Yahoo Finance Barclays commits to Canary Wharf in rare boost for office district
Barclays has struck a deal to remain at its Canary Wharf headquarters until 2039 in a rare boost for the beleaguered office district.
The British banking giant said on Thursday it had agreed to a five-year lease extension on the 32-storey tower at One Churchill Place, which comes after rival HSBC said in June it would move out of Canary Wharf.
However, as part of separate negotiations, Barclays said it will exit a tenancy at 10 Cabot Square after it agreed to pay the Canary Wharf Group an exit fee of at least £260m.
The lender confirmed it will give up its second Docklands building in a bid to cut costs.
Barclays had been subletting the 500,000 sq ft office since April.
Alastair Blackwell, chief operating officer at Barclays execution services said: “Canary Wharf is a fantastic place to work and our five-year lease extension at One Churchill Place is a testament to that.”
This announcement will be welcomed by the Canary Wharf Group, which has been hit by a string of high-profile exits over the past year.
HSBC confirmed in June that it will ditch the 45-storey skyscraper at 8 Canada Square – dubbed the “Tower of Doom – at its lease-end in 2027.
Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance is also preparing to swap Canary Wharf for the City in 2028.
Collapsed lender Credit Suisse is also leaving after its integration into UBS, which is based in the Square Mile.
Office moves have been driven by a rise in hybrid working in recent years, which has reduced demand for high-end office space.
The Canary Wharf Group, which owns the majority of buildings, recently secured a £400m cash injection to shore up its balance sheet.
The Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Asset Management, both of which are shareholders in the Canary Wharf Group, piled cash into the business to help alleviate its £1.4bn debt pile.
Due to rising vacancy rates, Canary Wharf has sought to reinvent itself as a neighbourhood with more residential, leisure and retail space.
Earlier this year, Canary Wharf Group gained planning consent to build Europe’s largest life sciences tower, which will be spread across 23 storeys.
