Deloitte has shortlisted two advisers to undertake a review of its London offices that could lead to a 700,000-square-foot requirement, CoStar News understands, as the professional services giant continues to reverse a drive to exit space during the pandemic.
Market sources this week said CBRE and Savills had been shortlisted to undertake the feasibility study after a recent pitch from leading advisers.
In the wake of the pandemic in 2022, Deloitte said it was reviewing its physical presence in London because of “changes to our ways of working and our sustainability objectives” and cut its office occupancy in the capital by around a third. Since last year however it has been significantly increasing occupancy.
As part of the scaleback, in 2022 it reached an agreement with Landsec to renew its lease on 485,000 square feet of London offices in Holborn. The consultant said then it was pressing on with a new blueprint for sustainable, wellbeing-focused offices that also enabled hybrid working across the UK.
That move saw it recommit to 1 and 2 New Street Square, extending its leases to 2036. It took a prelet of 275,000 square feet at 1 New Street Square in 2015, adding to the space it already had at the building next door. The lease at 2 New Street Square had been set to terminate in 2032 and the 2022 commitment combined the space to take the occupation through to 2036. At the same time it exited around 185,000 square feet at Landsec's neighbouring Hill House.
Chinachem Group bought One New Street Square from Landsec for £349.5 million in 2023.
Deloitte also occupies 150,000 square feet at 66 Shoe Lane. Significantly, it upped the space it occupied in the building in February 2024 by around 70,000 square feet as a mix of workspace and client space. At the time Deloitte said it had lifted its overall London campus space by 18% via the move.
A spokesperson for Deloitte UK said in a statement: “We monitor how we use our office space so we can best respond to the needs of our clients and people and our ways of working.”
CBRE and Savills declined to comment.
Accountancy firms are expected to be among the next wave of major office moves in the capital in the post-lockdown world as companies grapple with hybrid working and the return to the office. Law firms have made most of the prominent decisions about office moves in recent times.
Last year, CoStar reported that accountancy giant PwC had begun a feasibility study on stay-or-relocate options for its offices in London, where it occupies close to 900,000 square feet. The company issued a request for information to agencies to advise on the future of its office portfolio.
In the capital it has two principal offices at 1 Embankment Place, WC2, where it occupies 303,000 square feet on a lease expiring in 2030 and 7 More London Riverside, SE1, in London Bridge where it occupies around 425,000 square feet of offices with a lease that expires in 2035.
PwC and Deloitte's big four accountancy firm rival EY is also reviewing its London headquarters at 1 More London, near London Bridge, as its 25-year lease on the building expires in 2028.