11 Company Headquarters in London

1. 

   01

   HSBC · London, United Kingdom

   A 45-storey Norman Foster tower in Canary Wharf, guarded by replicas of the Hong Kong head office's lion statues.

   • 45 storeys at 8 Canada Square
   • 18 weeks fully paid parental leave (primary caregivers)
   • 85% of colleagues work hybrid

   HSBC's global headquarters rose from “a soggy hole in the ground” in Canary Wharf from early 1999. Norman Foster, who had rebuilt HSBC's Hong Kong head office, designed a more streamlined tower; a Feng Shui Master was consulted, and replicas of the Hong Kong lion statues were cast to guard the entrance when it officially opened on 2 April 2003.

   Source: Facts: HSBC History, “London calling: our global HQ” (history.hsbc.com).

   The full HSBC profile →

2. 

   02

   BT Group · London, United Kingdom

   BT took all 18 floors of a new tower in Aldgate — with a café open to the public at street level and a new staircase joining floors 5 to 15.

   • 18 floors, all taken by BT
   • 3,500 colleagues housed at One Braham
   • 300+ → ~30 UK locations under the Better Workplace Programme

   One Braham is an 18-storey office building near Aldgate East Station. Teams hot-desk in “neighbourhoods” by business function, with “connect” floors for co-working. “Community” floors hold a café and restaurant, plus quiet multi-faith and contemplation rooms. A new staircase links levels 5 to 15, and the double-height reception has a café, a BT/EE store, a large media screen and a customer “showcase” floor above.

   Source: Facts: BT newsroom, “BT opens new London HQ” (Nov 26, 2021) · ID:SR project pages “BT London” and “BT Better Workplace Programme”. Photos are shown with credit to the designer and builders; we remove any photo on request.

   The full BT Group profile →

3. 

   03

   Unilever · London, United Kingdom

   Behind a listed 1932 stone facade on the Thames, KPF carved a light-filled atrium crossed by suspended bridges, with a roof garden on top.

   • 392,400 sq ft Unilever House after KPF's renovation
   • 1932 Unilever House opened on the Embankment
   • 59,000+ employees reached by Healthier U

   KPF kept and restored the Grade II listed stone exterior and completely reconfigured the inside. A new central atrium brings air and daylight into the middle of the building, crossed by suspended bridges and platforms that double as informal meeting spaces. The roof plant was moved to make way for a roof garden for work and breaks, with views to St Paul's Cathedral, and the original Embankment entrance was reopened.

   Source: Facts: KPF project page “Unilever London Headquarters” · Stanhope project page “Unilever House” · City of London, Modern architecture: Unilever House

   The full Unilever profile →

4. 

   04

   Barclays · London, United Kingdom

   A 1 million sq ft Canary Wharf tower with five six-storey glass atria stacked up its south face — and, from 2026, 16 weeks of full-pay leave for new fathers in the UK.

   • 1M sq ft One Churchill Place, HQ since 2005
   • 16 weeks full-pay paternity leave (UK, from 2026)
   • 5,000 staff moved in from 14 London buildings

   HOK pushed the service cores to the north side so that a bank of five atria, each six storeys high, could rise up the south facade. Each atrium has its own visual theme, with planting and commissioned artwork, and serves as space for meetings or a break. Barclays' archive describes open steel-framed floors meant to get people talking, glass that brings daylight deep inside, a gym, a multi-faith prayer room and a roof garden.

   Source: Facts: HOK project page “Barclays World Headquarters” · Barclays Group Archives, “Head office”. Photos are added later with credit to the architect or Wikimedia Commons photographer.

   The full Barclays profile →

5. 

   05

   Shell · London, United Kingdom

   A 27-storey 1960s tower on London's South Bank, refitted floor by floor — with an onsite gym and 30 days of annual leave.

   • 27 storeys in the Shell Centre tower
   • 26 weeks maternity or adoption leave on full pay (UK)
   • 30 days annual leave in the UK, plus buy/sell up to 5

   The Shell Tower was part of the original Shell Centre built between 1957 and 1962 and was kept as the centrepiece when the lower wings were demolished for the new Southbank Place. Inside, a refurbishment designed by Perkins + Will and delivered by Overbury brought one consistent workplace to almost every floor, with glass-walled meeting rooms, a café area, a new gym and new catering.

   Source: Facts: iM2 project page “Shell Tower Southbank” · Optima project page “Shell, South Bank, London” · PIP project page “Shell Tower – Refresh” · The Townscape Consultancy “Southbank Place”

   The full Shell profile →

6. 

   06

   GSK · London, United Kingdom

   A vertical farm, more than 800 live plants on 12 floors and circadian lighting — in a new central London headquarters.

   • 800+ live plants across 12 floors
   • ≈ 3,000 people based at the London HQ
   • 18 weeks parental leave, primary and secondary carers

   GSK left Brentford in 2024 for a new building on the corner of New Oxford Street and Earnshaw Street. PENSON designed the workplace around choice and wellbeing: a vertical farm grows fresh produce for the food offer, more than 800 live plants run through the floors, circadian lighting covers the open-plan areas and a gym sits on Level 9.

   Source: Facts: GSK press release (Dec 12, 2022) · PENSON project page “GSK” · Overbury case study “GSK”. Photos are added later with credit to the designer and builder.

   The full GSK profile →

7. 

   07

   Rolls-Royce · London, United Kingdom

   Every colleague worldwide got 150 free shares in 2024 — and head office sits above a 420-seat concert hall by the Regent's Canal.

   • 150 free shares for every colleague, Sept 2024
   • 72% of UK colleagues in Your Shares: Matched
   • 42,600 employees, 2025

   Kings Place, at 90 York Way near King's Cross, is a mixed-use building by Dixon Jones. A street-like atrium runs through the middle, all seven levels above the ground floor are offices, and below sit two concert halls, galleries and a waterfront restaurant. A three-layer wavy glass façade faces York Way.

   Source: Facts: kingsplace.co.uk (The Building, Design, Environmental Design) · rolls-royce.com headquarters page.

   The full Rolls-Royce profile →

8. 

   08

   Diageo · London, United Kingdom

   A Soho headquarters built around Diageo's brands, with a bar, a restaurant and a shop open to the public.

   • 900 London staff brought under one roof
   • 26 weeks fully paid maternity leave, worldwide minimum
   • 88% of employees proud to work at Diageo (2026)

   Diageo pre-let the whole building in 2019 and the developer reworked the existing structure, widening the floor plates instead of rebuilding. Interior designer MCM set out to make a place where “workspace, brand, hospitality and experiences” meet: there is an immersive customer collaboration centre, bar and entertaining spaces, a commercial kitchen and restaurant, and a Diageo shop open to the public. Diageo said its employees would help design their own workspace.

   Source: Facts: Diageo press release (Jul 30, 2019) · MCM “BCO Awards 2023” page · Lazari property and sustainability pages · PIP project page. Photos are added later with credit to the project team; we remove any photo on request.

   The full Diageo profile →

9. 

   09

   Revolut · London, United Kingdom

   Four floors of a Canary Wharf tower with a gym, a sauna and an auditorium — for a company that lets its people work abroad for up to 120 days.

   • 113,000 sq ft over 4 floors (≈ 10,498 m²)
   • 120 days a year of work from abroad
   • 13,000+ people worldwide (2026)

   Revolut took four floors of YY London, the refurbished 30 South Colonnade. The interiors were designed and built by AIS in 10 months on site and more than 180,000 build hours. Revolut asked for an office people want to come into, not one they have to: AIS added a gym, a sauna, an auditorium and large LED walls. As a remote-first company, Revolut uses the space for product launches, workshops, team events and collaboration.

   Source: Facts: AIS project page “Revolut London” · revolut.com newsroom (13 June 2024; 23 September 2025) · Revolut blog “Where is Revolut based?” (29 April 2026).

   The full Revolut profile →

10. 

    10

    ASOS · London, United Kingdom

    ASOS works from a former Art Deco cigarette factory in Camden, where two open courtyards were filled in to make a three-storey “central street”.

    • 190,000 → 250,000 sq ft occupied after the refit
    • 2,500+ people the HQ was planned for
    • 3pm Friday finish in June–August

    ASOS's head office is Greater London House on Hampstead Road in Camden. ASOS describes it as a former cigarette factory, an Art Deco building now renovated with open office areas, the ASOS Studios where it shoots its products, beauty rooms, a free gym, and a subsidised canteen and café. Designer Spacelab enclosed the building's two external voids — it had been shaped like a figure of eight — to add three storeys of floor space and a “central street” of meeting rooms, a tech bar, lounges, a restaurant, coffee shops and an amphitheatre with a large digital screen. The lower ground floor is the ASOS Academy, with a gym, fitness studios, beauty rooms and rooms for prayer and meditation. Original Art Deco railings inspired the new balustrades, and the Crittall windows were largely kept.

    Source: Sources: asoscareers.com, “About us” · Spacelab, “A central street at ASOS” · 8build project page

    The full ASOS profile →

11. 

    11

    Burberry · London, United Kingdom

    A gutted government building in Westminster, now two glass-roofed atriums crossed by black metal bridges — Burberry's whole London team under one roof.

    • 150,000 sq ft Horseferry House (≈ 13,935 m²)
    • 18 weeks paid parental leave for every parent
    • 5+ days paid wellbeing leave a year

    Architects AHMM gutted a seven-storey island-site building and opened its lower floors to the street with double-height entrances. A forgotten courtyard and a lightwell became two full-height atriums under ETFE pillows, crossed by black metal bridges that double as breakout spaces. On the seventh floor, glass “pop-ups” lead to roof terraces. Gensler designed the interiors — design and photo studios, showrooms and offices that brought five London offices together.

    Source: Facts: AHMM project page “Horseferry House” · Gensler project page “Burberry Headquarters” · Burberry Annual Report 2008/09. Photos are shown with credit to the architects; we remove any photo on request.

    The full Burberry profile →

How we made this: every fact, photo and credit comes from the company profiles on eciffo, which cite the company’s own reports, press releases and architects. We add companies as their profiles are finished, so this list grows.