Wickes' Harrow HQ faces an uncertain future

HOME improvement supplier Wickes said it does not know what will happen to its Harrow head office when the lease ends in September next year.

The trade and DIY materials chain, owned by builders merchants Travis Perkins, part owns and part leases Wickes House in Station Road, Harrow, and employs about 250 workers.

The owner of the block told Harrow Council the property will be vacated by the tenants in September 2013 and is therefore being proposed for ground floor uses fronting Station Road and hotel or residential use above and across the remainder of the site.

Agents acting for the landowner lobbied Harrow Council to include the property in a planning document identifying potential development sites for an intensification area known as the Heart of Harrow.

However, a written update for the council’s local development framework advisory panel’s meeting last Monday said it was not appropriate to include the site in the action plan at this time.

A Wickes spokeswoman said: “The lease does expire next year and we are considering our options.”

Source : Ian Proctor - Harrow Observer
www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/local-harrow-news/2012/06/21/future-uncertain-over-building-firm-wickes-harrow-hq-116451-31222216/