B&Q unveils plans for flagship headquarters in Chandler's Ford

About 1,500 staff will be brought together under one roof in a major move by the company to consolidate its operations from several sites scattered around the Southampton and Eastleigh area.

It was three years ago that B&Q was given outline planning permission for the development which involves bulldozing the former Alldays convenience store distribution base in Chestnut Avenue.

Now detailed plans for the office headquarters which involves two three-storey buildings with a glazed link are set to go before Eastleigh planners.

The multi-million pound proposal includes a surface floor area of almost 19,000 square metres and the low energy designed buildings will have extensive rooftop planting to reduce CO2 emissions plus landscaping.

If the plans are given the goahead the company aims to bring all 1,500 staff under one roof by 2011.

The new headquarters will have a merchandising laboratory, training centre, meeting room suites, fitness centre, creche and kitchens, plus parking for 918 cars.

Eastleigh planners have already imposed a series of conditions before B&Q can press ahead with the redevelopment.

They include a new access roundabout in Chestnut Avenue and improvements to the Asda roundabout. There will also be new pedestrian crossings.

B&Q will also be coming up with a traffic-busting initiative with a travel plan to reduce the number of cars travelling to and from its new headquarters.

The planning application is likely to be considered by the Eastleigh Local Area Committee at its meeting on December 9.

In an earlier statement a B&Q spokesperson said: “B&Q is committed to this area and wants to make sure that any building we create as a base is a long-term investment which does not have a negative impact on the environment.

“Our head office supports more than 320 stores around the UK.

Bringing all our departments together will enable us to work together more easily.”