SCOTTISHPOWER is to move 1500 workers into a new HQ in the centre of Glasgow.

The 14-storey building will cost more than £100million and is to be built on the site of the old Strathclyde Regional Council headquarters at the corner of St Vincent Street and India Street.

The go-ahead was given by directors yesterday and underlines the utility giant's commitment to Glasgow after the firm became Spanish-owned five years ago.

Work on the 220,000 sq ft development will begin next year. The new headquarters will be operational in 2015 and, with a workforce of 1500, it will be the city's biggest single occupier office.

The site had been previously earmarked for a skyscraper – the biggest in Scotland – until the developers behind the ambitious scheme went bust.

ScottishPower is to take out a long term lease on the new building. London-based property developer and investor Helical Bar Plc, and its Scottish partner Dawn Developments, have been selected as the preferred builder following a competitive tendering process.

Ignacio Galan, chairman of the utility company, which is currently based Cathcart, said: "The energy sector in Scotland and across the UK is one that can help to boost the economy and offer highly skilled employment for thousands of people. Our plans in the UK in the coming years require an office complex that is fit for purpose to deliver and manage these investments.

"Following the integration between Iberdrola and ScottishPower in 2007, we have invested £4billion in the UK and made a commitment that Glasgow would remain the central location for our company in the UK.

"This new development will ensure Glasgow remains home to ScottishPower's UK headquarters for the long term and will be a hub for delivering the £10bn of planned investment over the coming years.

"In Networks, we have regulatory stability guaranteeing sufficient and predictable returns for our investments that will total more than £6bn in the next few years and enable the most important upgrades to the electricity network in more than half a century."

ScottishPower will close sites at Cathcart, Yoker and Atlantic Quay, and another in Falkirk, with all staff moving to the new HQ.

Chief Corporate Officer Keith Anderson added: "We currently have an ageing office portfolio that is no longer suitable to match the growth in our business, particularly in renewable energy, engineering, traditional generation and expanded customer offering.

"Our new office will bring together many Scottish Power people to be located in a single central site."

gordon.thomson@eveningtimes.co.uk