Squarepoint commits £430m to huge London office move after profit soars

One of London’s biggest investment firms has committed £430m to a major office move as the firm doubles down on its presence in the Square Mile.

Squarepoint Capital, which was previously a subsidiary of Barclays before being spun off in 2014, is set to move to a redeveloped 400,000 square foot, 12-storey office on Gresham Street once work on the building is completed in 2028.

The firm has signed a 20-year lease agreement on the building with property firm CBRE, of which 15 years are non-cancellable and will cost £430m, according to accounts filed with Companies House. 

That means the total 20 year contract is set to cost almost £600m in rent and service fees, putting it comfortably in the ranks of the City’s most valuable office deals.

The agreement will see Squarepoint move out of its current home at Moorgate-based Citypoint, a 1960s skyscraper that was previously the headquarters of oil giant BP. The investment firm is understood to have suffered challenges during its occupancy of the 60-year-old building – once the tallest in the City – including blocked toilets and air circulation issues.

The prospective office move comes after Squarepoint posted a 38 per cent surge in pre-tax profit to £120.7m for 2025 as it became the latest trading firm to cash in on whipsawing markets over the course of the year.

The UK holding entity for the firm, which also has offices in New York, Paris and Montreal, declared a shareholder dividend of £106m, a jump of a third compared to the previous year.

Biggest City office moves

Squarepoint’s lease agreement makes this City move among the biggest in recent years.

The most expensive office lease agreed in the first three months of this year, according to property consultancy Knight Frank, was signed by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in February. 

This deal saw the City law firm snap up 280,000 sq ft of space in 1 Appold Street, at the heart of British Land’s Broadgate campus. 

Herbert Smith paid £104 per sq ft for the 21-year term, valuing the deal at around £585m.

In the first three months of this year, seven office leases were agreed in the City for more than £100 per sq ft, as the average prime rent in the Square Mile rose to £130.80 – up 40 per cent year on year to a record high. 

In December, Capreon and Hayfin Capital Management snapped up Nuveen’s 21-story tower development 70 St Mary Axe for £331m.