THE £60m office built by Northern Rock two years ago, as a symbol of its status and ambition, was yesterday sold having been vacant since its completion.

The building, at Rainton Bridge, near Sunderland, has been bought by energy provider npower, which will transfer 900 staff to the office.

The sale of the building – which changed hands for an undisclosed sum, and marks the biggest office deal in the region for more than a decade, and in the UK for 18 months – signals the end of a chapter for nationalised lender Northern Rock.

When construction was announced in early 2007, the bank said the offices would be a symbol of its intent.

Matt Ridley, former chairman of Northern Rock, told The Northern Echo in June of that year: “This new facility is all part of our commitment to the region. This will be our second biggest site, behind Gosforth, and will have an important function to play in Northern Rock’s growth in the future.”

However, only months later, the lender was forced to seek emergency funding from the Bank of England, sparking the first run on a bank in more than a century, and was eventually nationalised.

Although Northern Rock said at the time that no decisions had been made about the future of its Rainton Bridge development, yesterday its future was confirmed when npower took over the building.

Npower is taking the 220,000sq ft base to replace one Carliol House, in Newcastle, the lease of which expires next year. The sale was overseen by Atisreal in Newcastle.

The company was due to take over premises at the Baltic Business Quarter in Gateshead, but developer Terrace Hill recently decided not to proceed with the next stage of development given the economic climate.

Julie Jaglowski, npower’s director of residential customer services, said: “Npower has a proud history of working in the North-East. Our aim was to find the right location, building design, use of space and working environment to enable our staff to deliver outstanding customer service.

“This new site will become the template for all future npower developments. We believe the new office accommodation fulfils our needs and we look forward to the time when we can move in.”

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We’re delighted that npower has chosen Sunderland for the site of its new regional headquarters.

“The purchase of this building is one of the largest property deals to take place in the UK in the last 18 months and the city council is pleased to have played a role in making this happen.”