Kainos Group PLC on Tuesday said that, whilst plans to develop a new headquarters in Belfast remain in place, the revised design for the building will take up significantly less space on the site, allowing it to sell off some of the land.

The London-based IT provider, which works across the digital services and workday practice sectors, still plans to develop new headquarters at the Bankmore Square site.

However, the new design for the building, which will be 80,000 square-foot and have capacity for 3,000 people, now requires just 50% of the existing site.

Kainos plans to dispose the remainder of the land to Queen’s University, Belfast, which will use it to develop student accommodation.

The company said this announcement will allow it to proceed with the selection of a contractor for the headquarters building’s construction.

Kainos still plans to fund the project using cash on the balance sheet, and this will represent a capital investment of between £27.0 million and £30.0 million.

‘The announcement today is another step towards the development of our new office in Belfast,’ said chief executive officer Brendan Mooney.

‘Our new Bankmore Square development will provide us with a larger, more sustainable office that will bring all our colleagues together in a single location and, at the same time, provide significant capacity for our future growth.’

Kainos shares were trading 2.9% higher at 1,276.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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