McLaren ends lease on Woking town centre building

Two floors of the building are temporarily occupied by McLaren Applied

McLaren will end its lease agreement on a Woking town centre building, as the effectively bankrupt borough council begins to sell off assets.

Surrey County Council could take on the freehold and move up to 600 staff into the Victoria Gate building.

It is hoped such sales will help Woking Borough Council's finances, following its effective bankruptcy in June.

While McLaren Technology Holdings still holds the lease, it is no longer using the Chobham Road building.

But two floors of the building are temporarily occupied by by McLaren Applied, a stand-alone company with no direct financial links to McLaren.

The fallout will result in a large windfall for the borough, both in terms of the revenue generated by the sale as well as increased footfall in Woking town centre from the county council staff.

The deal also includes a condition that secures Woking Borough Council an option to occupy the fourth and part of the fifth floors of Victoria Gate but the council would only do this if it proved to be "the most cost effective solution".

The financial details have so far been kept private.

Woking's leader, Councillor Ann-Marie Barker, said the county council's preference was to buy rather than rent the building, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The deal would also see McLaren pay off its leasehold interests.

Ms Barker said: "McLaren moved into this space a little before the lockdown and the Covid period and they've literally found their business model has changed and they don't need all that space anymore."

According to papers presented to the executive committee last week, the deal would also remove "competitive" office space that was "undercutting" the council.

Taking the McLaren building off the market, it said, would benefit other council buildings "by having a greater chance to attract new tenants".

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