Eli Lilly takes 42,500 sq ft at Bracknell

Drugs giant Eli Lilly has taken all 42,500 sq ft of office space at 8 Arlington Square Bracknell.

The firm is to move the office staff from its UK research centre at Erl Wood in Surrey.

The deal, the biggest in Bracknell since 2013, follows a comprehensive refurbishment by CCLA and Fiducia Property Asset Management which was completed in November 2019.

Eli Lilly, which is due to move its Basingstoke operation to a 45,000 sq ft building at Basing View in 2021, issued the following statement to Thames Tap: “On 15^th October 2019 Lilly announced plans to cease operations at its current UK Research centre, Erl Wood in Surrey, by the end of 2020 and that the majority of staff would move to a different UK location.

“We can confirm we have found a suitable office facility in the local area; The building, 8 Arlington Square West, Bracknell. The new office will be home to the non-lab based work currently undertaken at Erl Wood.

“There are no changes to Lilly’s commercial infrastructure, based in Basingstoke, and the company will retain core clinical and regulatory functions in the UK. There are no plans to consolidate into one UK office.

“The UK affiliate is already committed to moving to a new office in central Basingstoke in 2021, which will continue to be the centre for our UK Hub operations across UK, Ireland and the Nordic countries.”

Hollis Hockley and Colliers International acted for the landlords at Arlington Square and are now marketing 66,500 sq ft, 7 Arlington Square West.

It is undergoing refurbishment and is due for completion around Q4 2020 into what is seen as an undersupplied market.