NOMURA QUITS CANARY WHARF

Japanese bank Nomura has decided to ditch Canary Wharf and locate   3,600  UK employees, including 2,000 former Lehman Brothers staff, in the City.

Nomura will today sign an exclusivity deal for the new riverside complex Watermark Place, following months of internal debate about where to locate its London staff. The bank will pay around £40 per sq ft for the 11 storey office.

Nomura took over Lehman Brothers’ 25 Bank Street Canary Wharf office when it acquired the toppled bank’s London arm. A tussle emerged between the City and Docklands for the bank, with Canary Wharf claiming it would “be logical” for the bank to remain on site.

But Nomura favoured a move closer to its 1 St Martins Le Grand office near St Pauls, which it has occupied since its British launch in 1985.  Nomura House will continue to house 1,000 staff.

Sadeq Sayeed, executive vice-chairman of Nomura International, who heads the London office, has previously spoken out about his frustrations at the journey time between St Paul’s and the Wharf. A source close to the deal said: “Moving out of Canary Wharf is a big symbol to show the beginning of a new culture.”