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UK fintech Revolut will move its headquarters to one of Canary Wharf’s most prominent buildings as it presses ahead with expansion plans despite its failure so far to win a full banking licence.
The new global HQ will open in the former Thomson Reuters building in May 2025, the company confirmed on Thursday, increasing its office space by 40 per cent to 113,000 square ft.
Revolut’s headquarters have been in Canary Wharf since the company was founded in 2015, but on the outskirts of the estate or in much smaller offices.
The business will occupy the top four floors of the newly refurbished YY building, which was built in 1991 and was identifiable by its stock market ticker display when it was the UK base for Thomson Reuters.
Revolut, which has agreed to a 10-year lease, said the move was a vote of confidence in its home market, where it has 9mn customers who use its financial services app. It has about 10,000 employees around the world, of whom 1,300 are in the UK. It is on track to increase its global headcount by 40 per cent this year.
Founder and chief executive Nik Storonsky said the company was “delighted to be committing to a new global headquarters in the centre of London’s financial district” that would “serve as Revolut’s home as we expand across the globe”.
Revolut’s ability to grow and become profitable in the UK hinges partly on securing a banking license: this would allow it to offer more products and services and increase its lending.
But its application to regulators has been stalled for more than three years by problems including a warning from auditors that they could not fully verify revenue figures in the company’s 2021 accounts.
Francesca Carlesi, who joined the fintech as UK chief executive in December to help steer it towards its banking licence approval, said the HQ move “strengthens our commitment to the UK, our home country, whilst also establishing the foundation to support future growth”.
Revolut has also been on an advertising blitz, spending £129mn on marketing and advertising in 2022 — the latest period for which data is available — up from £52mn the previous year.
It is in talks to advertise on the air bridge billboards at Heathrow, taking over from HSBC, according to people familiar with its plans.
Revolut’s choice of HQ will also be seen as a vote of confidence in Canary Wharf, which has been hit by high-profile departures and high vacancy rates since the pandemic changed working habits.
The vacancy rate for wider Docklands area is 17 per cent, according to real estate data provider CoStar, compared with 10 per cent in Greater London. Both figures are 20-year highs.
Canary Wharf chief executive Shobi Khan said he was delighted about Revolut’s choice and that its success was “a powerful testament to the extraordinary environment we have created”.
The YY building was bought by Quadrant and Oaktree Capital Management in 2019 and its refurbishment was completed in 2023.
Additional reporting by Daniel Thomas in London.
