Ashurst is set to move its entire London operation to a new location at 1-10 Brushfield Street in Spitalfields in 2019 after having shifted its Sydney-based operations last month.
On a 20-year lease, Ashurst will take up the entire office space, around 275,000 sq ft, in the London Fruit & Wool Exchange in Spitalfields when the building is completed. In what is one of the largest Central London letting deals this year, the new building will house all of the firm’s City-based lawyers and business support staff.
The City stalwart will leave its main office at Appold Street which, by the time it moves, it would have occupied for 30 years. Ashurst currently occupies just over 200,000 sq ft across its two buildings at Broadwalk House and Broadgate Quarter.
A spokesperson at Ashurst said: ‘The new office will offer modern, flexible and collaborative work spaces for our people and clients. It will also incorporate a number of architectural and technological initiatives designed to improve energy consumption and respect for the environment. This is a once in a generation opportunity and is an exciting move for the firm.’
Last month [July] the firm moved its Sydney-based operations from Grosvenor Place to the iconic heritage-listed ‘money-box’ building on Martin Place.
The new building, which consists of updated IT infrastructure and new technology, has undergone redevelopment to suit the needs of the firm and its clients. The new office opened its doors at the end of July, and at the time, head of Ashurst’s Sydney office James Marshall said: ‘For the first time our Sydney practice is moving into purpose-designed office space to create the best possible work environment for our people. It is a space that will encourage interaction and collaborative work, while providing our clients with the best possible facilities in which to meet and work closely with our lawyers.’
The moves come as Ashurst adopted a new operational strategy this year, which primarily concentrates on the financial services industry and resources and infrastructure clients and increases its focus on the Asia-Pacific region with better connections between its European, Asian, Australian, Middle Eastern and US office-network.
The firm saw revenues fall in the 2014/15 financial year, with turnover coming in at £561m, down 4% on the £568m generated in 2013/14. PEP fell faster with the firm down 7% to £747,000 on the previous year when PEP stood at £801,000.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk