A GLOBAL pharmaceutical giant is set to relocate to a new grade A office building in Basing View after it secured a deal was struck between the firm and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC).

During a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, 5 December, BDBC council members discussed the proposal for Eli Lilly to move from its current Priestley Road campus to a new 45,000 sq ft office in Basing View.

As part of the proposed deal, Eli Lilly would surrender the lease of the Priestley Road site on the basis that it would move into the 45,000 sq ft new office being put forward, and eventually, owned by the borough council.

Portfolio holder for property and development, councillor John Izett said the deal shows global firms such as Eli Lilly have faith in keeping their bases in Basingstoke.

Cllr Izett said: “It is good that as a borough we are in a position to enable one of our most important and long established international companies to achieve their objective of continuing to employ their staff here in new and modern premises at Basing View.

“This will send out a strong message to the market and shows that Basingstoke is a desirable place for business.”

During the meeting, Cllr Izett said the deal would bring in a net profit of around £600,000 to the borough council and report presented stated that if the plan did not go ahead, the borough could be at risk of losing another major business from the town.

The new office building will also provide ground floor shop or café units for use by both Lilly staff and other people working at Basing View.

Councillor Robert Tate, praised the deal during the meeting saying this could act as a guide for the future regeneration of Basing View.

Cllr Tate said: “This can act as a future template for the council pushing forward for this type of deals for other big employer’s in the future.”

The move is expected to take two years and the council plans to sell the Priestley Road site for regeneration purposes, once the move is completed.

Levelling work on the new office land to allow construction work to begin has secured £4.5 million funding from the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership.

Rebecca Morison, vice-president and general manager at Lilly UK and Northern Europe, said: “I’m delighted that plans for Lilly’s move to a modern, purpose-built office at Basing View have been approved by the council.

“Lilly has a long-term commitment to the Basingstoke area, where we have been based since the 1940s, and the UK remains an important location for Lilly’s global business.”