Google announced the purchase of a London office site, where it has been a tenant, for US$1bn (£730mln) and said it will refurbish the offices in the Central Saint Giles development to make it suitable for flexible working.
"We have been privileged to operate in the UK for nearly 20 years, and our purchase of the Central Saint Giles development reflects our continued commitment to the country's growth and success," said Ruth Porat, CFO of Google's parent company Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).
The tech giant said the investment shows its confidence in the future of the office as a workplace.
The restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 mean a large part of the UK population has been working from home on and off for nearly two years. At the moment, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the government has asked people in England to work from home as much as possible.
“We believe that the future of work is flexibility,” said Ronan Harris, vice president and managing director, Google UK & Ireland.
“Whilst the majority of our UK employees want to be on-site some of the time, they also want the flexibility of working from home a couple of days a week. Some of our people will want to be fully remote. Our future UK workplace has room for all of those possibilities.”
Over the next few years, Google will undertake a multi-million pound refit of the Central Saint Giles site to make its offices equipped for the future, including spaces for in-person teamwork, meeting rooms for hybrid working, team pods as well as covered outdoor spaces to allow staff to work in the fresh air.
Google employs 6,400 people in the UK and plans to increase its capacity to 10,000 employees, including its new King’s Cross development in London, which is currently under construction.
The news was welcomed by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
“This investment in jobs from Google is a big vote of confidence in the UK as a world-leading tech hub. It is also proof that this country continues to be one of the most attractive places in the world for leading firms to grow their business,” Sunak said.