Virgin's fillip for Edinburgh's jobs market – and property developers

Published on Tuesday 12 January 2010 20:29

VIRGIN Money has announced plans to hire 30 staff, thereby doubling the number of employees at its headquarters in Edinburgh.

It has taken an additional 3,000sq ft in the Venue Studios building in Calton Road, where it established its headquarters more than a year ago. Nigel Rees, operations manager, said: "Edinburgh as a location is key to our business; the city is a world-class financial centre with an abundance of opportunities for growth."

The expansion marks a boost for the Calton Road area, where ambitious but controversial regeneration plans by developers Mountgrange were put on indefinite hold last year after that company went into administration.

Alex Cliff, a director of Plum Developments, who turned the building from a dilapidated former nightclub to an office building, said: "We are delighted to have worked with Virgin Money again with the letting of the last space at Venue Studios.

"This development has performed better than we expected, both in terms of rents and the quality of tenants that we have attracted, which is particularly pleasing in the current market conditions. Most pleasingly, Plum have transformed a derelict building into a living, breathing urban space – a true reflection of our vision to regenerate this quarter of Edinburgh."

Mark Jones, director at DTZ who acted for Virgin Money, said: "There are two positives in this transaction. Firstly, this is an important deal for Edinburgh, which further cements a growing financial house to the city. Secondly, it demonstrates that, where landlords can supply space which offers value and quality, it will let."

The announcement followed comments by Jayne Anne Gadhia to Scotland on Sunday that Edinburgh was in line for a jobs expansion following the acquisition of Church House Trust, a small bank in England. The deal gives Virgin access to a banking licence which allows it to launch its ambitious expansion plans in the UK retail banking market.

Virgin is thought to be preparing a bid for the so-called "good bank" of Northern Rock, which has 19 billion worth of deposits and 10bn in residential mortgages.

The bank was considered up for sale by government following its formal split in 1 January from the "bad bank", which contains toxic assets and the group's 350 million pension scheme.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson is said to have approached private equity firm Blackstone about backing a renewed bid for Northern Rock. Virgin was a leading contender to acquire the failing Northern Rock before it was taken into public ownership at the start of the banking crisis.