Wilmington sells Shoreditch office leasehold

Information, education and networking services provider Wilmington confirmed on Thursday that it exchanged contracts to sell the leasehold interest in its Underwood Street head office premises in Shoreditch, London for £7.3m in cash as part of ‘Project 6th Gear’.

The London-listed firm said completion was expected by the end of June 2017.

At the same time as disposing of its leasehold interest, Wilmington said it was entering into a new 10-year market rate lease for a London head office premises near Aldgate.

It said the new head office space would accommodate Wilmington's London-based businesses while retaining the training facility recently acquired with the acquisition of SWAT Group.

The transactions were expected to be broadly cash neutral over the first five years of the new lease.

Wilmington said the disposed leasehold premises had a book value of £1.5m.

The proceeds of £7.3m before tax, fit out and disposal costs - which it estimated at £3.8m - would be used to initially reduce the group's debt, while providing greater acquisition and investment capacity in line with its stated strategy.

Wilmington said the new building would be operational from 31 December.

“The disposal of our Underwood Street premises is a key milestone for ‘Project 6th Gear’ and a major step in our drive to promote a more unified business,” said chief executive Pedro Ros.

“We are looking forward to occupying our new head office space which will reflect a modern working environment, encourage closer collaboration, and emphasise our core values and culture.”