The effort to move Credit Suisse employees based in Canary Wharf is becoming increasingly real for many. That has consequences for one of UBS's City subtenants.

In another consequence of its forced takeover of Credit Suisse in March, UBS has decided to end its subtenancy agreement with UK-based accountancy and consulting firm Grant Thornton at its head office in London.

Switzerland's largest bank signed the agreement in December 2022, or relatively recently, to sublet two floors of its building on 5 Broadgate, allowing the British to move its headquarters from nearby 30 Finsbury Square.

Canary Wharf Undocked

Now, according to an internal memo sent out last week, UBS is starting to move Credit Suisse employees from their office at One Cabot Square in Canary Wharf. The target is to shift all staff out of the premises by the end of the year.

But doing that means that UBS needed to give notice on the subtenancy agreement with Grant Thornton, as the UK online portal «Bisnow» indicates. «Following the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, we have agreed with UBS to a surrender of our earlier agreed lease at 5 Broadgate and are currently in the process of reviewing options for our Central London headquarters from 2024,», a Grant Thornton spokesperson told the platform.

More Employees

UBS for its part confirmed that it would be keeping two floors at Broadgate 5. «This comes following our acquisition of Credit Suisse and allows us to accommodate more employees under one roof», a bank spokesperson indicated to the portal.

The premises themselves are owned by South Korea's National Pension Service, which bought it for just under $1.5 billion in 2022. Credit Suisse still has a valid rent contract for One Cabot Square that runs until 2034, although it has already sublet the premises to real estate service companies JLL and CBR, according to various UK media sources. The building was purchased in 2012 by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) – which itself was once a major Credit Suisse shareholder – for slightly more than $400 million.