On the surface McLaren is best known for its historic Formula 1 team that still races today, and its more recent 10-year effort building supercars. However, the McLaren Group also encompasses divisions such as McLaren Applied Technologies that design advance engineering solutions for many applications all over the world. A perfect storm of COVID-19 and other factors has lead McLaren on a search for cashflow, something that will result in the sale of its headquarters in Woking.
The McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) is best described as a wonderful fusion of NASA and Disneyland. This space age building situated on a lake may appear like a James Bond villain’s lair, but inside it is an amazing space with floor to ceiling glass. Modern overhead walkways overlook legendary racers of the past, each meticulously maintained and proudly preserved. You’ll find race bays where today’s F1 cars are constructed, design offices for motorsport and road cars, a wind tunnel, McLaren Production Centre, not to mention race control. A little-known fact is that the MTC lake actually serves to cool the wind tunnel when in operation.
McLaren plans to lease back the building from its new owners in order to continue operating from Woking as it does today. A few months ago McLaren, along with many other car manufacturers, made redundancies to the tune of 1,200 employees. Slow global car sales certainly won’t be helping McLaren at the moment, but the company is said to have a solid plan for the future after restructuring. It has already taken a £150 million loan from the National Bank of Bahrain to help improve cashflow.
McLaren are capable of creating supercars to rival Ferrari, championship winning F1 cars and some of the most advanced tech from anywhere in the world. We hope to see the company return to prosperity in the very near future.
Are you looking to own what could easily pass as Blofeld’s home residence? Do you have £200 million+ at your disposal? If so, maybe give McLaren a call.
Keyword: McLaren will sell HQ to raise cash