Canary Wharf is on the brink of overtaking the City as London’s financial centre within months, according to new figures.
Thirty years ago London’s Docklands epitomised inner-city decline, but Canary Wharf is poised to become the capital’s biggest banking employer in July when JP Morgan moves 8,000 staff to the former headquarters of collapsed Lehman Brothers.
JP Morgan’s exodus will take the number of bankers employed at the Wharf to 44,500, ahead of the City’s 43,300, according to research by the Financial Times. The bank joins other US peers such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley in east London, where HSBC and Barclays also have their HQs. Rents are much cheaper than in the City and there is far more space on offer than in the nooks and crannies of the traditional home of London’s financiers.
Anthony Duggan, head of research at property consultant Drivers Jonas Deloitte, said: “Canary Wharf has gathered more momentum and with that critical mass which is down there other banks are attracted to the area.
“It is about price, good quality efficient space and it’s also an environment that US banks understand. It’s got that New York feel to it, big towers and high density space. With Crossrail now a certainty, the transport situation is much stronger as well.”
Industry sources say Germany’s Deutsche Bank could be next to consider a large-scale move to the Wharf, which currently hosts nearly 100,000 workers in total.
