FanDuel signs deal for new Scottish base

FANDUEL, the sports entertainment business, has taken space in a Glasgow office building as part of a major expansion drive which will see around 200 staff recruited.

FanDuel co-founder Nigel Eccles. Picture: Malcolm McCurrach

The company, which was founded in Edinburgh five years ago, develops platforms for customers to play fantasy sports games including American football and baseball.

It has secured 8,450sq ft of space on the fifth floor of the new 2 West Regent Street office building in the city centre.

FanDuel had announced its intention to open a second Scottish office, in Glasgow, in December following a record year.

The company now employs 225 staff and has said it sees the potential for its headcount to double across its US and Scotland operations as it looks to recruit more software engineers.

Nigel Eccles, chief executive of Fanduel, said: “We have worked hard to create a culture that inspires great work and promotes a healthy work-life balance and 2 West Regent Street will enable us to do just that in a fast-paced, non-corporate environment.”

According to Shepherd Chartered Surveyors which handled the deal for FanDuel, the letting confirmed that demand for Grade A space in Glasgow is at the strongest level it has been for some years.

Steve Barnett, managing partner at Shepherd Chartered Surveyors, said the critical factor behind the firm’s search for space in Glasgow was that the location of the accommodation offered “exceptional connectivity” with its existing Edinburgh office and accessibility for the hundreds of staff it plans to recruit from in and around greater Glasgow.

“It was important to FanDuel that the accommodation could offer employees a quality, modern and unique working environment to complement its state-of-the-art fit out within its Edinburgh office,” said Barnett.

Shepherd has negotiated a ten-year lease, with a break option at the fifth year, at a headline rent of £23 per sq ft with landlord KW West Regent Street.

Set up five years ago by a group of graduates and entrepreneurs, FanDuel charges players to compete in fantasy leagues across the NFL, NBA, NHL and other US sports. Winners get cash prizes, while the company generates revenues by keeping a cut of the entry fees.

Last month, the business boosted its US workforce by taking on 40 staff from gaming company Zynga. The move will see it set up a new Orlando office, adding to existing US operations in New York and Los Angeles, where the staff from Zynga will be based.

FanDuel now has more than a million paying users. Last year, it closed a major $70 million (£43m) funding round in the US led by Shamrock Capital. That deal also saw private equity firm KKR and NBC Sports put up investment cash.