Council's £5.2m Accrington Globe Centre deal

LANCASHIRE County Council has bought part of the Globe Centre in Accrington in a £5.2million deal.

Now another 100 office staff will move from Preston in a ‘huge boost’ to the local economy.

The council has just exchanged contracts with Barnfield Construction, which acted on behalf of Globe Enterprises, a joint venture partnership between Barnfield, Hyndburn Council and businessman Stuart Nevison.

The move means the council will transfer staff from its HQ in Bluebell Way, Preston, to its new office base.

Bosses insist it will save taxpayers £600,000 a year in rental costs.

The building is where all calls coming in to the authority are handled.

Most of the county council staff have already moved to the Globe Centre.

The council's customer service centre is now split across two locations.

The remaining customer service centre staff are being relocated to 58-60 Guildhall Street, Preston, a building owned by the county council.

Hundreds of people are employed at the Globe including Contour Homes, Hyndburn Homes, North West Training and Deve-lopment Team, Thomas Cook, NHS, Elevate, and Accrington and Rossendale College’s Graduates Facility.

There are also conference facilities and a restaurant called Traders Brasserie and a hotel and restaurant called Horizons.