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Apple prepares back-up plans for UK staff in case Battersea development plans are delayed

Chance Miller | Sep 22 2018 - 7:57 am PT

Back in 2016, it was reported that Apple planned to create a new UK campus in the iconic Battersea Power Station along the Thames. Now, The Times reports that Apple has started to make contingency plans out of fear its new British headquarters could be delayed.

Currently, Apple houses roughly 1,400 employees across eight different sites across London. With its new Battersea Power Station headquarters, however, the company will be able to put everyone at the same location.

Though, today’s report explains that Apple is in “early stage talks” with property managers at its existing locations and other temporary locations around the city in case its plans for its new headquarters are delayed.

The Times says that Apple’s exploration of backup options is being done purely as a “just in case” measure. The Battersea deliver has promised to complete Apple’s latest headquarters by December of 2020, as originally planned.

Property experts described early stage talks about extending existing leases and finding temporary bases as a safeguard that any large company would be expected to take before such a significant move. And significant it is.

“We’ll give them [Apple] that building at the end of 2020,” the chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company, said. “That’s what everyone is very confident about at this stage . . . and then you’ll probably see Apple coming in some time after. Their fit-out is a big job.”

Plans for Apple’s new UK campus in the iconic Battersea Power Station building were first unveiled in 2016. The company will occupy 500,000-square-feet and six floors, housing 1,400 employees. This makes Apple the largest tenant of the building, though it will still share some space with homes, offices, shops, ad leisure facilities.