GREENOCK businessmen Sandy and James Easdale have bought the EE contact centre building in Greenock
The 60,000 sq ft waterfront premises in Greenock have been purchased for a seven-figure sum from a London-based asset manager.
The deal comes shortly before EE vacates the site, with around 450 staff due to move to Glasgow by the end of November.
EE, and its predecessors T-Mobile and one2one, have occupied the building since it was opened as part of the former Scottish Enterprise Development Zone at Cartsburn in 1999.
The office space has ground and mezzanine levels on a six-acre site with a 450-space car park.
The acquisition sees the Easdales’ portfolio increase to £900million across the UK, under their property investment branch, Dalglen.
The Easdales have said said they are willing to work with EE and partners such as Scottish Enterprise, Inverclyde Council and the Scottish and UK Governments to see if the jobs could remain in Greenock.
Sandy Easdale said: “We’re pleased to add the EE building to our portfolio. It occupies a great location within Greenock, easily accessible by car and public transport and enjoys an outstanding view over the Clyde.
“At this stage it seems unlikely that EE will reverse its decision to leave Greenock but we are more than willing to work with government and other partners to see if a solution can be found.
“We would be pleased to talk to the new Labour MP Martin McCluskey to see if he could bring his influence to bear with party leader Anas Sarwar to see if there is a solution.
“Another 450 jobs lost in Greenock would bring the total to 1,200 lost locally over the last 18 months which is a bitter pill to swallow for the region.”
James Easdale said: “One of the key priorities identified in Inverclyde’s economic strategy was to increase capacity to accommodate private sector jobs but if anything, the region cannot even hold on to many of the ones it has currently got.
“We are committed to working with others to see if we can keep EE in the town and if that is not possible, we will want to see if we can find a new tenant for the building who will bring jobs to the area.
“Inverclyde is a great place to work and live and it is vital that politicians play their part in making that case to businesses and investors more vigorously.”
