Old Carillion HQ changes hands in multi-million deal

The former headquarters of Carillion at 84 Salop Street has been bought by city businessman Vik Tandon from the Gupta Group.

The full amount paid for the six-floor building has not been disclosed.

Mr Tandon, who won The Midlands Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019 for demonstrating diversity and inclusion across in the workplace, Tandon has many business interests within Wolverhampton city centre, including media companies, financial and legal services businesses, which combined employs over 450 staff.

"Our businesses have operated within Wolverhampton for over 10 years and we have been expanding and continue to do so," he said.

"However, we have been operating across a number of office locations within the city, which was not perfect, and we have been searching for some time for an ideal location to accommodate our expansion; indeed, we had been considering a number of options including relocating elsewhere in the Midlands.

"I am therefore thrilled that the acquisition of the Salop Street site allows for our businesses to remain within Wolverhampton, expand our companies further and faster, and importantly create more employment opportunities for local people.

"We have massive growth plans for our law firm to make it a national firm over the next year offering consumers with a wide range of legal services including wills and probate, family law, financial mis-selling, and conveyancing.

"Our expansion plans are a firm commitment to real investment in Wolverhampton city centre and we are proud to be part of the city’s regeneration and growth."

The old Carillion HQ provides office accommodation to other companies, including the recent lease to Regus, which will provide flexible serviced office accommodation for local businesses at the site. This leave one floor of flexible offices available for rent.

Three of Mr Tandon’s businesses, including Lloyd James Media Group, Respondez Services and law firm Williams & Dunne are already in the building and UClaim4Me will be moving there in coming weeks from the Mander Centre.

He has plans to turn the first floor of the building into a start-up enterprise centre to help new businesses get off the ground in Wolverhampton.

The old 38,000 sq ft Carillion House, which overlooks the city centre ring road at Chapel Ash, was bought by a pair of property investor brothers Ankush and Arjun Gupta in a multi-million pound deal two years ago after Carillion’s collapse into liquidation in January 2018.

The building was not owned by Carillion. The construction and support services company had leased it for around £440,000 a year since it was bought by an unnamed private investor for £6.165m in January 2016, who then sold it to the Guptas.

The building dates back to 1977, when it was built by Wolverhampton firm AM Griffiths & Sons as the new ‘Staffordshire House’ headquarters for the Staffordshire Building Society.

The Staffs was later taken over by the Portman, which then became part of the Nationwide Building Society, which finally moved out and left the building empty.

Carillion moved in a year later, in 2008 and the building became its official headquarters in seven years later after the lease expired on its former Peal House home.