Partnership House

Partnership House (historically The Tower) is a landmark tower office building in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is located within the Regent Centre business park, and was originally built to act as the main entrance and landmark building within the headquarters complex of the Northern Rock bank, prior to its near-collapse and nationalisation. It lies in the West Gosforth council ward. The building is owned by the local council, Newcastle City Council, whereas the majority of the Regent Centre buildings are owned by Omnia.

The council bought the building, initially known as The Tower, for £22 million, and it is currently leased to a number of companies including Astrium Services, Wood Group and Ubisoft Reflections.[1]

History

The 1960s Northern Rock Tower

In the 1960s, a 10-storey tower building was constructed for the newly formed

Sale to the council and leasing

Newcastle City Council proposed to spend £22 million purchasing the building, and will let it out to another firm, a company set up by the council with support services firm Eaga, on a 25-year lease.[23][24][25][26] A maturity loan over 40 years from the Public Works Loan Board with a predicted interest rate of less than 4.5% will be taken out by the council.[27] The council expect to make money from leasing the building, in excess of the amount that they paid for it. One floor of the building was sub-let back to the council by Eaga (as of 2013 the council has been removed from the building signage).

However, in May 2009, the plans of the Liberal Democrat Council to buy the Tower were thrown into doubt. This was due to Northern Rock deciding to defer their decision to sell the building, as well as opposition from the local Labour Party.[28] On 12 May The Journal newspaper reported that the Northern Rock board had approved the deal, that the Labour opposition had been quelled. This was after a report refuting Labour's claims was put before two scrutiny panels, and that a motion to send the decision back for further discussions was defeated by seven votes to six, at the Civic Centre.[29]

In October 2009 the council completed their purchase of the Tower, and renamed it as Partnership House. As of January 2010 there was around a thousand workers in the offices at Partnership House for the "Real Partnership" - a partnership between the City Council and Eaga.[30] It was officially opened by Peter Mandelson.[31] Eaga was bought by Carillion in April 2011.[32]

The multinational Carillion later found themselves in financial difficulty and Partnership House began to be let to a number of different companies from different industry segments. In January 2013 Astrium Services moved into level 9.[33] In March 2013 Wood Group moved into levels 6 and 7, relocating staff from nearby Northumbria House.[33] In 2013 the NHS logo was added to the building signage. Games studio Ubisoft Reflections has taken 30,000 sq ft over two floors.[34] In May 2016 Cundall moved from the nearby Horsley House into the level 4 of Partnership House.[35]

former names	Northern Rock Tower, The Tower
building type	Offices
cost	£35 million
address	Regent Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
client	Northern Rock
owner	Newcastle City Council
current tenants	Clifford Chance Astrium Services Wood Group Ubisoft Reflections
coordinates	55.0105°N, -1.6256°W
construction start date	2006
completion date	November 2008
inauguration date	October 2009
floor count	10
main contractor	Taylor Woodrow
architecture firm	Red Box Architecture

History

The 1960s Northern Rock Tower

The 2000s tower

After the bank's nationalisation

Sale to the council and leasing

Interior dimensions

Image gallery

External links

References