Barclays Bank has bought its 1 million-square-foot Canary Wharf headquarters.
In a joint statement Barclays and Canary Wharf said the transaction secures Barclays’ control of its global headquarters beyond the current lease term, which runs to 2039, while providing greater certainty over long-term occupancy costs. The transaction values the acquired 999-year leasehold interest at £750 million.
The duo said in a stock market announcement that the acquisition also supports Barclays’ ongoing investment in its workplace, enabling the creation of "high-quality, flexible space for colleagues as working patterns and business needs continue to evolve". The building provides more than 1 million square feet of workspace and has served as Barclays’ global headquarters since 2005.
CS Venkatakrishnan, group chief executive at Barclays, said in a statement: “One Churchill Place has been our home and global headquarters for more than two decades. It is where our colleagues come together to innovate, build relationships and to serve our customers, clients and communities in the UK and around the world. This acquisition gives us long-term certainty, greater flexibility over our London footprint and reinforces our continued confidence in London as one of the world’s leading global financial centres.”
Shobi Khan, chief executive of CWG, added: “Barclays’ decision to acquire its global headquarters at One Churchill Place is a strong endorsement of both Canary Wharf and London. It underlines the long-term confidence that leading businesses continue to place in the district as a location where they can invest, grow and bring people together.”
A spokesperson for Brookfield, which partly owns the landlord, said: "This transaction reinforces our conviction that high-quality office buildings in the world’s leading gateway cities continue to command significant value. We’ve long believed Canary Wharf has been underestimated, and this sale is clear evidence of that.”
At the end of 2023 the bank announced it was to stay put in its headquarters One Churchill Place until at least 2039 in a major lift to London’s Docklands financial centre, extending the lease by five years.
It also announced it was paying at least £263 million in a separate deal to hand its tenancy of another building on the estate, 10 Cabot Square, back to Canary Wharf Group.
Canary Wharf Group Investment Holdings, the landlord owned by Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund, announced that a subsidiary would amend its lease arrangements with Barclays Bank at 10 Cabot Square and take a sub-lease over these premises. Canary Wharf lodged plans at the end of last year for a reworking of that 650,000-square-foot building.
Today's transaction adds to a strong run of major commitments at the Canary Wharf estate in recent times, including JP Morgan's intending to develop a 3 million-square-foot campus for its occupation.
Canary Wharf Group announced more than 750,000 square feet of office transactions in 2025 to chalk up its best office leasing year in more than a decade. That was crowned in December when it signed American digital payments business Visa for 300,000 square feet of offices on a 15-year term at the landmark One Canada Square.
