The Guinness brewery site in Park Royal, London, has been chosen as the new home for the sales and marketing operations of Guinness UDV Great Britain. The decision means that UDV's UK headquarters in Harlow, Essex, will close by April 2002, and most of its operations will transfer to Park Royal by June. A new office complex is being built at Park Royal and should be ready by the autumn of 2002. Guinness UDV said 90 people would be based in Harlow until 2002. The drinks company said it was hard to say how many redundancies would result from the relocation, but hoped most people would switch to the new HQ. Don Goulding, md of the British arm of Guinness UDV, said: "In July Diageo announced the integration of Guinness and UDV to create a single, global drinks business. The location of our British base is obviously key if we are to fully realise the opportunities presented by the combined business. "This means we must take the best long term decisions for the company as a whole ­ even when that involves difficult choices." He added: "We need a location that is large enough to accommodate the company in one building and at the same time is easily accessible for our customers and fieldforce." {{NEWS }}

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