The Vodafone World Headquarters is the main headquarters of Vodafone within the UK.

History

In 1999, Vodafone became the world's largest mobile telecommunications company, and the UK's third-largest public company. Vodafone decided to move to the site in 1997. In April 1999, the local council was going to refuse outline planning permission for Vodafone to build its headquarters on the site as it was a greenfield development. But, the council planning committee decided on Tuesday 27 April 1999 not to refuse, as Vodafone had threatened to leave the area altogether, and the council wanted the 3,000 jobs and had acknowledged long-term financial generosity given to local sport clubs and charities by the company. The decision was passed by 10 Liberal Democrat councillors on

West Berkshire Council West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. West Berkshire is divided into 30 wards, electing 52 c ...

voting with the Conservative group. The Liberal Democrats had asked Vodafone to include a £5m housing proposal, which Vodafone refused. The Liberal Democrat council leader resigned after the decision, but was later persuaded to stay. The land was owned by Genevieve Fairhurst, the wife of Conservative MEP

Graham Mather Graham Christopher Spencer Mather CBE (born 23 October 1954, Preston) is a British former Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Mather was educated at Hutton Grammar School and New College, Oxford. While there, he became an officer in the O ...

. West Berkshire Council has been Conservative-controlled since 2006. The site received full planning permission in early April 2000, and construction began soon after. At the time of opening, Vodafone was the largest mobile phone company in the world. The site would be called the Vodafone World Headquarters. The site flooded on 20 July 2007. The global headquarters was moved to One Kingdom Street in west London in October 2009, having been built in December 2008.

Construction

The £160m whole contract was awarded in mid-April 2000. The construction itself cost £80m. There were seven buildings connected by tension fabric canopies, built by Architen of Chepstow. The seven buildings have around 9,000 square metres each.

Visits

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the site on Friday 14 November 2008. She met

Guy Laurence Jonathan Guy Laurence (born 23 November 1961) is an English businessman, who is currently the Chief Executive of Premier League club Chelsea. He has previously served as Chief Executive of Vodafone UK, and most recently President and CEO of Roger ...

, the head of

Vodafone UK Vodafone UK is a British telecommunications services provider, and a part of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's second-largest mobile phone company. Vodafone is the third-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 16.9 million s ...

. The Prime Minister visited the site at 2.30pm on Thursday 3 April 2014; he had been to Manchester and Birmingham on the same day.

Structure

The site had around 3,000 staff, situated on the

M4 corridor The M4 corridor is an area in the United Kingdom adjacent to the M4 motorway, which runs from London to South Wales. It is a major high-technology hub. Important cities and towns linked by the M4 include (from east to west) London, Slough, Brackne ...

. There are seven cafes and a restaurant. There is an on-site full-time doctor. Nearby to the south is Trinity School.

Research

All of Vodafone's telecommunications research for the UK takes place on the site. Vodafone have a digital hub in central London, employing 1000 staff.

Network Operations Centre

The NOC monitors the national and international demand on the Vodafone UK network. It has four full-time guides to show visitors around the NOC. A screen can show every text and voice call made across the Vodafone UK network.''Times'' Monday 11 July 2011, page 41

References

External links

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Vodafone UK sites
{{Telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Berkshire Economy of Berkshire Information technology company headquarters in the United Kingdom Mobile phone industry in the United Kingdom Office buildings completed in 2003 Telecommunications company headquarters in the United Kingdom Tensile membrane structures Vodafone buildings and structures West Berkshire District