Barclays begin move from city

Barclays has signalled the end of more than 300 years of banking history by starting to move out of its City of London headquarters, it emerged today.

The bank said it had begun to move its 5,000 staff at Lombard Street and 13 other London sites to a new head office at Canary Wharf in Docklands.

Barclays, reportedly the last clearing bank to leave Lombard Street, has occupied five different sites in the street since it first moved there in 1690. The move is believed to mark the end of the centuries-old tradition of banks clustering in the area around the Bank of England.

Barclays started moving out of Lombard Street on January 17 and is transferring 300 staff a week to the new offices at One Churchill Place. It expects to complete the move in early June.

It is leasing 21 floors, or 670,000 square feet, of the new 31-storey building, which was designed by architects HOK and is owned by Canary Wharf Group.

The building will have a health and fitness centre for Barclays staff as well as a 365-seat restaurant and 100,000 square feet of training facilities.

The 31st floor will also boast an entire 17th century room including period fireplace and wood panelling – The Cheapside Room – that has been moved from the basement of the Lombard Street building, where it served as a customer restaurant.

A Barclays spokesman said the move would increase efficiency by focusing the group’s London operations on one site.

He said it would generate “a positive saving” for Barclays, but refused to give figures.