Scottish Power has received approval to build its new £100m headquarters in Glasgow's city centre.

According to the Evening Times, the firm's UK base will accommodate 1,900 more staff when work is completed in two years' time.

Planning approval to relocate from its current HQ in the city's South Side to the corner of St Vincent Street and India Street was granted earlier this week and work is expected to begin later this year on a 14-storey block. The development will be erected on a derelict site which was previously used as the HQ of Strathclyde Regional Council.

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Scottish Power became Spanish-owned in 2007 and its Chairman, Ignacio Galan, welcomed the news.

He said: "As a global energy company, our operations are focused in the UK, US, Brazil, Mexico and Spain with Scotland and the UK being a key focus for our investment plans.

"We are investing £4 billion between now and 2014 in the UK – representing 40% of our global investments – with two-thirds of this investment planned for Scotland.

"On the back of our long-term investment plans, we are creating 4000 jobs in our networks business alone, which will see our company continue to grow and help to boost the Scottish economy.

"It is vital that we have the office infrastructure in place to support our teams who will be delivering this investment. We are delighted to be committing to remain headquartered in Glasgow, a city that has been home to Scottish Power for decades."

Planning application for the relocation was lodged just before Christmas.

(JP/CD)