No less a figure than the British Chancellor of the Exchequer showed up at the offices in Covent Garden to offer his support for the endeavour and to bask in the glory of seeing such a big-name company expanding its presence in London. Elsewhere, the city’s mayor, Boris Johnson, welcomed the opening as reflecting positively on London as a destination for technological enterprise.
Facebook announced plans in July to establish an engineering office in the West End. Since then, the company has recruited several UK graduates and made clear its intention to expand its recruitment efforts further.
Staff at Facebook’s new London offices will be led by engineer Philip Su and will focus primarily on “shipping code and products relating to mobile and platform.” In a Facebook post back in July, Mr Su explained that the London office will initially aim to establish a “core of great engineers and then grow over time.”
“London is a perfect fit for Facebook engineering – it’s a global hub, and it has a vibrant local startup community with lots of great technical talent,” Su wrote. “We are a culture of builders, and the environment we plan to create in London will reflect that. Our engineers in London – like those in Menlo Park, New York, and Seattle – will be able to pursue great ideas and ship products quickly.”
London’s West End is among the most expensive places in the world to rent top-quality office space, and technology and media companies are among the leading sources of take-up activity across the capital right now and have been for the past couple of years.
Editor’s notes: In August 2024, the parent company of Facebook, Meta, did not list Covent Garden as an office location on its website. In January 2024, the company announced the closure of its Rathbone Square office in Fitzrovia in London’s West End.
In September 2023, Meta surrendered its lease with British Land at Regent’s Place, paying the landlord £149 million.
AI and technology firms accounted for more than a quarter of total central London office lettings take-up in Q1 2026.
The Tech & Media sector accounted for the largest share of H1 office leasing activity in Central London, capturing 31 per cent of take-up. This was 64 per cent above the sector’s long-term H1 average and marked its strongest first half since 2017. Overall, AI-related occupiers accounted for almost half of all Tech & Media take-up.
In September 2026, reports said Microsoft was in talks to take around 200,000 square feet of office space at Belgrove House in King’s Cross.
OpenAI, Microsoft’s partner, had signed for 88,500 square feet of office space at the Regent Quarter in King’s Cross earlier in 2026.
As of October 2026, Facebook’s parent company Meta’s main London office is also at King’s Cross. The company occupies circa 600,000 square feet at 11-21 Canal Reach and 10 Lewis Cubitt Square within the King’s Cross Estate, providing workspace for over 5,000 staff.