HSBC has rowed back on plans to quit Canary Wharf as a shortage of desks prompted the banking giant to sign up for a new lease in the ailing property district.

HSBC has signed a lease to take extra space in Canary Wharf before shifting its global headquarters away from the East London financial district, according to a company memo seen by Reuters, owing to a shortage of space at its planned new base in the central City of London area.

Lender signs 15-year lease for an office minutes from the bank’s Docklands base that it plans to vacate in 2027

HSBC has signed a 15-year lease for new offices in Canary Wharf after a shortage of desks at its future City HQ forced the bank to rethink plans to leave the Docklands.

It has been at the site for more than 20 years with the 14-storey block, designed by SOM, completed by Canary Wharf Contractors in 2003. Overbury, Structure Tone, which has taken over ISG’s job at the Google building in King’s Cross, and Mace are all expected to bid the job which is thought to be worth around £350m.

HSBC Holdings Plc has signed a lease for additional office space in Canary Wharf two years after agreeing to shift its global headquarters to the City of London.