Who owns London? Visa thinks Canary Wharf has the edge as it will be moving from its City Centre HQ to the Docklands in a move that will bring renewed optimism to Canary Wharf after some high-profile departures.
Visa is reportedly moving its European headquarters – 7 miles to be exact. The payment giant is on the verge agreeing a deal with Canary Wharf Group to move to London’s Docklands from its current premises in Paddington.
The global payment network is reportedly seeking to move into the 170,000 square foot space at One Canada Square, the space being vacated by credit firm Moody’s as its lease expires in 2026.
Visa has been searching for a new office space to house its EU operations in recent months as the current lease of its London office will expire in 2028.
If Visa can reach a deal to move to Canary Wharf, it will join the likes of Barclays, Santander and digital bank Revolut, which confirmed last year it will be opening new offices at the Docklands in the same space Reuters vacated.
The potential arrival of Visa will no doubt bring renewed optimism to Canary Wharf Group having seen several high-profile tenants announce their departures in recent years.
Office vacancies in London’s Canary Wharf district reached a record high earlier this year, and could hit as much as 30% in the coming years if the area cannot find tenants to fill 2 million square feet of space becoming vacant, according to property data firm CoStar.
Alongside Moody’s, HSBC has also stated it plans to move out from its Canary Wharf offices to those near St. Paul’s Cathedral. Deutsche Bank is also reportedly reviewing its position to remain or move, and Barclays, as well as Morgan Stanley, have downsized the footprint of their offices but decided to remain.
This throws into question why Visa have opted for the alternative route of moving out to Canary Wharf while other major banks and financial institutions make the opposite route.
Payment Expert reached out to Visa for more details. Visa said it would not be commenting on the proposed move at this time.
Why Canary Wharf is losing banks
HSBC cited lack of space to house all 40,000 UK employees at its Canary Wharf office, having to implement a hybrid working policy. However, the bank’s new offices in the City are much smaller than its previous office, with a capacity of up to 4,400 workers, in comparison to the 8,000 it had in Canary Wharf.
The development of new offices and living spaces in some of the City’s financial districts has seen up to 1.1 million square feet of new office space being moved into by banks since 2020, compared to just 233,000 in Canary Wharf.
This data from Knight Frank also revealed the reason why many major players are leaving for the City is to be closer to key stakeholders, regulators and clients in order to remain at the forefront of market trends. This has also seen the likes of State Street agreeing a deal to buy a City office.
Developments to attract
With the Canary Wharf Group losing up to £900m in 2023 and £80m in property value last year, the organisation has ramped up efforts to improve the infrastructure to attract more financial entities.
The Eden Dock Project, in association with the Eden Project, opened in October 2024 and aims to be a place where nature and people can both thrive according to Canary Wharf Group Head Shobi Khan to create an “urban oasis”.
This also comes following the announcement last year by the Canary Wharf Group it will begin the redevelopment of the 8 Canada Square building, which HSBC is planning to vacate, in 2027.
The 1.1 million square foot building will provide more workspaces, leisure, entertainment, education and cultural buildings as well as the continued commitment for more sustainable elements located inside and outside the building.
