Hogan Lovells has called on real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield to find the firm 350,000 sq ft of office space to consolidate its three City offices into one.
The firm currently has its main base at Atlantic House but occupies two further buildings on Holborn Viaduct, with 1,400 people employed across the three buildings including more than 630 lawyers and 150 partners.
Hogan Lovells’ lease expires in 2026, but has break clauses in 2019 and 2023. The firm has previously moved a number of UK roles into a legal services centre in Birmingham which opened at the end of 2014, for handling low cost legal work. A spokesperson said the firm is also looking at an option of reconfiguring its current Atlantic House space to consolidate all three offices into one.
Several other law firms are currently reviewing property options. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has scouted out options for a new Liverpool Street headquarters when its lease expires on Fleet Street. Last year, Ashurst began preparing to move its London operation to a 275,000 sq ft office in Spitalfields by 2019, moving the firm from its main office on Appold Street.
Freshfields also launched plans last year to open up a nearshoring space, instructing Knight Frank to find 100,000 sq ft in Manchester in a move which would considerably cut the firm’s expenditure on UK office space.
Earlier this month Bird & Bird consolidated its London offices into a new workplace at 12 Fetter Lane, giving the tech-focused firm space to grow its City headcount by up to 25%. The new London office space comprises of 147,000 sq ft over 12 floors.
Several law firms are targeting new offices in Dublin, with Pinsent Masons seeking out new office space in the city and Kennedys planning to double the size of its office size to around 13,000 sq ft.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk