So it's official. Nestle will leave Croydon. The town's biggest and highest profile employer is heading to Crawley. The Kit Kat manufacturer leaves in its wake 120,000 sq ft of secondary office space and a massive dent in the Surrey town's confidence.
Croydon council knew that the town's office stock was ageing and old and offered few options for the conglomerate. In fact the council says around a third of the town's stock needs razing. It has been keen to get this outdated stock back into its own hands. Nestle leaving probably wasn't quite what it had in mind.
It has long since feared Nestle would up sticks and go and it's something we have written about extensively in the past. Jon Rouse, the incredibly well respected chief executive at Croydon council, was measured when asked about Nestle's possible departure back in September last year. He said: "Nestlé is important for the borough and we want them to stay. But all global businesses are footloose and you cannot tie your economic policy to one company."
The council can't be accused of thinking small. It even mulled a land acquisition fund in a slash and burn move to stimulate regeneration and rents by removing the drag of the outdated stock. That would be quite ballsy but may be exactly the sort of move the town now needs.
Continue reading Croydon's conundrum after Nestle takes a break.
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