(Bloomberg) —
Deutsche Bank AG is giving up some London office space as part of an effort to slash expenses as employees increasingly work from home.
Germany’s largest lender will abandon three out of eleven floors on the building at 10 Upper Bank Street, in Canary Wharf, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The move will “generate significant cost efficiency whilst maintaining the space we need for all staff to meet their agreed working arrangements.”
Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing has made office-space reductions a central pillar of his promise to boost the lender’s poor profitability. The soaring rate of people working from home has accelerated that effort over the past year or so. The U.K. government is also tightening restrictions, earlier this week asking Britons to work from home where possible.
Deutsche Bank “continually looks for opportunities to consolidate and streamline our office space around the world,” it said in the memo on Wednesday, which was confirmed by the Frankfurt-based lender. “At 10 Upper Bank Street, reduced use of the office over the long term as people continue to work at least part of the week at home means we have an opportunity to relinquish three floors.”
Read More: Deutsche Bank Sees Remote Work for Up to Three Days a Week
The lender has spent 500 million euros ($564 million) since 2019 to make its offices less expensive, Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke said during the third-quarter earnings call in October. Those efforts will start paying off next year as the savings start coming through, he said.
At the same time, Deutsche Bank is redesigning existing offices or moving into new ones as it adapts to new workspace standards. It recently inaugurated a new U.S. headquarters at One Columbus Circle in New York City and in 2017 it signed an agreement for a new U.K. headquarters at 21 Moorfields to move into in 2023.
Read More: Deutsche Bank Leases U.K. Headquarters From Land Securities
Deutsche Bank’s headcount in the U.K. fell to 7,700 at the end of last year from 8,500 in 2017. Sewing said at a conference last week that London will remain a “critical” location for the lender’s operations.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
