Virgin Media UK Opens New Multi-Million Pound HQ in Reading

As expected cable broadband ISP and TV operator Virgin Media UK (Liberty Global) has today opened a brand new 120,000 square feet HQ building in the large town of Reading (Green Park), which will play host to nearly 1,500 staff; the first ones are moving into the site this week.

The new building – 500 Brook Drive (RG2 6UU) – is said to be part of Virgin Media’s “multi-million pound property investment programme,” which claims to be providing thousands of staff with better quality working environments. As such the new facility includes 1,200 desks, breakout areas, meeting rooms, a staff restaurant – complete with “super-sized glitter ball” – and separate barista coffee shop.

As you’d expect the building is designed to support energy efficiency with smart energy-efficient lighting, 10 electric vehicle charging stations and all of the building’s electricity comes from 100% renewable sources. New measures have also been put in place to “dramatically reduce the amount of single-use plastic consumed in the building” (due to be rolled out across the rest of VM’s estate in the New Year – could mean up to 3 million fewer single-use plastic items are used every year).

On top of that the building includes accessibility for those with mobility and hearing problems (step-free access, signage, hearing loops in key spaces etc.).

Bill Castell, VM’s Acting Chief Financial Officer, said:

“We’ve invested millions of pounds in our new HQ to create a state-of-the-art office and bring more than a thousand jobs to Reading.

This comes on top of our recent investment to bring the fastest gigabit broadband speeds to residents across Reading, something we’ll deliver across our entire network by the end of 2021.

This new site provides our people with a next-generation work environment to inspire creativity and help Virgin Media to keep growing and give our customers cutting-edge products and services.”

The move comes only a week after Virgin Media flicked the switch to make their 1Gbps (DOCSIS 3.1) based broadband network upgrade available across most of Reading and many surrounding areas (here).