The company chose to rent office space in the West End on a leasehold basis. In 2023, there are over 50 flex space providers in London’s West End that offer agile and all-inclusive alternatives to leased offices including fitted and serviced offices, managed office spaces and coworking desk spaces in shared working environments.
The offices at One Kingsway are part of a mixed-use development in one of the world’s most exclusive and expensive commercial property districts.
The building is owned by the investment group UK & European, whose bosses have expressed their satisfaction at having one of Britain’s largest businesses sign-up as the first official tenant at its London West End site.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome such a high profile company as Tate & Lyle as our first office tenant to One Kingsway,” said Barney Kelham, UK & European’s managing director.
“There is strong interest in the remaining floors, and we are hopeful of making further announcements in the near future,” he added.
Tate & Lyle has agreed to pay £67.50 per square foot for 25,000 sq ft of space at One Kingsway, where 80,000 sq ft remains available for rent.
“One Kingsway is a first-class development in an excellent location and we are delighted it will become our new London headquarters,” said Tim Lodge, Tate & Lyle’s chief financial officer.
Tate & Lyle is best known as a sugar producer but its business covers a number of other aspects of the food industry. It has factories in more than two dozen locations around the world and corporate offices in Slovakia, Poland and the US, as well as in London.
The latest figures from the property advisory firm Colliers International rated London’s West End as the second most expensive office space market in the world, behind Hong Kong and ahead of Paris, Tokyo and the City of London.
Editor’s notes: As of July 2023, Tate & Lyle listed 1 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6AT as its London headquarters on its corporate website.
At the same time, there was 27,042 square feet of tenant-controlled office space available by way of a sublease or an assignment at the property.
There was also 6,648 square feet available directly from the landlord at a quoting rent of £64.50 per square foot. Business rates were estimated* at £28 per square foot and the service charge was estimated at £13 per square foot.
* Both business rates and service charge can fluctuate due to various reasons during the term of a lease.