GSK has announced plans for a new headquarters for its Consumer Healthcare business which is due to be spun off next year. The group also revealed that it was searching for a new base for its remaining pharmaceuticals and vaccines operation.
The Consumer Healthcare unit (a JV between GSK and Pfizer) is due to be separated by way of a demerger in mid-2022 of at least 80% of GSK’s holding to shareholders. The new company is then expected to attain a listing on the London Stock Exchange and led by current CEO Brian McNamara. The standalone firm will have a global product portfolio which generated annual sales of more than £10bn in 2020. Its brands include Sensodyne, Voltaren, Panadol and Centrum.
The company said yesterday that the Consumer Healthcare global headquarters will be based in a new £120m campus in Weybridge, Surrey. Due to open at the end of 2024, it will be home to around 1,400 staff and house the company’s innovation centre and global support function teams.
Whilst the new site is being built, its Consumer Healthcare teams will leave GSK House in Brentford and move to a temporary headquarters in Weybridge. The area is already home to a GSK oral health R&D site.
McNamara commented: “This investment in a new cutting-edge campus in the UK will bring together our first-in-class teams as we drive towards our ambitions as the world’s leading consumer healthcare company. Today’s announcement is an important step as we prepare for separation, marking an exciting new beginning for New Consumer Healthcare.”
Meanwhile, once the separation is complete, the remaining GSK operation will also move to a new UK headquarters. A spokesperson said the current GSK House would be too spacious for one company.
GSK said it was currently searching for a suitable site in the same area with it expected to remain at its current headquarters until at least the end of 2023.
