Business

PwC plans move to £70m Merchant Square in Belfast’s biggest-ever office deal

Announcing the Merchant Square move are (from left) Cllr Donal Lyons from Belfast City Council, PwC chair Kevin Ellis, PwC director Kieragh Nelson, Gareth Graham from Oakwood Holdings and PwC NI chair Paul Terrington. Photo: Matt Mackey/Press Eye
Announcing the Merchant Square move are (from left) Cllr Donal Lyons from Belfast City Council, PwC chair Kevin Ellis, PwC director Kieragh Nelson, Gareth Graham from Oakwood Holdings and PwC NI chair Paul Terrington. Photo: Matt Mackey/Press Eye Announcing the Merchant Square move are (from left) Cllr Donal Lyons from Belfast City Council, PwC chair Kevin Ellis, PwC director Kieragh Nelson, Gareth Graham from Oakwood Holdings and PwC NI chair Paul Terrington. Photo: Matt Mackey/Press Eye

BUSINESS advice firm PwC is moving 2,000 staff from its existing base to the new £70 million Merchant Square development in what will be Belfast’s biggest-ever private-sector office letting deal.

The global services giant, which currently based in Waterfront Plaza, will become the anchor tenant in Merchant Square, with the relocation to the city centre set to take place in the summer of 2020.

The Merchant Square complex is being developed by Oakland Holdings and straddles the junction of Wellington Place and Upper Queen Street, combining the former Oyster House and Royston House.

When completed, there will be over 200,000 sq feet of grade A office accommodation on nine floors, with space for more than 3,000 people.

PwC in Northern Ireland - the fastest-growing PwC division in UK outside London - is the firm's recognised global centre for technology, digital advisory services and research, and is a major exporter of technology and regulatory advisory services.

It has recruited more than 600 staff on the past 12 months and has doubled local employment numbers to more than 2,000 in the last two years, largely due to the significant growth of Operate, the firm's innovative operational delivery division.

Paul Terrington, Northern Ireland chair and head of UK regions, said: “This move underlines the PwC executive board’s confidence in Northern Ireland as a location and the success of the firm here.

"We will continue to grow in local, national and international markets from Belfast, drawing on the technology skills emerging from our schools, universities and colleges.

“In the past year, PwC invested over £50m in the local economy and our decision to relocate to Merchant Square and concentrate our growth plans in Belfast reinforces our belief in the city’s ability to inspire and support the creativity and aspirations of our people, and to help us attract and retain top talent here.

“We intend to make Merchant Square an accessible and vibrant part of life in the city.”

Gareth Graham for Oakland Holdings said: “Merchant Square will be one of the most striking office buildings ever undertaken in Belfast and will be a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the city centre.

"We undertook the Merchant Square development speculatively, but believed the quality of the offer would be a major advantage, which has proven the case. We're delighted PwC has been secured as our main tenant.”

Taking inspiration from the Frontier development in PwC’s More London office, Merchant Square will incorporate technology-enabled client collaboration and event space.

It will feature a state-of-the-art hub that will provide the infrastructure and environment where visionaries and technology innovators can collaborate, disrupt and create solutions that help clients solve complex problems .

For some long-serving staff at PwC Northern Ireland, the move will be a homecoming. Royston House was the original base for Price Waterhouse, before it merged with Coopers & Lybrand in 1998 and moved to Waterfront Plaza in November 2001.