Goldman Sachs to fill new London HQ despite Brexit fears

GOLDMAN SACHS plans to almost fully occupy its £1bn under-construction London headquarters, despite starting to move around 500 City bankers to EU countries due to Brexit.

The US investment bank intends to fill all but half a floor of the 10-storey “groundscraper” on Farringdon Road when its bankers move in from three older properties nearby next year, it is understood.

Doubts had been raised about Goldman Sachs’s commitment to the project and to the UK more generally – where it currently has 6,500 staff – after Lloyd Blankfein, the bank’s outgoing chief, took repeated pot shots at Brexit on Twitter over the past year.

These included a picture of the 1.1m sq ft London scheme last autumn with a caption saying he hoped the bank would fill it “but so much outside our control #Brexit”.

The bank deliberately designed the building flexibly to allow for multiple tenants if it changed its mind about fully occupying it. However, The Daily Telegraph understands Goldman Sachs plans to be the only tenant and will not sub-let the unused space.

Sources close to Goldman Sachs said the first of around 500 staff are starting to move to fledgling hubs in the eurozone in Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin ahead of Brexit.

It is also part of the firm’s so-called “regionalisation” strategy to move some bankers closer to clients.

However, it is understood it expects new hires to make up for some of the departures, including 150 staff recruited to launch its retail bank Marcus in the UK.

The bank is currently in the process of selling and leasing back the London office building ahead of moving in, with bids reportedly around the £1.3bn mark. At 1.1m sq ft spread across wide floor plates, Goldman Sachs’s building will have more space than some City towers, such as the “Cheesegrater” building at 122 Leadenhall Street.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment.