A £400 million development next to Snow Hill Station is to become the new Birmingham headquarters of global accountancy giant KPMG.

The firm yesterday named Ballymore Properties' £400 million Snow Hill site as the preferred location for its new base.

KPMG plans to relocate its operations from 2 Cornwall Street - where it has been located for around 18 years - to Building One at Snow Hill, which will front on to Col-more Circus.

The move will involve the transfer of around 1,000 staff in three years' time, following completion of the building late in 2008.

KPMG is taking five floors of the proposed new office block, giving it some 120,000 sq ft of space.

The pre-let agreement, which has yet to be finalised, will be the biggest deal of its kind since 2002, when The Royal Bank of Scotland decided to take space at Brindleyplace.

When complete, the redevelopment of Snow Hill Queensway will feature more than 500,000 sq ft of high quality office space in two buildings.

Some 200 residential apartments are also to be built, along with retail and leisure space overlooking a new public plaza in front of St Chad's Cathedral.