Questions over office's future as firm set to move

The EG Group was founded 24 years ago by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa

Questions have been raised about the future of a £35m office base in a Lancashire town as a result of a billionaire retail operator's decision to move its operations.

The EG Group, which runs a range of fuel forecourts and previously owned ASDA, currently employs hundreds of staff at the base of its UK operations in Haslingden Road, Blackburn.

The firm, founded 24 years ago by Blackburn brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, has ongoing plans to relocate its central hub to Charlotte, North Carolina, while the Blackburn base is moving to a site in Bolton.

Conservative councillor Paul Marrow said he feared the move could result in the Blackburn office becoming a "white elephant".

A spokesman for EG Group said the move would lead to the recruitment of new staff, as well as retaining existing workers.

He said: "We are moving our European shared service centre from Blackburn to Bolton, Greater Manchester. This will enable us to recruit new and retain existing talented UK colleagues."

However, the spokesman declined to comment when asked if the move could lead to any potential redundancies.

Purpose-built offices

The brothers grew the business from a single petrol station in Bury, Greater Manchester, into a multi-billion-pound business, owning thousands of forecourts across the UK, Europe, North America and Australia, as well as ASDA.

Marrow and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council growth boss Quesir Mahmood were reacting to the announcement in EG Group's second-quarter business update which raised fears about the future of its staff and the future use of its £35m purpose-built offices which opened in 2020.

In 2020, the brothers bought ASDA for £6.8bn, but have since given up their roles with the supermarket chain.

Over the past 15 months, the two brothers have stepped down as EG Group co-chief executives while retaining seats on the board.

Zuber Issa is now focused on his separate EG On The Move business, which bought the group's UK forecourt business for £228m in January.

It remains based at the Blackburn office, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mahmood said: "We are sad to see some parts of the EG business leave the borough.

"For more than two decades, EG Group has grown from its Blackburn roots into a global success story."

Marrow said he was "saddened" by the move to Bolton.

He added: "We need to ensure the current HQ office does not become a white elephant and we can only hope that it can be filled with other businesses and that Blackburn-based staff will be moved to the new offices."