High-rise buildings in Canary Wharf financial, business and shopping district in London, UK.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
visa has announced that it will move its European headquarters to London’s financial district. JP Morgan The landmark tower will be built in an area considered the city’s answer to Wall Street.
Visa, which currently has its European headquarters in Paddington, west London, has signed a 15-year lease for 300,000 square feet at One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, Canary Wharf Group said. The company plans to move in summer 2028.
This follows news that JPMorgan intends to build a new 3 million square foot tower in the city’s historic financial district. HSBC, BBVA, barclays, citibank British fintech company Revolut also opened an office in the region in September.
Canary Wharf has been hit particularly hard as the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift to hybrid and remote working. The Docklands core submarket, which includes Canary Wharf, hit a record high vacancy rate of 18.5% in the first quarter of 2025, according to CoStar data.
Canary Wharf Group CEO Shobi Khan told CNBC in September that there were three main reasons for the area’s resurgence, and at the time Canary Wharf’s vacancy rate was 6%.
The first is the convenience of the Elizabeth Line train, which means access to the area has “never been better” and the fact that the space is now used for multiple purposes as residences, hotels and offices.
“And finally, real estate is about supply and demand. After 2026, the construction pipeline is basically shut down, so rents are going up. We’re driving up rents and getting the benefit of limited space for tenants to see,” Khan said.
“Canary Wharf is thriving,” he added.
More than 750,000 sq ft of office leases have been announced in the Wharf area this year, with Canary Wharf Group saying it will be its best year for office lettings in more than a decade.
Shabab Kadar, partner and head of London research at Knight Frank, said the long-term interest rate environment, a key indicator for the property industry, had stabilized, helped by the policies announced in the UK’s autumn budget.
JPMorgan’s commitment is “a big sign that London is open for business,” Kadar told “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday. “London needs a reassessment. There are currently many attractive pricing options for London offices.”
Companies are increasingly requiring and encouraging employees to return to the office, along with changes to pandemic-era work, providing the real estate industry with some form of respite from high obsolescence risk.
“Occupants want their accommodation to be more conducive to the wellbeing of their employees. There is a war for talent, the return of employees to the office has increased considerably over the past 12 months, and employers are demanding that they provide the highest quality office space for their employees,” Kadar said.
“In the past few years, people have made bad decisions about downsizing. Now is the time to expand,” he added.
A new three-year stamp duty exemption for companies listed on the British Stock Exchange will also “provide a boost to London’s financial services in particular”, Mr Kadal said, while pension reform was also “important in increasing London’s attractiveness to global investors”.
Antony Cahill, regional president and CEO of Visa Europe, said in a statement: “Digital payments drive economies across Europe. With this exciting next step, we will pioneer the future of payments and give Europeans access to a world-class payments experience while providing the highest levels of security, resilience and reliability.”
