Known as Chalton House, and located just minutes from the new Junction 11A on the M1, the new corporate HQ and Registered Office will combine Vauxhall’s Sales, Marketing, Communications (including Press Office) and Finance functions with its existing Customer Engagement Centre. Around 470 staff are now based at the new HQ, including 220 who have moved from Griffin House.
Many long-standing Griffin House employees were keen to acknowledge the major contribution that their former ‘home’ had played as part of, not only Vauxhall’s history, but also the motor industry’s.
Originally called ‘AJ-Block’, the Osborne Road premises opened in 1964, when it was declared, ‘…one of the most effective examples of industrial architecture in Britain.’ It was built to house Vauxhall’s Engineering and Styling Centre, which had industry-leading capability to take vehicles from ‘sketch to production’ for more than two decades.
In 1991, the building was refreshed and re-named Griffin House, to accommodate Vauxhall’s head office staff. It was opened by HRH Princess Anne, and while the teams working there have ebbed and flowed over the years, their underlying passion, diligence and passion has contributed to 8.7 million Vauxhall sales, making a total of 14.3 million units sold since the building was first operational.