CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) has successfully secured a four-year contract (with up to three one-year extensions) with the British Library. The contract will see CBRE provide Facilities Management services for the Library’s entire estate covering the sites in St Pancras, London and Boston Spa, West Yorkshire.

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. The collection currently holds over an estimate of 150 million items including artefacts that span across nearly three thousand years ago. With around three million new items added to the collection each year, the library’s portfolio includes everything from books, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, prints and drawings, maps and manuscripts. Some of the most famous treasures includes the Magna Carta, George Handel’s Messiah and Jane Austen’s personal notebooks.

CBRE has amassed a wealth of experience in delivering services to heritage listed, public spaces, critical, scientific and research institutions, and visitor attraction contracts. The British Library will sit under the Heritage business unit, which specialises in hard facilities management for listed buildings such as the British Museum, National Gallery, The Natural History Museum. CBRE will draw on the best in class solutions and cutting-edge technology drawn across the heritage sector to continue to develop a service delivery that is unique for the library’s portfolio.

Patrick Dixon, Head of Estates and Facilities commented: “‘During the competitive tender process, we felt that CBRE demonstrated their capacity to be the custodian for the Library’s estate, and impressed us with their vision for providing Facilities Management services to the Library in a refreshing and innovative way. We are truly excited for this new chapter with CBRE and are confident that our partnership will see the Library benefitting from world class FM which will help to create an optimal user experience for all visitors and staff.”

Paul Matthews, London Heritage Business Unit Director, CBRE commented: “We feel very privileged to be granted this opportunity to provide our expertise and service delivery for the British Library. We look forward to collaborating with the Library’s estate team for both St Pancras and Boston Spa sites and we will be bringing our most advanced technology and innovation service solutions to the library.”