Cosmetics giant Estée Lauder Companies is to open a huge office, make-up artist training school and shop complex in Fitzrovia just north of Oxford Street.
The US based group which owns cosmetics brands including MAC and Clinique has signed a new lease for an eight storey building at 1 Fitzroy Place, Mortimer Street for its new UK and Ireland headquarters.
The 144,000 square foot of space will house all its London staff under one roof. Staff are spread across a number of offices including its current HQ in Grosvenor Street. Estée Lauder selected Exemplar and Aviva's Fitzroy Place development for its central location after a wide search across the capital. Experts said rents at the new development at the 3-acre former Middlesex Hospital site were more than £80 a square foot.
Chris Good, Estée Lauder UK and Ireland president, said: "The area has a real buzz. This will enable our brands to come together all under one roof."
He said the location will include training facilities for make-up artists and the ground floor will house shops for its brands that could include permanent stores as well as pop up concepts to "show case brands."
The group will move in by the end of 2015.
Good said the UK and Ireland market has been a "hallmark of strong performance" for the group and it reported retail sales up 12% in the UK in the most recent quarter of the year.
William Lauder, executive chairman said: "Our company first launched in the UK in 1960. Our commitment to this important heritage market is only reaffirmed by this outstanding milestone move to this prestigious location. I am confident that this new space will support our aspirations of continued growth."
