Consultancy firm PwC is live with a 300,000-square-foot requirement as part of its London office footprint review, CoStar News understands, as the capital’s accounting giants continue to review space requirements amid changing return to office policies.
The big four accounting firm is working with Cushman & Wakefield on the 250,000- to 300,000-square-foot requirement as it reviews its London office portfolio ahead of an upcoming lease expiry, sources told CoStar News.
New locations being explored include Mitsubishi Estate London and CO-RE’s redevelopment of 72 Upper Ground, the former home of ITV Studios on London's South Bank, sources added. Savills and Cushman & Wakefield are joint leasing agents on the £800 million development, which will include around 640,000 square feet of offices, F&B and new arts and culture space, CoStar News revealed in April 2025.
This would see PwC vacate its long-term offices at 1 Embankment Place, WC2 where it occupies around 303,000 square feet on floors one to nine of the building, on a lease expiring in 2030. Market sources suggested PwC may seek to structure a deal that enables it to consolidate London offices back at the site once a redevelopment is completed.
In May 2024, CoStar reported that PwC had shortlisted Cushman & Wakefield, Savills and CBRE as its potential adviser on stay-or-relocate options for its London office portfolio. The firm occupies almost 900,000 square feet in the capital across 1 Embankment Place and 7 More London Riverside, SE1 in London Bridge where it occupies around 425,000 square feet with a 2035 lease expiry.
PwC made headlines late last year for its decision to track the working locations of some of its 26,000 UK employees in a bid to make sure staff spend at least 60% of their time or the equivalent of three days a week with clients or in the office, a September 2024 report in the Financial Times said.
The new policy includes the use of a traffic light monitoring system to track staff attendance in office via red, amber and green indicators for attendance levels below 40%, 40-60% and above 60% respectively, the FT reported in a separate article earlier this month. The new system includes targets for attendance that will impact performance reviews and bonuses if unmet, the publication added.
Deloitte has also mandated an adviser for a London office review, as the firm forges ahead with its plans to recover space it left during the pandemic, CoStar News understands. The firm has hired CBRE to lead a stay-versus-go analysis on its London headquarters at 1 New Street Square London, EC4 which could include a 500,000- to 600,000-square-foot requirement, market sources told CoStar News.
Deloitte shortlisted CBRE and Savills to undertake a feasibility study in April this year following a pitch from leading advisers.
A spokesperson for Deloitte UK said: “We continuously monitor how we use our office space so we can best respond to the needs of our clients, our people and our ways of working.”
Elsewhere, EY recently chose to extend its lease at 1 More London Place, SE1, until 2040. The Big Four accountancy firm was also reviewing its presence in the London office headquarters ahead of its 25-year lease expiry in 2028. EY also occupies satellite office space at 25 Churchill Place in Canary Wharf.
This follows global professional services firm Accenture’s decision to extend its lease agreement at its London headquarters at 30 Fenchurch Street, EC3. The new lease will see the firm stay put, where it occupies around 238,856 square feet on floors three to seven of the building until 2033.
EY declined to comment. Cushman & Wakefield, PwC, CBRE, Accenture and CO-RE did not respond to request for comment.
(Updated on 27 August to correct details of Upper Ground scheme).