Office profile
Shell Headquarters & offices · London, United Kingdom
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.
The Shell Centre tower, the UK benefits and almost two centuries of office history — then the pay. Every number from Shell's own annual report, shell.com and shell.co.uk, and the designers' and builders' project pages.
- 27storeys in the Shell Centre tower
- 30 daysannual leave in the UK, plus buy/sell up to 5
- 26 weeksmaternity or adoption leave on full pay (UK)
- £151,893median UK employee pay, 2025
Sources: Shell Form 20-F 2025 · shell.co.uk “Rewards and benefits” (April 2025) · iM2 and Optima project pages for the Shell Centre tower
Companies / United Kingdom / Energy (oil, gas & power) / Shell
THE HEADQUARTERS TODAY · SHELL CENTRE TOWER
A 1960s tower kept standing while the site around it was rebuilt
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.
- 27 storeys, built 1957–1962
- Refit design: Perkins + Will
- Fit-out: Overbury
- New gym and catering
- Centrepiece of a 5.25-acre redevelopment
Inside the refitted tower
A refurbishment designed by Perkins + Will and delivered by Overbury brought one consistent workplace to almost every floor, with glass-walled meeting rooms and a café area.
The Shell Tower from the South Bank and Jubilee Gardens
The 27-storey Shell Tower, built between 1957 and 1962 beside the Thames at Waterloo, was kept as the centrepiece of the 5.25-acre Southbank Place site.
Facade details and the site around it
The Shell Tower was part of the original Shell Centre built between 1957 and 1962.
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 Shell Centre site
| Building | Address |
|---|---|
| Shell Centre (headquarters) | Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA, United Kingdom |
Source: Shell Form 20-F 2025 cover (address of principal executive offices) · See them on the map ↓
Source: iM2 “Shell Tower Southbank” · Optima “Shell, South Bank, London” · PIP “Shell Tower – Refresh” · The Townscape Consultancy “Southbank Place”
Benefits (United Kingdom)
Employer pays 15% when you pay 5% (or 12.5% when you pay 7.5%) into the defined contribution pension.
Plus the option to buy or sell up to five days; public holidays can be swapped for a day that means more to you.
On full pay, within up to 52 weeks of leave.
On full pay, for new parents not taking maternity or adoption leave.
Buy shares from pre-tax pay; every six shares bought earn one free share.
London-based employees may receive 7.5% of base pay, at least £5,100 a year.
Private healthcare with a digital GP, an onsite gym in London, subsidised health assessments and a counselling helpline.
Emergency back-up care for children, adults and elders when usual arrangements break down.
Source: shell.co.uk “Rewards and benefits” (correct as of April 2025; page updated June 2026). Worldwide: a global minimum of 8 weeks' paid parental leave.
What keeps people at Shell, in its own words
The Shell People Survey score rose from 75 in 2024 to 76 out of 100 in 2025.
Training days for employees and joint-venture partners during the year.
Eligible employees in participating countries can buy Shell shares at a discount or with a matching element.
Shell's guide advises employees and team leaders on hybrid working options.
A global minimum standard of eight weeks of paid parental leave.
Country-based employee networks, events and local benefits such as gyms and health checks.
Source: Shell Form 20-F 2025, “Our people” · shell.co.uk “Rewards and benefits”
Who works here
countries and territories where Shell operates
women on the Executive Committee
of employees are 30 to 50 years old
external hires in 2025
Source: Shell Form 20-F 2025, “Our people” (employees by gender and region; age groups exclude portfolio companies)
Pay at Shell
Salary at the median was £94,442. The CEO's total pay was 91 times the median UK employee's (61:1 in 2024).
Source: Shell Form 20-F 2025, Directors' Remuneration Report (CEO pay ratio, option A)
Shell publishes pay at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles for UK employees, but not pay by age. It does publish how many employees are in each age group.
Compare Shell with: TotalEnergies
Office history: from a London shell shop to the South Bank
- 1833 A London shop that sold seashells
Marcus Samuel expanded his London antiques business into selling oriental seashells, then imported them from the Far East — the start of the import-export trade that became Shell.
Source: shell.com, “Our company history”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1897 The Shell Transport and Trading Company
His sons Marcus and Samuel renamed their business the Shell Transport and Trading Company, after their tanker Murex became the first to pass through the Suez Canal in 1892.
Source: shell.com, “Our company history”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1907 Merger with Royal Dutch
Shell Transport and Trading merged with the Dutch company Royal Dutch to form the Royal Dutch Shell Group. April 23, the day the telegram arrived, is still celebrated as Shell's birthday.
Source: shell.com, “Our company history”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1957–62 The Shell Centre goes up on the South Bank
The Shell Centre, including a 27-storey tower, was built beside the Thames at Waterloo between 1957 and 1962.
Source: iM2 project page “Shell Tower Southbank”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 2005 One company, run from The Hague
The century-old partnership was dissolved and Shell came under a single holding company, Royal Dutch Shell plc. Its filings gave its principal executive offices as Carel van Bylandtlaan 30 in The Hague, with the registered office at the Shell Centre in London.
Source: shell.com, “Our company history” · Form 20-F 2020 (cover and registered office)
The B.P.M. building in The Hague, 1974 · Gerard Dukker / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 2010s The tower stays; the rest of the site is rebuilt
The lower wings of the Shell Centre were demolished for Southbank Place — two office buildings, four residential blocks of up to 36 storeys and new public space — while the Shell Tower was kept as the centrepiece of the 5.25-acre site.
Source: The Townscape Consultancy “Southbank Place” · PIP “Shell Tower – Refresh”
Shell Centre site under redevelopment, 2017 · Jordiferrer / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 2022 Shell plc, headquartered in London
Shareholders approved the simplification on December 10, 2021: one line of shares, and the CEO, the CFO and Board and Executive Committee meetings moved to the UK. The company became Shell plc in January 2022 and now lists the Shell Centre as its principal executive offices.
Source: Form 20-F 2021 and 2025 · Shell Japan media release, Jan 21, 2022
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 2020s A new workplace on almost every floor
A four-year refurbishment designed by Perkins + Will and delivered by Overbury carried one workplace design through most of the tower, with acoustic glass meeting rooms, room-booking panels, a café area, a new gym and new catering.
Source: Optima project page “Shell, South Bank, London” · iM2 project page
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
Map: how the headquarters moved
Shell has kept its registered office at the Shell Centre on London's South Bank; from 2005 to 2022 the company was run from The Hague, and since 2022 the headquarters is back in the same London tower.
- 1 · 1962Shell Centre, London — Built 1957–1962 beside the Thames at Waterloo
- 2 · 2005Carel van Bylandtlaan 30, The Hague — Principal executive offices of Royal Dutch Shell plc
- 3 · 2022Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA — Headquarters of Shell plc today
Addresses: Form 20-F 2020 and 2025 · Built dates: iM2 project page
What Shell does
Shell produces and trades oil and natural gas, makes LNG, fuels and chemicals, runs one of the largest networks of fuel stations, and sells power and lower-carbon energy.
Five business segments plus Corporate: Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions.
Where the money came from · Third-party revenue by segment, 2025
Source: Shell Form 20-F 2025, Note 7 Segment information (third-party revenue; Upstream sells mostly to other Shell segments)
Source: Shell Form 20-F 2025, Group results · per-employee figure calculated by eciffo
Growth: revenue vs. people
$233.6B → $266.9B
87,000 → 85,000
Calendar years. Revenue: SEC XBRL data from Shell's Form 20-F filings (Shell reports in US dollars). Employees at year end: Form 20-F 2021 (2019–2021) and 2025 (2023–2025); 2016–2018 and 2022 not checked. Multiples calculated by eciffo.
Chief executives
Appointed CEO at the start of 2023. He joined the Executive Committee in 2019 as Upstream Director and later led Integrated Gas, and Renewables and Energy Solutions.
CEO who relocated to the UK in 2022 when Shell moved its headquarters functions to London.
Roots: Marcus Samuel's London shell business (1833), the Shell Transport and Trading Company of Marcus and Samuel Samuel (1897), and the 1907 merger with Royal Dutch.
Source: shell.com Board of Directors (Wael Sawan) · Form 20-F 2021 · shell.com “Our company history”
Shell: questions people ask
Where is Shell's headquarters?
At the Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA, on the South Bank of the Thames near Waterloo. The 27-storey Shell Tower is the part of the original Shell Centre that was kept when the rest of the site was rebuilt as Southbank Place.
Source: Form 20-F 2025 cover · iM2 · The Townscape Consultancy
When did Shell move its headquarters to London?
In 2022. After shareholders approved the simplification on December 10, 2021, the CEO, the CFO and Board and Executive Committee meetings moved to the UK, and Royal Dutch Shell plc became Shell plc. Before that, its principal executive offices were in The Hague.
Source: Form 20-F 2021 and 2020
Who designed the Shell Centre offices?
The recent refurbishment of the tower's workplace floors was designed by Perkins + Will and delivered by the fit-out contractor Overbury.
Source: Optima project page “Shell, South Bank, London”
How tall is the Shell Centre tower?
27 storeys, with two basement levels and an undercroft. It was built between 1957 and 1962 as part of the original Shell Centre.
Source: iM2 project page “Shell Tower Southbank”
How many people work at Shell?
About 85,000 employees at the end of 2025 (96,000 a year earlier), in 70 countries and territories. 35% are women.
Source: Form 20-F 2025
What benefits does Shell offer in the UK?
A pension with a 15% employer contribution, 30 days' annual leave, up to 26 weeks of maternity or adoption leave on full pay, 12 weeks of partner leave on full pay, a share plan with one free share for every six bought, Bupa healthcare and an onsite gym in London.
Source: shell.co.uk “Rewards and benefits” (April 2025)
Does Shell allow hybrid working?
Shell says its Future of Work guide advises employees and team leaders on hybrid working options.
Source: Form 20-F 2025, “Our people”
How much do Shell employees in the UK earn?
The median UK employee received £151,893 in total pay and benefits in 2025, with a salary of £94,442. The CEO earned 91 times that amount.
Source: Form 20-F 2025, CEO pay ratio
What is Shell's employee turnover?
18.3% in 2025. Of the 16,613 employees who left, 8,416 resigned voluntarily; the year included restructuring and business exits.
Source: Form 20-F 2025
Who is Shell's CEO?
Wael Sawan, appointed CEO at the start of 2023.
Source: shell.com Board of Directors
You have seen the office, the benefits and the pay
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