K-Group's new main office building, K-kampus, to be built in Kalasatama

KESKO PRESS RELEASE 03.08.2016 AT 10.30 1(2)

K-kampus, the K-Group's new main office building, will be built in Kalasatama, Helsinki. The new, modern workplace of around 1,700 Kesko employees will be completed in spring 2019. The building project will be carried out in cooperation with Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company.

In terms of both location and transport links, K-kampus in Kalasatama, Helsinki, will be excellent for the K-Group employees and its stakeholders alike. The building will be situated next door to the Kalasatama metro stop and the future shopping centre Redi, where also a K-supermarket and a K-Market will be built.

"A more unified K-Group is one of our strategic objectives. K-kampus, to be built in Kalasatama, will bring together nearly all Kesko employees working in different parts of the Greater Helsinki area. It will increase cooperation and make it easier, as well as enable higher efficiency", says Kesko's President and CEO Mikko Helander.

Finland's most modern workplace

K-kampus will have offices on six floors and the building will cover almost the entire block. The office building is designed and will be built using the latest knowledge about multipurpose workspaces.  

The workspaces will cater for different working needs, which is why they may vary from cafe style meeting places to spaces that offer complete silence. They can also be modified as necessary.

On the lowest floor of the building, the K-Group divisions and partners will be able to present their new products to employees and stakeholders. The K-supermarket to open on the grocery trade floor of the Redi shopping centre, and the K-Market to open in connection with the metro stop can be used for introducing the latest innovations to customers.

Employees closely involved in planning

Planning the new K-kampus has begun and the aim is to start building at the turn of the year. The employment effect of the project will be around 1,000 full time equivalents.

People moving to K-kampus are closely included in planning its functionality. In working groups formed to support planning, they can test and comment on, for example, suggestions concerning day-to-day efficiencies, the digital working environment and the flexible new working models of K-kampus.

"All of us K-Group employees work in order to deliver our common customer promise, K - for shopping to be fun. K-kampus, planned and implemented together, will provide unparalleled facilities for this. At the same time, it will be the landmark of the renewed K," says Helander.

Kesko will sell its old head office property in Katajanokka to Varma. The main premises of Kesko and its predecessors, Maakauppiaiden Oy and Kauppiaitten Keskuskunta, have been located on the property since their completion in spring 1940.

K-kampus in brief:

•  Kalasatama, Työpajankatu 12, FI-00580 Helsinki 
•   27,000 floor square meters, six floors
•   Workplace of around 1,700 Kesko employees
•   To be completed in spring 2019
•  Building project to be carried out in cooperation with Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Further information:
President and CEO Mikko Helander will present the plans for K-kampus at Kesko's half year financial report briefing today at 11.30. The briefing will be held at Katajanokka, Helsinki, Ankkurikatu 5, fourth floor.
Lauri Peltola, Senior Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Communications and Stakeholder Relations, tel. +358 105 322 400
K-kampus Project Director Leif Backman, tel. +358 43 824 3460, leif.backman@kesko.fi
An illustration of K-kampus is available on the "Current topics" page of Kesko's material bank at http://aineistopankki.kesko.fi.

The about 45,000 exceptionally nice people of the K-Group work daily to make shopping fun for customers in our stores in the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries, Poland and Russia. We help our more than 1,500 stores serve their customers in the grocery trade, the building and technical trade, and the car trade. We do our work with a big heart while paying attention to society and the environment. We are already the most responsible food retailer in the world and always eager to try out something new. We are doing this to offer good choices both on the shelves of the local stores and online. www.kesko.fi