The new Nestle offices at 1 City Place in Crawley have been purchased by Legal & General Property.
Located close to Gatwick Airport, the new base of the food giant was bought from RREFF for £39 million.
Nestle UK has agreed a 20-year lease for the former outer
London offices of BT, meaning it will leave its base at St George's House in Croydon.
The organisation required space that was more than 130,000 sq ft in size, something which the Crawley premises offers.
Chairman and chief executive officer of Nestle UK and Ireland Paul Grimwood stated: "This move represents an exciting new chapter for Nestle in the UK. We are investing across the UK to establish our next generation of world-class facilities.
"Our new head office will provide a modern, efficient and attractive workplace for our people, in an ideal location."
Its 840 office-based staff will move to 1 City Place by the end of the year.
City Place is located next to Gatwick Airport, meaning that Nestle UK will be well placed to meet clients travelling from other parts of the UK and abroad, while the Gatwick Express takes 30 minutes to reach London Victoria.
Croydon has been the home of Nestle UK since 1965, but it is believed that the company required larger space and did not find anything in the borough to meet its specifications.
Nestle UK has, for some time, been searching for a new headquarters, after it decided that refurbishing its current offices was not an option.
Leader of Croydon Council Mike Fisher said he was "disappointed" but respected Nestle's decision.
He added extra effort is now required to bolster the commercial property offerings the borough has to offer to attract investors and other organisations.
One way this can be done is to highlight to central government the benefits of relocating civil servants from
central London offices to those in Croydon.
Posted by John Evans
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