Ice Watch may move to Luxembourg

Ice Watch could settle in Luxembourg after a bid to renovate premises in Belgium was refused planning permission.

The colourful watch brand was refused permission to demolish part of the building it acquired on McAuliffe Square in Bastogne, not far from the Luxembourg border.

“I cannot install a store next to slums,” Ice Watch chief Jean-Pierre Lutgen told Belgian daily L'Avenir, adding: “It is necessary to clean this place up and that requires some demolition work.”

It has been mooted instead that the brand could move its operations to the Knauf shopping centre in Pommerloch, located in Luxembourg and just 15 kilometres from Bastogne.

While Mr Lutgen has not confirmed any such intention to move, he told the newspaper that he did not wish to uproot his team of staff to Marche or Arlon, despite the fact that both places would be able to provide up to 3,500 metres squared of ready-to-use office space.

The plan in Bastogne is reportedly being blocked on the grounds that a proposed car park could create “urban issues.”