Facebook boosts commitment to UK with extra office space

FACEBOOK has taken on extra office space for thousands of workers in central London as the tech company increases its commitment to Britain after the end of homeworking.

The company has agreed to occupy a further 310,000 sq ft of space at British Land’s Regents Place campus in Euston, where it already has some offices.

Facebook’s decision to scale up its presence at Regents Place comes after it announced new investments into augmented and virtual reality.

The move follows other high profile technology companies announcing moves to London, despite the claims of some industry lobbyists before Brexit that thousands of jobs could be shifted abroad.

Snapchat is currently in talks to take up 114,000 sq ft in Farringdon, after Tiktok announced a move to the area earlier in the year.

Tiktok’s owner Bytedance has also been looking for new office space across the capital, according to property magazine EG, which first reported the Facebook deal.

Facebook has delayed office returns in the US and UK until January 2022 due to fears over the highly infectious delta variant. However, it is also seeking more office space in the country despite workers being yet to return.

In a memo to staff, the company said: “Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office.

“Given the recent health data showing rising Covid cases based on the delta variant, our teams in the US will not be required to go back to the office until January 2022. We expect this to be the case for some countries outside of the US, as well.”

Facebook’s move means that Japanese agency Dentsu International cannot occupy 1 Triton Square at Regents Place, despite having agreed to increase the amount of office space it has on the campus.

Instead, Dentsu intends to continue relying on hybrid working.

A spokesman said: “Like many organisations, Dentsu International has been examining future ways of working with employees alongside the changing needs of the business.

“Through this evaluation, we have committed to a new hybrid model of working that blends both office and remote working, providing flexibility and balance for our people.

“This change has provided an opportunity to re-evaluate our property requirement and we have negotiated with British Land to remain with our current lease agreements.”

British Land and Facebook were approached for comment.