators, method technicians, owners’ information authors and product development engineers, as well as IT, HR, finance and business development.

Nicholas Evans, a director of Leamington commercial property consultants ehB Commercial, which acted for Semcon in acquiring the building, said: “The building has extremely modern facilities and has been customised for even better service.

“It also provides a more efficient workspace for Semcon’s staff and gives us potential to expand in the future with excellent customer service.”