Europe’s biggest bank confirmed Monday that it would give up the lease on its prominent tower of 40-plus stories in favor of a much smaller building closer to the city center. It follows similar moves by other big companies to get rid of expensive office space in cities around the world. In three years’ time,
\n \n plans to move from 8 Canada Square to Panorama St. Paul’s, a new development currently under construction in the City of London, the UK capital’s historic financial district. In 2016, the bank decided to stay in London, rejecting calls to relocate to Asia, which generates the vast majority of its profits. The bank has long been a mainstay of Canary Wharf, where it occupies 1.1 million square feet of office space. Its new HQ will be just 556,000 square feet.
’s leadership has been vocal about its desire to avoid ending up with unnecessary office space as a result of the changes. In 2021, CEO Noel Quinn said the bank planned to cut its global real estate footprint by 40% “over the next several years” and adopt a hybrid work model, with employees splitting their time between the office and home. Therefore,
was widely expected to give up many of its city center leases expiring in the coming years. Two years ago, Quinn also famously took up hot-desking as the bank did away with its executive floor of swanky private offices in favor of open-plan working for everyone. The lender’s new office is intended to provide employees with flexible workspaces, according to the bank. It did not immediately respond to a request for further details or comment.
is a key tenant in Canary Wharf, and its planned departure raises questions about whether other companies will also think about leaving. Canary Wharf Group, which manages real estate in the area, declined to comment when asked about the matter Monday. Within the financial sector, other banks, including Lloyds\n \n and Standard Chartered\n \n , have announced plans in recent years to dump reams of expensive office space and offer flexible working arrangements to staff.