Having previously been based in Mayfair in the West End, the company has now moved its staff over into a substantial area of office space at the 2 Kingdom Street Tower in Paddington Central.
See our guide to Opening an Office in Mayfair here
Mr Johnson was keen to cite AstraZeneca’s commitment to London as a demonstration of the fact that international businesses are keen to continue operating from prominent sites across the city.
Three floors of office space will soon be occupied by over 300 of the organisation’s staff, with many of them involved with various marketing initiatives and sales operations throughout Europe and the world.
AstraZeneca’s move from the West End to Paddington follows a recent announcement from the investment bank JPMorgan that it intends to establish a new European operating base in Canary Wharf, a few miles south-west of ‘the City’ and a major financial services hub in its own right.
See our guide to Opening an Office in Canary Wharf here
In reference to Paddington, Mr Johnson remarked: “This once derelict part of London has transformed itself into a thriving new business district providing quick access to the capital’s transport network, its airports and its centres of world-class research.
“With Crossrail passing through Paddington in the near future, many more businesses will be heading west to reap the huge business benefits AstraZeneca has discovered in this fantastic corner of the capital.”
As well as world-class office space to rent on a leasehold basis in Paddington, there is a wide range of flexible office space and workspace solutions available.
See profiles of providers of flexible office spaces in Paddington here
The solutions include private serviced offices that are furnished and ready to use, managed office suites, and co-working desk spaces.
All are available on short-term agreements and on all-inclusive rental arrangements.
The cost of renting office space in London is expected to increase considerably over the next few years with demand set to outstrip supply by some distance. The city was however rated by Cushman & Wakefield as being the best place in the world in which to do business.
Editor’s notes: In February 2022, it was announced that AstraZeneca had rented a further 22,000 square feet of office space at St Pancras Square in Kings Cross. This was in addition to the 15,000 square feet of space it had occupied since 2019 and, in turn, made the Knowledge Quarter at Kings Cross AstraZeneca’s new London headquarters.
Check out our Guide to Opening an Office in Kings Cross here.