Partnership House (historically The Tower) is a landmark tower office building in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is located within the Regent Centre business park, and was originally built to act as the main entrance and landmark building within the headquarters complex of the Northern Rock bank, prior to its near-collapse and nationalisation. It lies in the West Gosforth council ward. The building is owned by the local council, Newcastle City Council, whereas the majority of the Regent Centre buildings are owned by Omnia. The council bought the building, initially known as The Tower, for £22 million, and it is currently leased to a number of companies including Astrium Services, Wood Group and Ubisoft Reflections. History The 1960s Northern Rock Tower In the 1960s, a 10-storey tower building was constructed for the newly formed Northern Rock Building Society in Gosforth. This became the focal point of the Fordgate Group's Regent Centre complex in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Northern Rock Building Society was formed in 1965 as a result of the merger of Northern Counties Permanent Building Society (established in 1850) and Rock Building Society (established in 1865). Although not technically a part of Regent Centre, the Northern Rock buildings are adjacent to the complex. During the 1990s, the expanding building society built two new buildings at its Northern Rock House site in Gosforth; the Kielder and Prudhoe buildings. By the late 1990s, along with many other building societies, the Northern Rock Building Society decided to demutualise, and become a bank. After becoming a bank Northern Rock began to grow quickly. This growth in business created the need for more buildings at its headquarters in Gosforth, so two sandstone and glass buildings were erected in the early 2000s. Northern Rock also had customer contact centre operations at both Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland and at its head office. The bank was also developing a site at Rainton Bridge, which was sold to npower. The 2000s tower In 2004 the bank unveiled its plans for a new building to replace the ageing 1960s tower. The planning application was submitted to Newcastle City Council by Red Box Design Group on 13 September 2004, and the decision to grant the application was made on 17 January 2006. The branch of the bank located in the original tower building was closed on 16 July 2005, to allow for the demolition. In early