HSBC is to move out of its global headquarters in Canary Wharf after more than two decades to considerably smaller offices in the City of London, in response to post-pandemic hybrid working arrangements and a cost-cutting drive.
The financial services giant, which had up to 8,000 staff at the 45-floor tower at Canada Square during peak times before the pandemic, is to move to the former head office of telecoms company BT near St Paul’s cathedral.
HSBC, which has been based in Canary Wharf since 2002, has been examining its options since launching a review in September and will relocate before its existing lease expires in early 2027.
“We have a preferred option – Panorama St Paul’s, in the City of London,” said HSBC, in an email to staff on Monday. “We will now begin more detailed discussions on a potential lease, with the intention to move in late 2026.
“Panorama offers a modern office environment in the City, well-connected to major transport links and amenities. The building is being designed to promote wellbeing and constructed to best-in-class sustainability standards, using predominantly repurposed materials.”
In 2021, HSBC announced its intention to reduce its office space around the world by nearly 40% post-pandemic to cut costs and respond to increased hybrid working. The lender has more than 60 offices in the UK, with at least 10 in London, according to its annual report.
The new office, which is about half the size of HSBC’s east London base, was vacated by BT in 2019 as part of a multibillion-pound cost saving plan that involved shutting 20 of its 50 offices across the UK.
“HSBC’s decision to return here to the heart of the City of London is a huge vote of confidence for the City,” said Chris Hayward, the policy chair at the City of London Corporation. “This move further solidifies the City’s reputation as a prime destination for financial services firms, offering them unparalleled opportunities.”
HSBC had previously been headquartered in Poultry in the City of London, in offices dubbed the “palace of finance”, which was built in 1930.
The move by the bank, which last September announced it was reducing the space occupied in Canary Wharf by a quarter to reduce costs and cut energy use, leaves the tower’s owners with a major task to replace the long-term tenant in straitened financial conditions.
HSBC tower is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) separately from Canary Wharf Group (CWG), which in turn is co-owned by the QIA and Canadian private equity firm Brookfield. Last month, Brookfield put the UK holiday village chain Center Parcs up for sale with a price tag of £4bn to £5bn.
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CWG has attempted to make the area a more attractive evening destination – hosting arts, music and theatre events – after the pandemic, when great numbers of commuters opted for hybrid working hitting footfall. The group also hopes to attract new tenants to build a life sciences cluster.
“HSBC is showing foresight by using the move to hybrid working to allow it to have a smaller, greener, more flexible headquarters that is more convenient for employees,” said Andrew Mawson, managing director of workplace consultancy AWA, whose clients include the government’s Cabinet Office and accountancy firm BDO.
“The world will become divided between enlightened employers embracing new ways of working to be more efficient and ditch expensive real estate, and the old command and control bosses mandating staff to be in the office the majority of the time whether it makes sense for them or not.”
