Advice and fund management group Charles Stanley is merging a number of its London-based teams to a central site, in a bid to improve communication across its departments.
The move will see a number of offices based around the periphery of London shut down as the company enters into a new lease agreement for 47,000 square feet of office space in Bishopsgate.
Charles Stanley expects to incur a one-off charge of £2.7m due to the overlapping of rent and the costs of fitting-out the new office, which will impact the financial year ending 31 March 2017.
The ongoing net occupancy costs for the group’s London offices are expected to increase by around £1m per year from 2018. This figure would have been higher if all the existing leases had been extended, according to the firm.
Paul Abberley, chief executive of the group, said he is “confident” the relocation and consolidation of the London staff into a central site “will enable our professional and support teams to work together more efficiently and place us in good stead to better serve our clients’ needs”.
All staff should be in place at their new offices by the first quarter of next year.
The group intends to put the remaining 40-year lease at Luke Street up for sale, with the proceeds expected to off-set the one-off charges.
katherine.denham@ft.com
